People of all ages pressed themselves up to the rail lining around the patio, cooing at the puppies playing with one another and chewing on toys.
“You’re going the wrong way,” someone called out, smiling as a brown puppy made his way towards one end of the field.
Once a black puppy began to wrestle the toy away from the brown puppy, taking the football, another shout could be heard: “Interception!”
Transforming The Corner’s patio space into a mini football field and substituting chew toys for footballs, about 25 puppies went head-to-head in a live re-enactment of Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl at the Puppy Bowl Cafe in CityScape. The event ran from Thursday to Sunday as a part of the Verizon Super Bowl Central.
Though Animal Planet’s televised puppy bowl was prerecorded, the live Puppy Bowl in CityScape was an opportunity to highlight local animals in need of care and a good home — particularly, the puppy players on display, all in need of adoption.
The puppies, provided by the Arizona Humane Society, were separated into two teams: Team Ruff and Team Fluff.
Before coming into the Puppy Bowl, one litter of Lab-Chow mixes was facing hard times — the six puppies were deserted in the middle of a field in a cardboard box just a few weeks ago, said Karin Graham from Arizona Humane Society.
After almost running over the box of puppies, a man brought the litter to the Arizona Humane Society. Named Russell, Wilson, Tom, Brady, Cleo and Brutus, the six puppies then recovered and were brought in to participate in the Puppy Bowl reenactment, Graham said.
Since the streets in the Super Bowl Central area close at 2 p.m. for a 12-block radius, at least 30,000 people were expected to have seen the puppies throughout the weekend, said Nathalie Quintana from Discovery Channel.
“We expect everyone who comes downtown to stop by,” said Chris Finnegan, the senior vice president of communications at Animal Planet.
Paula Frost, a spectator of the event, did not know about the Puppy Bowl Cafe until this week. Frost’s employer, the city of Phoenix, sent out a list of events, encouraging their employees to attend. Frost showed the most interest in the brown Lab-Chow mix, liking the pup’s heftier, mischievous demeanor.
Another spectator, Emily Axen, said that her favorite part of the Puppy Bowl is seeing all the different breeds.
“My family has always watched the Puppy Bowl before the Super Bowl together,” she said.
Animal Planet contacted the Arizona Humane Society in the fall to form a partnership, Graham said.
Lisa Banish wanted her restaurant, The Corner, to be independent and open to the public, unlike most of the restaurants that were bought out by the NFL and Pepsi in the Super Bowl Central area. Still, it only took them “half a second” to say yes to hosting the Puppy Bowl Cafe, Banish said.
Once the Puppy Bowl Cafe ended, the puppies were made available for adoption on Sunday at 3 p.m. at AHS’ Campus for Compassion, located at 1521 W. Dobbins Road in Phoenix. The adoption fee is $250, and includes vaccines, shots, the leash, and dog food.
Contact the reporter at jenny.ung@asu.edu
