To bring back the joy to this animals, by showing how friendly they can be.

And there we had our Walking Buddies. An initiative that turned these animals into real walking partners.

For one day we took the dogs from their shelter to a place where lots of people usually take walks: the Cascais Seawall, one of the most popular places for walkers and runners in Portugal. There, anyone could pick one dog to walk with them. By joining them, we would increase the chance for people to gain affection for the dogs, and gave them, on the spot, the opportunity to adopt them.

On a Saturday, by dawn, we started assembling the stand were our dogs would be. A friendly stand, with food and water for them to enjoy while they were waiting. And by morning, we were all set. People started showing up, curious and wanting the experiment the walk. They could pick any dog they wanted and walk them for 15 minutes, with the supervision (by far) of a member of the shelter. After this time, they would return the dog, and have the possibility to adopt them right on the spot.

Because in the stand, there was a special table with all the required documents to finalize the adoption, that would be signed by the person and the director of the shelter.

The initiative was a major success, and the number of dogs was not enough for the amount of people that wanted to take a walk with them. There were 20 dogs for about 100 people who wanted to experiment these uplifting walk. The social networks filled with photos, shares and comments. More important than that, we contributed to make the day a little bit better, not just for the people, but especially for the dogs. Particularly for two dogs, who were adopted right there on the spot.