In the era of social media, its harder than ever to stick out from the crowd. So, this animal shelter knew that they would need to do something incredible to have their donation drive go viral. Thankfully, the workers came up with a most amazing idea: a pet throne made of donated food!
Always Helping Animals
Over the past five years, Los Adoptables, located in Ensenada, México, has become one of the country’s best shelters. While they rescue plenty of animals, the shelter also has spray and neutering programs and gives out pet-raising tips on their very active social media channels. “[Los Adoptables] was founded in October 2016,” shelter director Pris Austin said. “We started the shelter when a lady was no longer capable of taking care of some dogs she rescued, she had 177 dogs when we stepped in. The goal was to find a home for those dogs but then evolved into a proper shelter.”
As you might expect, this is far from Austin’s first rodeo. “I’ve been doing this for over 3 years. But my dad always worked in vet offices and I helped him with ranch animals since forever,” she continued. However, this was the first time Austin had ever run the show by herself. “A group of 4 ladies and myself started helping out until slowly everyone had to leave and it was just me in the admin part. But I wouldn’t be able to do this without their guidance and the overwhelming support of my community.”
Sadly, while Austin had plenty of help after opening up the shelter, they still found it quite hard to garner food or money donations…
Collecting Donations
Months after opening the shelter, Austin and her helpers still struggled to find enough food each week. When first opening, Los Adoptables had garnered some local fame due to a large painted tree on their shelter wall. The painted tree, which features the paw prints of many of the animals available for adoption, featured on local news and in the newspaper and resulted in an influx of donations. However, some time had passed, and the contributions and adoptions had waned. So, Austin knew that she needed to develop a new idea to help the animals in need.
Then, around her birthday, the shelter owner finally had another idea! The next day, Austin took to social media and posted her wish. “I was at Costco getting the dog food like five days before my birthday, and someone was texting me what do you want for your birthday, so I said dog food, but then I was trying to get the community involved so I figured a “Bag of Dog Food Throne,” Austin wrote on Facebook. While she expected her followers to help her build a throne from donated pet food, Austin had no idea the response she’d receive!
A New Tradition
Incredibly, Austin’s wish took over social media, and Los Adoptables earned thousands in donations. Plenty to buy lots of food for a thrown! Now, the building of a birthday throne has become a tradition for the shelter! Each year, Austin asks people to donate piles of dog food (or money if they’re abroad), encouraging people with pictures of furry friends who need homes. Along the way, the shelter owner has become something of a local legend!
“The shelter is in an awesome community. Lots of ex-pats in our neighborhood and they love helping in our crazy ideas and love to support the animals,” Austin said.
Sources: BoredPanda, IcePop.