It’s a sad truth that only about 9-11% of the roughly 70 million stray dogs and cats in the world even make it to a shelter, and their odds of rescue from there are not all that extraordinary. In fact, about 2 million dogs are euthanized each year.
As you may already know, puppy mills are prominent contributors to pet store puppies, and the more people buy them, the more illegal breeding occurs behind the scenes. Not only does this result in millions of cruelty cases, but it feeds directly into the extreme overpopulation problem.
We have no idea why (maybe it’s because we love our rescue pups so so much), but for some reason pet stores remain a popular destination for prospective pet owners despite the unbelievable prices and questionable origins of the dogs.
Now that I’m on the verge of sobbing just thinking about it… cue the Bark&Co. “pup”-up puppies!
Bright and early in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, the Bark&Co. pack yawned, stretched their legs, and got to work constructing a 1-day pup-up pet shop. In an area of New York City where people perceive everything as very high value, we wanted to show that these puggin’ adorable puppies are worth more than their pedigree and their price tags.
Curious humans stopped to peer in the windows, probably drawn in by the in-your-face PUPPIES sign — we didn’t want you to miss us, okay?
And then something awesome happened: the humans went nuts for the pups! No shocker there, but the best part is that many of the furballs found themselves in new, loving homes by the end of the day. If these pup parents to-be weren’t already convinced, Bark&Co. threw in a 3-month BarkBox subscription for every dog adopted!
If all you’re seeking is love from a furry companion, providing a furever home to a dog in a shelter instead of a pet store is incredibly admirable, and us here at Bark&Co. give 4 paws up to all of the families that grew one member larger.
