Doggone Cute Selfies
Adoptable Dallas pets take Internet by storm with celebrity photo bombs
The world of homeless pets can be a sad, lonely place, but Dallas Pets Alive is putting a fun spin on pet adoption thanks to "muttbombing." Created in collaboration with marketing firm Dieste, muttbombing combines selfies, photo bombing and, of course, mutts.
The viral campaign launched February 10 and features celebrity selfies photo bombed with adoptable Dallas pets. Each muttbombing picture comes with a caption in the animal's voice, pleading to be adopted.
Executive director Leslie Sans says muttbombing has helped increase Dallas Pets Alive's web traffic by about 700 percent.
In an Instagram post with Kim Kardashian, a terrier mix named Royce offers to change his name "to something more Kardashian-friendly, like Karl."
Other popular posts include Miley Cyrus with a pit bull mix named Bono and Ryan Gosling with dog named Max. "Hey Ryan Gosling, can I follow you home?" Max asks. "My parents always told me to follow my dreams."
Dieste volunteered its services to Dallas Pets Alive, a nonprofit that started in 2012 with a goal of making Dallas a no-kill city. Executive director Leslie Sans says muttbombing has helped increase Dallas Pets Alive's web traffic by about 700 percent.
"Our traffic has skyrocketed," Sans says. "If we aren't seen, then our dogs aren't seen and can't get adopted. Muttbombing is really catching people's attention."
So far, muttbombing has featured about a dozen pets, and roughly half have been adopted. "For us, that's a huge number," Sans says.
Right now, Dallas Pets Alive has 42 animals in its foster care program, which pools at-risk pets from Dallas Animal Services and places them in temporary homes until they get adopted. Sans hopes Dallas Pets Alive can one day build its own shelter to save even more animals.
She says sometimes people incorrectly believe shelter dogs have something wrong with them and aren't suitable pets. "These dogs are completely adoptable. They just need some extra TLC," Sans says.
To show off the dogs' playful sides, Dallas Pets Alive has partnered with Community Beer Company. Adoptable dogs will be milling around CBC's tap room open house from 2 to 5 pm on Saturday, February 22.
"We're trying to make adoption not only the right thing to do but the cool thing to do," Sans says.
