Animal Shelter Uses Pokemon Go Craze for Walking Dogs

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An animal shelter in Muncie, Indiana saw the explosion of Pokemon Go within the community. With so many people walking around trying to catch rare Pokemon, and tons of dogs that need walking, they’ve come up with a genius idea. They have asked local Pokemon Go hunters to come down to the shelter and pick out a dog to walk while they’re playing the game, utilizing the new craze for the well-being of homeless dogs.

The Muncie Animal Shelter has put out a call for volunteers on its Facebook page, stating that players can swing by any time between 10:30am and 5pm and walk an adoptable dog while they hunt for Pokemon. The public has responded positively to the call, and the Facebook post has already been reacted to nearly 10,000 times and shared nearly 30,000 times.

The shelter director, Phil Peckinbaugh, said the opportunity for the adoptable dogs is priceless.

“The idea is that they take the dog on kind of an adventure for the day,” he told Huffington Post.

Peckinbaugh created the initiative after seeing his nephew and daughter becoming quickly obsessed with the game and running all over the city in search of the cartoon creatures. Seeing the people of Muncie out and about made him think that this would be a great way to get exercise for the dogs cooped up in cages all day. Since the dogs are adoptable, it would also be a fantastic way to get the dogs to socialize with humans and other dogs as they go about their Pokemon adventure.

He and Sam Wiser, an intern at the mayor’s office, worked together to create the viral ad for their Facebook page.

The initiative has already proved very successful in the community, as Peckinbaugh has confirmed that some days there is a line out of the door to come and walk the dogs while playing Pokemon Go.

Underneath the viral post on Facebook, several commenters had expressed an interest for the same initiative to come to their city or town. Perhaps this will be the beginning of something that will catch on all around the United States.

Just remember to be careful while you’re out there trying to catch them all.

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