Animal Shelter Enlists Pokemon Go Players To Walk Its Adoptable Dogs

An animal shelter is appealing to people who play Pokemon Go to take part in the virtual scavenger hunt while walking adoptable dogs. So far, it’s been a huge success!

An animal shelter in Indiana is seeking avid Pokémon Go players to help walk adoptable dogs while they play the popular smartphone game.

The Muncie Animal Shelter on Tuesday appealed to gamers on its Facebook page, asking those who are on the hunt for rare Pokémon to step forward and help real-life animals get exercise as they pursue the game’s fictional creatures. Pokemon in the game are scattered around the real world, meaning players have to walk around to find them.

If you’ve taken a stroll through your city’s streets lately, chances are you’ve come across hoards of people sitting in groups, staring at their phones.

In case you didn’t know what the cause of this is, it’s an app called Pokemon Go that lets people search and collect virtual characters from the Pokemon show in their neighborhood, using their phone screen to spot the creatures.

 

Not only has the game brought many diverse types of people together, it’s inspiring a large percent of the public who utilizes the app to get more active.

The app hasn’t even been out for a week, but it’s become a sensation. So much so, the Muncie Animal Shelter decided to recruit players of Pokemon Go to walk shelter dogs as they take part in the virtual scavenger hunt.

This Dogs Life reports that the founder of shelter in Indiana, Phil Peckinpaugh, was inspired to launch the collaboration between shelter dogs and Pokemon Go players when he played the game with his 6-year-old daughter. The day after, he thought:

“It would be amazing if we could pair all of these people with shelter dogs!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNY-ebi-YJI

Shortly after the idea was announced on the shelter’s Facebook page, the post garnered more than 18k shares and 5.3k likes. And, within one day, there were more than 50 people coming into the shelter to walk dogs, says Peckinpaugh. So far, the experience has been great for everyone involved.

“Trying to hatch an egg or catch rare Pokémon? Come down to the Muncie Animal Shelter to walk one of our dogs while you get your steps in!” its Facebook post reads. “Just come to the front desk and say you are here for the Pokémon dogs!”