Espanyol players bring puppies onto the field to promote adoption

Espanyol at the forefront to raise awareness about animal adoption. In fact, the players entered the field together with 11 abandoned puppies looking for a family

Before their match against Mallorca, players from Espanyol-a Primera División team in Spain’s top football league-walked onto the field accompanied by eleven abandoned puppies. The heartwarming move was meant to raise awareness about animal adoption and the issue of pet abandonment.

“Los pericos no abandonan“: a campaign to protect and adopt dogs

The event was part of the “Los Pericos No Abandonan” campaign, a project designed to raise awareness on the protection and adoption of dogs. It is a call to action to be taken by the public to address the problem of abandoned pets.

This campaign was launched for the first time last year, when the club was in the Second Division. The successful initiative homed eleven dogs and collected more than 4,400 pounds of food and supplies for shelters. This season, Espanyol repeated the campaign to raise awareness of this critical social problem.

Donations of blankets, towels, and pet food

The match was held at RCDE Stadium, where players took to the field accompanied by puppies that needed a home. The whole scene was heartwarming and sent social media abuzz.

Besides the parade with the dogs, Espanyol organized an event to collect blankets, towels, and pet food, in which it invited all its supporters to participate actively. In order to encourage contributions, a raffle was held with donors; the prizes were shirts signed by the players, VIP invites to matches, and guided visits to the stadium.

This was possible thanks to the support of the RCDE Foundation, the Penya Perica Happy Animals association, and local shelters like ADACC Cornellà and ASASF Barcelona. Materials that helped to support the animals of these shelters were donated by companies like Affinity and Elanco.

One of the poignant moments was when the midfielder, Pol Lozano from Espanyol shared how years back, he himself had adopted a dog:

“Finding him and bringing him into my life was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Dogs sometimes show deeper feelings than people.”

Football as a vehicle for solidarity

With this initiative, Espanyol demonstrates that football can serve as a powerful platform for solidarity and awareness. The hope is that this campaign will inspire other teams and organizations to follow suit, encouraging more people to adopt abandoned pets.