Hudson Valley Shelter Dogs To Be Featured In Puppy Bowl XIX

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — If Super Bowl LVII on Sunday, Feb. 12, isn’t your thing — or even if it is — Animal Planet aims to tug TV viewers away with Puppy Bowl XIX, which features four adoptable shelter dogs from the Hudson Valley.

The puppies are divided into two teams — naturally, Team Ruff and Team Fluff — and they’ll compete for what’s called the “Lombarky trophy” in the puppy version of football, played inside a model stadium with color commentary from Animal Planet announcers.

The payoff for the puppies is the equivalent of a lifetime contract for love. The Puppy Bowl was created to increase adoption rates at shelters across the country. So far, it’s 18-0 when it comes to adoption rates.

Puppies from the Hudson Valley competing in this adorable showdown are:

• Bea from Arf Beacon in Beacon
• Poe from A Second Chance for Ziva in Chatham
• Walker from A Second Chance for Ziva in Chatham
• Tom Barky from Paws Crossed Animal Rescue in Elmsford

These four pups are among 122 featured from 67 shelters and rescues across 34 states. For the first time this year, the Puppy Bowl features a Native American dog rescue group and a puppy player from Dominica, West Indies.

The Puppy Bowl pregame show starts at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on Super Bowl 57 Sunday, with “kickoff” time an hour later at 2 p.m. Like the NFL players, the puppies will try to score a touchdown. Puppy Bowl referees are more forgiving than they are in the NFL, though, because energetic, excited puppies are going to let it play out every chance they get.

Still, they can be benched and replaced with a second-string puppy if they’re called for penalties that can range from “pass inter-fur-ence,” “unnecessary ruffness” and “premature watering of the field.”

The Puppy Cheer Squad will be back, as will fan favorites like footage captured by water bowl, slow motion and end zone pylon cameras. The puppies red-carpet arrivals will also be highlighted.

And while Rihanna headlines the Super Bowl halftime show, the Puppy Bowl will have its own Kitty Halftime Show, when adoptable kittens try to dance their way into viewers’ hearts. MVP and “Underdog” awards will also be handed out.