The 2017 Super Bowl is just around the corner and there's so much to look forward to about it: The big game, the snacks, the commercials, and Animal Planet's annual Puppy Bowl. And if you fall in love with one of those pups, can you adopt the 2017 Puppy Bowl puppies? According to the Animal Planet website, each of the dogs come from a shelter and the bio for each puppy includes the shelter they came from. You can find information on shelters the dogs came from on the official Puppy Bowl website in the "Adopt" section and, from there, you can get contacting them to see if your favorites still need a home.
The Puppy Bowl will air its 13th edition on Feb. 5 and the adorable furry friends continue the beloved tradition of playing with toys and being their cute selves in a mini-stadium made for puppies, guinea pig cheerleaders, and the Kitten Halftime Show. According to Sports Illustrated, producer Simon Morris said that most of the dogs from the Puppy Bowl do end up being adopted — either by viewers or show crew. "By the time the Puppy Bowl ends, most of them have found their forever homes," Morris told Sports Illustrated. "On the shoot itself, we have crew and staff adopting these pups. We had six or seven adopted this year between the gaffer and a producer and our editor."
Puppy Bowl has emphasized adoption of its pups — and the many others out there who need homes — in recent years with great success, according to Sports Illustrated's interview with Morris. " One of the things that led us to look at special needs pups is that they are harder to get homes for," he told the magazine, and then described two sweet doggies: Winston (who has found a home) and Francis, who is disabled from his back legs, still needs a home, and will be featured in this year's Puppy Bowl. Morris told SI that the show is also trying to emphasize the need for senior dog adoption as well.
According to USA Today, the Puppy Bowl is watched by about 10 million viewers and animal shelters, such as Citizens for Animal Protection in Texas, look forward to how the event increases interest in adoption each year. The shelter's now-adopted puppy Duke (a Labrador retriever mix) was chosen to participate in the 2017 Puppy Bowl, which was filmed last October, reported USA Today.
“It is exciting for all of us and the puppies involved, but we are really hoping for a big response in real terms,” the shelter's director of operations JoAnne Jackson told the publication. “There are a lot of animals that need a home, so having the Super Bowl come here [in Texas], and having Duke in the Puppy Bowl, is huge for us.”
So while the cuteness definitely wins at every Puppy Bowl, an even bigger victory for these dogs — and other pups at shelters — would be finding a good home.
