A recent social media post from the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria just went viral on Facebook and Instagram.
The short video shows what appears to be Pit Bull mixes with wigs, and the message: “Our dogs thought it would help them get adopted if we listed their breed. This goes against our policy, but they were adamant.”
The dogs were then playfully listed as Doodles, the popular curly-haired mixed breed.
Erin Shackelford, AWLA’s marketing and communications specialist, stated that the post has been viewed more than 2.5 million times on Facebook and 3.1 million times on Instagram, making it one of the organization’s most popular posts to date.
“It’s doing pretty good,” Shackelford said. “Shelters guess breeds wrong more than we breed them right. A majority are mixed breeds, and it’s very arbitrary. As a policy, we don’t guess.”
Still, Shackelford said, none of the dogs in the video have been adopted.
“We used Doodles because they’re an incredibly popular breed,” Shackelford said. “Then we put wigs on them because Doodles have curly hair. Pit bull mixes are harder to own in the city. We do have a lot of rental and housing that prohibits them, if it says they’re a Pit Bull mix on their paperwork.”
