Now you can check out a dog for happy hour
The sun is shining, the windows are down and the wind is blowing in the face of one happy pup.
A 5-year-old shelter mutt named Honey is on what the Humane Rescue Alliance in Washington, D.C. calls a canine “happy hour.”
Instead of foster owners taking home shelter dogs for long periods of time, volunteers can check them out for just a few hours at a time.
“The goal of the program is to reduce stress in shelter dogs and sustain their stay here until their family comes along to adopt them,” said Jenna Billeter, director of foster and volunteer resources at the Humane Rescue Alliance.
In addition to helping to calm the canines, volunteers said they enjoy the flexibility too.
“The happy hour is a very manageable, bite-sized thing to do,” volunteer Moira Hopkins told ABC News. “This is a great way to spend time with a dog and get them out of the shelter.”
Since the program began in February, Humane Rescue Alliance officials said that there have been more than 100 happy hour trips among 84 dog participants.
