Anyone can picture themselves redecorating their home when walking into an Ikea store based on the incredible number of home furnishings and perfectly staged rooms. All that seems to be missing from the picture is the family pet. Until now.
At Ikea in Catania, Italy, you can find several dogs lying around the store snoozing on a display of area rugs or lounging near the windows of a mock living room. With the colder months and the season of giving setting in, the employees of the store have opened their doors to some of Italy’s stray dogs and this small gesture is capturing people’s hearts.
One curious customer walking through the store noticed the dogs and started taking photos. “My reaction was pure amazement,” said Martine Taccia to the Dodo. “It’s not a common thing.”
Taccia learned that the dogs were local strays from the area that were welcomed inside to take shelter from the elements, and shelter is more than what they got. The dogs also receive daily food and water, not mention all the attention from guests and employees.
Though Ikea seems to be getting more and more attention from their gesture, this isn’t a fundraiser or advertisement. In the past, the store has partnered with Home for Hope, a campaign that involved placing cardboard cutouts of animals to promote and encourage adoption from shelters.
But nothing beats having the real thing asleep behind the couch someone was shopping for. Some of the strays have even been adopted by customers shopping. Other customers hope that more shops learn from Ikea. Why not open their doors and their hearts to a few stray animals with sad circumstances?
Though keep in mind this does take place in Italy where temperatures aren’t exactly ‘frigid’, the dogs are kept out of the rain and are sleeping somewhere other than the streets and these pups are shown a little more TLC than just food and shelter. Gestures like these are a great way to promote adopting a pet and show people that shelter pets are just as lovable as pet store pets.
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