Last November, WTSP TV of St. Petersburg, FL (serving Tampa and Sarasota) reported about a microbrewery in North Dakota which was placing pictures of adoptable shelter dogs on it’s beer cans. No, the Night Owl does not know why a Florida news team would run with a story that takes place nigh upon the Great White North. Perhaps because it was the first story of its kind? The Owl cannot say, yet the Owl is very wise. Remember this always children, and you too shall be as wise as an owl.
Anyhoo, the idea to mix beer and hounds in need of a home was the brainchild of Jerad Ryan, brewery employee and shelter volunteer at 4 Luv of Dog Rescue in Fargo, ND. Jerad works for Fargo Brewery when he’s not helping out with rescue dogs. The microbrewery is donating the profits to the dog shelter, and the can labels with pictures of different doggos available for a forever home were donated by another company that wanted to help, Northern Plains Label. The partnership also held an event to promote the shelter and encourage folks to adopt a canine.
The idea appears to be catching on. In January, CBS News ran a story about Motorworks Brewing of Bradenton, Florida, and their special four-pack they’ve launched to raise money to help build a new facility for Shelter Manatee (a.k.a., Manatee County Animal Services) as well as to focus public attention on the shelter’s animals up for adoption.
Of the four dogs that were featured on the four-pack cans, two almost immediately found homes. A third dog that the shelter had named “Day Day”… well, something special happened for her. (Day Day is the third dog from the left in the picture above).
Monica Mathis was browsing on Facebook when the story about Motorworks Brewing and Shelter Manatee caught her eye. One of the four dogs (Day Day) looked exactly like Hazel, who in 2017 somehow became lost when Monica lived in Iowa. She had searched in vain for Hazel, but eventually life happens, as life often does. Monica changed her last name and moved home to Minnesota from Iowa. Or maybe she moved home to Minnesota and then changed her last name, hoo can say?
The kicker here is, Hazel had a microchip, but Shelter Manatee could not locate Monica because she hadn’t updated her name and contact information in the microchip database. The moral of the story is, always keep your contact information up to date!
What are the odds? Of all the dogs in Shelter Manatee, Hazel was lucky enough to be chosen to be featured on the four-pack. Then, her original owner sees her online by pure chance. Monica is happy to have her puppy back, and Hazel is happy to be back home with the woman she knew from birth. Yep, Monica was there and helped Hazel’s mother give birth.
And now, this Night Owl has come nearly full circle. Having begun in Fargo, ND, it closes right next door in Minnesota. Answer the following question(s), and the cyclical journey of enlightenment and entertainment will be complete.
Question(s) of the night: Would Bob and Doug McKenzie think it a good idea to mix mutts and brewskis? And how would we know if they thought we said “mixed nuts”, instead of “mix mutts”?
