All eyes might have been on the Super Bowl on Sunday (February 9), but before the event kicked off, the 21st Puppy Bowl took place.
Since 2005, the Puppy Bowl has helped raise important awareness for animal shelters, with most of the pups involved up for adoption. It’s shown on Animal Planet each year on Super Bowl Sunday. This year, the dogs came from 80 shelters and rescues across 40 states and two countries – and after their hard work, they all deserve a well-earned break to play with some of the best dog toys.
Team Ruff played against Team Fluff, with Saquon Barky (named after the Philadelphia Eagles’ Saquon Barkley), Paws Allen (Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen), and Dee-Bone Samuel (San Francisco 49ers’ Deebo Samuel) all among the 142 dogs taking part.
Border Collie mix Foxtrot started well for Team Ruff, scoring the first two touchdowns. Labrador mix Paws Allen scored for Team Fluff in the first quarter too, while with just 15 seconds left, his teammate, American Cocker Spaniel Charlotte, made a touchdown and a field goal at the same time.
Among the other most notable pups were Team Fluff’s Abigail, a Labrador mix, who scored a touchdown to put Team Fluff in front by the end of the third quarter, and Team Ruff’s Enrique, a miniature Pinscher mix, who made a field goal to put his time on 66.
Team Ruff were almost set for victory until a last-minute turnaround saw Team Fluff win the contest 68-66 and take home the Lombarky Trophy. And since teams were first introduced in 2015, Team Fluff have edged things with a 6-5 win overall. Meanwhile, Foxtrot, a Border Collie, won Most Valuable Player.
Puppy Bowl referee Dan Schachner urged dog lovers to adopt canines telling Yahoo! Entertainment, “Don't shop for a dog. Adopt a dog. The overpopulation issue in this country continues. There's still hundreds of thousands of dogs sitting in shelters year after year. Some of them meet a very sad fate if the shelters can't house them.”
Schachner, who has fostered more than 40 dogs himself, including last year’s Puppy Bowl assistant referee Whistle, highlighted the impact the recent wildfires in California have had on pets in shelters, too.
“Space is certainly a huge issue,” he said. “Shelters literally had to take what they had of those dogs and move them off-site, further away from LA, in order to make room for these displaced animals.”
If you’re interested in adopting any of the dogs from the Puppy Bowl, you can take a look on Discovery’s website here. Or, to find the pups in your area, check out the shelters and rescues nearby.
You might also like to read up on these eight things you need to know before getting a rescue dog, as well as these reasons to adaopt a dog
