Recently, Tinder announced that it will be using its popular dating app to help abandoned dogs in New York City find potential owners. The company developed the concept, appropriately named “Puppy Love,” with their partners Social Tees, an animal rescue organization, and ad agency BBH’s program for interns.
Tinder is a dating app for humans that boasts over 10 million daily users. According to the ASPCA, over 7 million animals are taken to shelters each year, and this Tinder initiative is trying to raise awareness for their cause and hopefully find homes for some of them.
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The interns at Bartle Bogle Hegarty advertising agency partnered with the rescue organization to create the dog’s profiles. The profiles include pictures of the pups, descriptions, and their ages in human years. The interns input all the information that potential owners may need to choose a dog that meets their preferences.
The app is simple. Tinder users just swipe through photo profiles of abandoned dogs and if they like one that they see they can swipe “yes.” A link will then pop-up to the nonprofit that rescued the pup, and it will display all the information on the program and how someone could go about adopting the dog.
Users that may not be interested in a long-term commitment can sign up to walk dogs or even foster them for a few weeks. All the dogs available on Puppy Love are cared for by Social Tees Animal Rescue, a nonprofit that is based in Manhattan. The rescue has saved over 3,000 animals since its establishment.
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Within the first 24 hours that the app was live, more than 1,500 matches were made on the 10 featured dogs. Right now there are no plans to expand the app to other rescue organizations, but if things go well and many of the dogs get adopted, perhaps they will think about expanding to help abandoned dogs all around the country.
Sure, there are many other easier ways to find dogs that are up for adoption, but you’ve got to hand it to Social Tees and Tinder for trying to help as many canines as they can. This addition to the Tinder app has even encouraged other app designers to create similar programs.
