A Bradenton, Florida brewery has been running a campaign to help shelter dogs get adopted. The brewery has used several dogs from local shelters as the faces on their beer cans. One of the dogs featured on the brewery’s cans was recognized by its owner. After three years of being missing, the pit bull mix was finally reunited with her owner.
In the spring of 2019, a pit bull was brought in to the Manatee County Animal Services in Florida. The staff immediately scanned the pit bull for a microchip and learned the dog once belonged to a woman named Monica Mathis. The staff then set out to contact Monica, but her information wasn’t current, and they came up empty-handed. There was also no way to determine how long the pit bull had been missing.
The Manatee County Animal Services named the pit bull Day Day, and she quickly became a staff favorite. The shelter’s outreach and events specialist said Day Day was the perfect dog to adopt. The pit bull was affectionate, playful, happy, and had a heart of gold. But, Day Day was always passed over by families looking to adopt.
The shelter has hundreds of dogs and cats, and Day Day was always overlooked. The shelter decided to nominate the pit bull for a campaign a local brewery was working on with the shelter.
Motorworks Brewing partnered with the shelter to release a four-pack beer called the “Adoptable Dog Cruiser.” The German Kölsch beer featured labels with the faces of dogs from the Manatee shelter. All the proceeds from the special beer went towards building a new shelter facility. The shelter also hoped the exposure would help their dogs get adopted.
Monica Mathis was browsing online in her home in St. Paul, Minnesota when she came across a viral story about the dogs on the beer cans. Monica was shocked to see her missing dog on the label of one of the beer cans. Day Day was her long lost dog Hazel, who had gone missing from their Iowa home three years earlier.
Monica contacted the Manatee shelter, and the staff was thrilled they had finally found Day Day’s owner. The unique collaboration and consequential reunion of Monica and Hazel touched people around the world. Here’s a video of the bizarre story:
Credits: WZDX News YouTube