(PRESS RELEASE) SCOTTSDALE, AR — DOGTV has been selected as a wildcard contender in the Petco Foundation’s 2019 Innovation Showdown and is asking for the public’s support to have the chance to be the third contestant competing for $450,000 in lifesaving funds. As one of seven organizations with an idea in the wildcard voting round, DOGTV is encouraging its supporters to go to petcofoundation.org/showdown to vote for their innovative animal welfare idea from March 4-16. The organization with the most votes will win a spot to pitch their idea live on stage to the innovation investors at this year’s Humane Society of the United States Animal Care Expo.
DOGTV’s new Adoption Platform is a video-based web and mobile app that enables potential adopters to find the perfect dog for their family. The platform will provide on-going education for pet parents and give shelters a unique way to showcase adoptable dogs through an easy process of creating a dog’s “story”. The app will use advanced video tools, machine learning, and personalized algorithms to increase better engagement with potential adopters, create better matches and increase adoption rates. All with the goal of reducing the number of dogs returned to the shelters. The platform will also provide an adoption kit of pet products and services to help them settle in with their new family member.
“We are excited about the possibility of working with top animal welfare organizations to develop our new DOGTV Adoption Platform that will change the landscape of pet adoption,” stated Gilad Neumann, CEO of DOGTV. “We are in the business of giving dogs a better life through the home enrichment DOGTV provides. Now we want to help give dogs in shelters a better life by making it more engaging for pet parents to learn their stories. We’ve made it our mission to help save the lives of a million dogs!”
“In the business of saving animal lives, innovation is critical,” said Petco Foundation President Susanne Kogut. “We are thrilled to partner with the Innovation Investors from the nation’s top animal welfare organizations to be the catalyst for change and reward organizations for their life-saving innovation.”
Innovation Showdown is a collaborative project bringing the nation’s top animal welfare organizations together to invest in lifesaving innovation. Modeled after Shark Tank, participants seeking funding to save animal lives will present their best lifesaving animal welfare ideas on stage to the Innovation Investors (which include leaders from the Annenberg Foundation, ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, The Jackson Galaxy Project, Maddie’s Fund®, Mary Jo & Hank Greenberg Animal Welfare Foundation, Michelson Found Animals Foundation, the Petco Foundation and the WaterShed Animal Fund).
For more information about DOGTV, visit www.dogtv.com. For more on the Petco Foundation, visit www.petcofoundation.org and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by using the hashtag #PetcoFamily.