Pokémon Dogs coming to a shelter near you?

The Muncie Animal Shelter, based in Indiana, just came up with a brilliant idea that we think a lot of animal shelters will be catching on to very soon.

The shelter started a volunteer program called “Pokémon Dogs” that encourages gamers to take some of its dogs for a walk while they are outdoors catching Pokémon.

Phil Peckinpaugh, a director at the shelter, told ABC News that he came up with the idea after watching his daughter Ruthie and nephew playing the app.

 “I started playing with Ruthie, and it was actually pretty fun. Then the other day on my way to work, I notice droves of young people walking around playing this game. I thought, wouldn’t it be great if all those people were walking with our dogs?”

Phil told another publication, The Star Press, that his Facebook ad encouraging players to walk with their 75 adoptable dogs while catching Pokémon has been well received.

 “I just want our dogs to have stimulation and exercise. I didn’t have any ulterior motives; it was an incredibly pure motive. I just wanted our dogs walked. That’s still all I want. I just want people to come and walk our dogs… I hope that we can retain some volunteers. I hope this Pokémon Go isn’t something that lasts a couple weeks. I hope the shelter becomes a hot spot.”