After Megan Brockman, who has two rescue dogs, read about two dogs who died of heatstroke in Newport News, Virginia, after being left outside for a few hours, she didn’t just close her browser and go about her day. She did something. What she did might have seemed crazy at the time, but it struck a chord. Eventually it went viral.
What she did was this: She bought 11 kiddie pools and put them on the yard outside her restaurant, Cafe Mojo in Urbana, Virginia, with the sign: “If Your Dog Has To Be Outside… Please Take a Pool To Help Them Cool. If the kiddie pools are all gone, I’ll replace as soon as I can — Megan.”
The kiddie pools disappeared. She bought more. People took more. (Hopefully these people all had dogs.) Brockman figures she bought at least 30 kiddie pools, and people have been stopping by to donate their own pools. Her parents are also bringing pools. Brockman looks for pools in other towns near Urbana.
“What’s happened in the the past 24 hours, it brings tears to our eyes. It feels good making a difference. I am glad people are noticing,” Brockman told CBS 6. “I really just did it to help anybody who might not be able to afford something like this.”
Her sign has gone viral, thanks to a Reddit post by a couple, Brittany Magill and Matt Rogers, who were visiting Urbana.
“My boyfriend saw it and said, ‘Oh, look at that sign. How cool is that?'” Magill told ABCNews.com. “We just thought it was really sweet and generous for someone to offer up all these doggie pools.”
She posted the photo to Reddit, where it now has more than 800,000 views and more than 500 comments.
“I posted it on Reddit so other people could see how nice it was,” she said.
Brockman is thrilled with all the attention the sign has received, and she hopes it makes a difference.
“If we can spread awareness and have people care more about all the living creatures then that would be amazing,” she told ABCNews.com. “People aren’t the only creatures on the planet. Dogs can’t help themselves. People have to do it.”
Via CBS 6 and ABCNews.com
