In partnership with Zappos
This story was nearly a disaster. What we originally wanted to do was interview a ton of adopted pets about how they met their owners. Wouldn’t that have been so cute? That’s the story you never get to hear when you are cornered in the grocery store by your neighbor who is showing you, for the thousandth time, photos of the sweaters she knits for her rabbits. You never hear about whether or not the dog likes its walker or how the cat really feels about that bird. Okay, so fine. When this partnership with Zappos came up to celebrate the #Pawlidayz and their new Zappos Rewards program, we had everything laid out perfectly in our minds as to how this would go:
I’d sit with the adopted pet of an MR team member over something cozy, like cocoa. I’d ask them all sorts of fun questions, just like I do with our It’s Kind of a Funny Story series, and listen to them go on about their favorite human. Maybe I’d scratch them behind their ears if appropriate. Maybe we’d chase a squirrel. We’d laugh, cry, hug, bond.
But then complications came up, as they sometimes do. Turns out animals can’t consume cocoa. Also turns out that they are very shy around reporters and don’t want to talk, like, at all. Just a few woofs and meows here or there. Soundbites, but not very useful ones.
The good news — beyond the fact that Zappos will offer free pet adoptions beginning Black Friday through Cyber Monday working with Best Friends Animal Society; that more than 115 shelters, rescues and humane organizations across the United States will participate in the initiative; and that it is Zappos’ goal to see 9,000 dogs and cats adopted between Friday, November 25th and Monday, November 28th — the good news is that the owners agreed to talk. Obviously they did. The only thing humans like talking about more than their children are their pets.
Of course, to some of these humans, these are their kids.
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Join Zappos Rewards and get access to free expedited shipping, points for rewards, early access to sales and more. Existing customers joining Zappos Rewards by 11/30 will also get a $15 Rewards Code.
