Last week you probably saw all over the news that dogs in New Zealand were being taught how to drive. Not just dogs, shelter dogs. It was to raise awareness about how smart shelter dogs are. Below is the story from Dogster. This is pretty amazing, especially the video at the end!
Last week we wrote about the shelter dogs who were learning to drive in New Zealand,
thanks to the efforts of Auckland's SPCA. Why were they learning to
drive? The official reason was to increase awareness about how smart
shelter dogs are, in the hopes to increase adoptions.
The unofficial reason was OMG dogs driving.
Those three dogs -- Porter, Monty, and Ginny -- did in fact learn how
to drive. But the true test came on Monday, when the dogs were tasked
with driving the modified Mini around a racetrack on live television.
Specifically, the Campbell Live show. We salute New Zealand for bringing some much-needed drama back to live television.
Well,
good news. Porter, the 18-month-old Schnauzer, passed
the test, driving his Mini around the track and looking like an absolute
champ doing it. With one foot on the brake and one on the gas, and one
paw on the wheel and another on the stick shift (!!!), he flew around
the track ... at around 2 mph, but still.
Asked for comment, Porter said, "When I drive that slow, you know
it's hard to steer. And I can't get get my car out of second gear. What
used to take two hours now takes all day. Huh! It took me 16 hours to
get to L.A."
Actually, he just wiggled a lot, very happy.
Two of the three dogs drove on live TV, and adoption offers have been
pouring in, according to said Auckland SPCA CEO Christine Kalin, via
the New Zealand Herald. There's been less interest in Ginny, because she did not drive on the show -- but make no mistake, she can drive.
"We've had people offer to adopt Monty and Porter. We've had less
interest in Ginny, so she's the one we'd really love not to have in the
shelter too long," Kalin said. "The whole purpose of this campaign was
to find homes for our smart and intelligent dogs. It was always our
dream that SPCA dogs would be seen as the dogs of choice in Auckland and
throughout the country."
Watch the video:
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