Even though fans gathered for a soccer game in Romania, the sport wasn’t the highlight of the event. Soccer players in Romania started their game in a special way that was unrelated to soccer. Instead of doing something sports-related to kick off the event, soccer players cuddled adoptable dogs from a local shelter. With their help, many of these dogs went from being strays to being pampered for life.
This one game was just the beginning! It’s a part of an exciting new event that takes time out of the game to encourage dog adoption to fans. Plus, these pups are sure to melt anyone’s heart!
Dogs and Soccer
Romania’s Professional Football League (Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal) is working with local animal shelters to promote adoption during the “Fill the gap in your life” campaign. The first game that implemented this occurred on September 12th, 2021, featuring Fotbal Club FCSB and Dinamo Bucharest.
During the game, players from both teams came onto the field holding rescue dogs. The dogs were of all ages and breeds, including many small puppies. Each dog was from a shelter, many of which were once strays. More importantly, all of them are looking for a forever home. Most of the dogs are from a Romanian shelter called Ilfov Adopta.
Each dog wears a distinct scarf and name tags to help potential adopters find them online. Sure enough, many people in the crowd couldn’t resist these sweet faces.
Animal Advocating Continues
This game was only the beginning. The soccer league plans to continue showing off adoptable dogs at all their games, with hopes of finding a home for each and every one. They also shared photos of the players with the pups on social media to spread the dogs’ cuteness even further. After all, there’s no such thing as too many cute dog photos!
All the dogs featured at the games are vaccinated, dewormed, and spayed or neutered. Plus, any of them can go home as soon as they find a loving family to adopt them.
The campaign will continue throughout the entire season, and it has already been a huge success. This initial game helped find homes for 11 dogs, but 92 still wait at the shelter for their happily ever after. Hopefully, the heartwarming efforts of the soccer players will help them all find wonderful forever homes!
H/T: people.com
Featured Image: Facebook
Toledo, United States.
