March Madness Bracket Helps Shelter Pets

As the NCAA prepares for the Final Four this weekend, Petplan pet insurance – and a handful of animal rescues from across the country – are gearing up for the Final Fur. Petplan is hosting its second annual Tournament of Tails – a March Madness-style bracket benefitting shelter pets.

This first-of-its-kind tournament began with 32 adoptable dogs and cats playing in friendly, online matchups. For each move up the bracket – determined by fan votes – pet players receive a donation for their shelter (winning more money as they advance) with the tournament champion scoring $5,000. Besides shelters winning much-needed funds, Petplan aims to raise awareness for shelter pets, as well as the organizations that help them rebound from adversity and find fur-ever homes. So far, 10 of the pet players have found their forever homes.

After two weeks of competitive matchups, and even a few upsets, just four pets remain in the tournament and each with their own “Cinderella story” – from Snicker a 5-year-old blind cat with 1 million fans from his shelters Facebook page rooting for him to Blue Man, a 12-year-old Blue Heeler dog who’s patiently waiting to be adopted. And as luck would have it, the final four pets are a tidy two cats and two dogs.

The Final Fur matchups will take place on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5, with the Championship game on Monday, April 6. In each matchup, fans can visit the tournament website to vote for their pet-of-choice between midnight and 11:59pm EST and whichever pet has the most votes at the end of the day advances.'

Make some noise for shelter pets!

Pictured above: 

From left to right:  Snicker from Blind Cat Rescue and Sanctuary in North Carolina, Blue Man from Save-A-Pet in Illinois and Gizmo from The Grannie Project in Pennsylvania.  The last Final Fur spot will go to either Maddie from Las Vegas Boxer Rescue or Shiloh from American Maltese Association Rescue