"Photo Doggies for Anthony" Will Give You Feels

Is there any corner of the Internet better than pooch pictures? There is something about dog photos that can give us joy in the midst of the daily grind. But now, your Facebook Fido pictures can have a new meaning outside of midday procrastination. Thousands of people have uploaded dog photos to Facebook's "Photo Doggies for Anthony" to comfort a 16-year-old battling leukemia.

Anthony Lyons has to check in to Phoenix Children's Hospital for treatment once a month, and while he is waiting to go home his one comfort is the therapy dogs that come to visit. But they aren't always there. A family friend wanted to put a perma-smile on Lyons' face, even on the dogs' off days, so Roberta Lucero-Koron created a Facebook event with a simple request.

I thought if I create this event, you can post a picture of your dog to help make him smile. His mom shows them to him and he smiles.

As it turns out, people were more than happy to oblige. As of Jan. 5, 722,000 people were "attending" the event, and Anthony had received over a half million pictures of dogs. Unfortunately, a user posted some pretty awful things onto the event site, which led Facebook to take it down on Monday. But as of Tuesday, a new event has been created along with an Instagram where Lyons showcases posted pictures. As of this writing, over 23,000 people are "attending" the new event.

Not actual event, original photo doggies for anthony got taken down because one person decided to bring his negativity upon a great thing, i hope i can continue to see all the pictures of your dogs. No matter what they make me happy and i try and look at every single one of them!

Lyons has been in and out of the hospital, but returned on Friday and is expected to stay there for a week.

Needless to say, Lyons has plenty of puppy pics to occupy his time when the therapy dogs are away.

Before the original page was taken down, Lyons' mother, Kristen, posted an expression of her gratitude.

I am amazed at how quickly this event has blown up and it makes me so happy to know how many people enjoy their pets as much as Anthony and I do. Your pets have brightened our days so much and it just shows you the power of pet therapy and animal healing. This just shows what great people animal lovers are and we are really feeling the love from you and your pets in this difficult time. Thank you all so much from the bottom of our hearts. Love Kris10 [sic] and Anthony.

Has your heart melted yet?

Images: Photo Doggies for Anthony (3)