Many shelters and rescue groups go to great lengths to raise awareness and get their animals placed in loving homes – they hold fundraiser events, black tie galas, and adopt-a-thons. A French man is trying a different tactic: beginning on November 11th, he will be living inside a shelter cage until all of its 300 residents have been adopted.
Prankster Rémi Gaillard has over nine million Facebook fans, so he’s sure to garner a lot of attention with this publicity stunt. He will be living like the animals at the SPA Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole for as long as it takes them all to find homes. Or until €50,000 (~$55,000) is raised on their behalf, whichever comes first. He will be livestreaming his entire experience so people get a better idea of just how confusing, frightening, and maddening it is to be a cat or a dog in a shelter.
This isn’t the first time he’s done something extreme to get his message across. In July, he chained himself up on the side of the road to shed light on the cruelty of abandoning pets in such a manner.
And in early 2016 he pulled a prank on a woman who was dropping a dog off at a shelter. While it is advisable to bring lost pets to shelters to be scanned for microchips and so owners know where to look for them, many animals who are brought into those places never make it out alive, so the video aims to show people how important it is to try to find proper homes for pets before surrendering them.
Let’s hope this feat is a triumph and that lots of money is raised and lots of animals are adopted. If you would like to donate, please click here.
