Ready for the big game? Well, don't forget the chips, dip, and kibble, because Super Bowl weekend happens to be one of the biggest times of year for NYC's rescue community, thanks to Animal Planet's annual Super Bowl-inspired program, the Puppy Bowl.

Scottie Donovan, a civil engineer in Brooklyn, recently adopted her puppy, Erica.

"When I adopted her they let me know, by the way, she's up for the running in the Puppy Bowl and my heart sank because I didn't know I could love her anymore, but now she's letting me be a part of something that's as incredible as that is," said Donovan.

What You Need To Know

  • This Sunday will be Animal Planet's 17th Puppy Bowl show, a Super Bowl-inspired program with rescue dogs trying their best to play football

  • Several rescue groups in NYC have dogs in this year's Puppy Bowl and all gear up for a huge increase in interest around fostering and adopting rescues

  • The Sato Project, Muddy Paws Rescue, and Foster Dogs INC are all rooting for their dogs, who were picked to be in this years Puppy Bowl

  • Puppy Bowl is not the best football you'll see on Super Bowl Sunday, but it will help get countless dogs adopted

So Donovan is rooting for Team Fluff, who are playing team Ruff. About 70 rescue dogs participate each year.

"She put her head down on a toy in the corner and just liked to watch. So, spoiler alert, Erica is not the MVP," added Donovan. But she is Donovan's MVP, helping her get through the difficulties of the pandemic as a constant companion.  

With so many rescue orginizations across the Big Apple sending pups to this year's event, it's a way to build buzz for the many dogs looking for forever homes.

"We get interest all year long. At any given point, it’s about 300 a day, but with Puppy Bowl it just explodes with so many people interested in the chance to adopts some of our dogs," says Brittany Lee of Muddy Paws Rescue. 

All over the city, organizations gear up for this weekend. Brooklyn's the Sato Project rescues stray dogs in Puerto Rico and flies them here to be adopted.

"I rescued a mom and puppies that were in a junkyard and one of them was the runt of the litter, this little white pup with a black eye, and as soon as I got them to the clinic I FaceTimed Mike," said Chrissy Beckles, the founder of the Sato Porject.

And Mike is Mike Noble, a TV producer who lives in the Bronx, who adopted him and named him Coltrane. 

"It's been great. He's awesome. He's a very good boy. He's on Team Ruff." said Noble.

Martha and Zach Shinaba adopted Bingo through Foster Dogs INC. He's also in the big game.

"It makes us feel good to be able to have him as part of our family and then other people can see the types of dogs that you can adopt," said Martha. 

"Puppy Bowl has been a huge boost in helping expand our reach when we can talk about fostering with a totally new audience that we've never been able to reach before," says Foster Dogs INC Founder Sarah Brasky.

And that's always a win. The game itself was prerecorded and many if not all the pups have been adopted, but they'll still award the MVP and the boost in interest in rescue dogs can continue for weeks.