Lady Luck, a puppy formerly housed at the Nevada SPCA, which happens to be across the street from Allegiant Stadium, was chosen to appear in the 2024 Puppy Bowl that plays during Super Bowl weekend. Thursday, January 25, 2024.
Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024 | 2 a.m.
The Raiders aren’t playing Feb. 11 in the Super Bowl at Allegiant Stadium, but one fluffy Las Vegas resident will be representing the city in an annual event for dog enthusiasts ahead of the big game.
Lady Luck, an 8-month old puppy from the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), will be trading in her pink bow for an orange Team Ruff bandana during the 20th annual Puppy Bowl.
“We really wanted to represent Southern Nevada since we’re the home of the Super Bowl, right, and our shelter is literally in the shadow of Allegiant Stadium,” said Lori Heeren, CEO of the Nevada SPCA. “It was a really fun experience, and (Lady Luck) is a really interesting little girl.”
Lady Luck is one of 131 puppies from 73 shelters and rescues across 36 U.S. states and territories appearing in Puppy Bowl XX, which will air at 11 a.m. Feb. 11 on Animal Planet just prior to the Super Bowl. Puppy Bowl is an animal parody of the football game, complete with a human referee, puppy players and kitten halftime performers in a puppy-sized stadium.
It was created to promote animal adoption as well as raise awareness of “the dedication and incredible work of rescues and shelters,” said officials with Warner Bros. Discover, Animal Planet’s parent company, in a statement.
With about 12 million viewers tuning into the three-hour show, Heeren says the Puppy Bowl “really showcases the hard-working rescues and shelters all over the country” and helps them draw more donors outside of Southern Nevada.
Animal shelters and rescues in the United States have grappled with overpopulation and financial issues over the past few years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than two-thirds of U.S. households have a dog or cat, with 22% of them having multiple pets, according to data from the Best Friends Animal Society. Almost 4.5 million dogs and cats were taken in by shelters across the nation in 2022, but shelter adoptions — especially for dogs — have remained flat since 2020.
The Nevada SPCA witnesses this firsthand every year. In 2021, the shelter was able to get 1,114 dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits and rats adopted. The shelter also saw 331 kittens enter its doors and helped 390 pets through fostering, according to data provided by the shelter. Only a year later, the number of kittens brought in nearly doubled to 620; animals saved by fostering jumped to 781; and pets adopted increased by 1,443.
Much like many of the animals cared for by Nevada SPCA, Lady Luck was found last spring alone under a tree covered in dirt in a Las Vegas park. A resident found her and brought the puppy — who was only about 4- to 6-weeks old at the time — to Heeren’s team at 5375 Procyon Street.
The Puppy Bowl production crew came a few months after Lady Luck’s arrival looking for animals to appear in the 20th anniversary of the show, Heeren said. To qualify for the Puppy Bowl, the furry candidates must be adoptable, between 12 to 21 weeks old, small enough to fit within the model stadium, sociable and physically able to play.
Heeren knew Lady Luck had all the right stats, and the puppy was put on Animal Planet’s roster. It was also when she earned her name, which producers asked Heeren to choose as a way to represent Las Vegas.
In October, Heeren traveled with Lady Luck to Glens Falls, N.Y., where the puppy spent three days under bright lights doing everything from marketing photoshoots to frolicking around on video.
Lady Luck also was chosen as one of the featured animals to appear in a special video during the Puppy Bowl broadcast, where viewers will get to see her make an appearance on the Las Vegas Strip and join magician Matt Franco — who has a show at the LINQ — on stage. Although she isn’t the first puppy from the Nevada SPCA to appear in the Puppy Bowl, she’s the first since Heeren took over operations in September 2019 and helped provide a “really great opportunity for Southern Nevada to be represented.” The Nevada SPCA shelter is also the only shelter in the state represented on this year’s broadcast, Heeren added.
“(Lady Luck) has got a spunky little personality, and she’s adorable with how Jamie (Perkins, her adopter) dresses her up, so it’s been a really cool experience,” Heeren said. “I really will be lobbying the Puppy Bowl to have us come again. I’m going to see if we can have another (puppy) next year; probably won’t be as cute as Lady Luck, but we will try again.”
The Puppy Bowl and its related content typically takes months to organize and is filmed about four months prior to its air date.
By the time it actually airs, many of the dogs presented on field have been adopted out, Heeren said. That was also the case for Lady Luck, who was adopted by local veterinarian Jamie Perkins and her family late last year.
Perkins and her family already had two cats and a 3-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with whom Lady Luck — now named Venom — spends her time. When not racing across the house and backyard, she can be found with a bow in her hair and donning a stylish outfit, like her Barbie-pink sparkly dress, Perkins said.
Despite Lady Luck’s rough start, Heeren and Perkins agreed the dog became “a star” both for her energetic personality and adorable looks. The puppy was given a DNA test, courtesy of the Puppy Bowl production team, to confirm the dog’s breed, which will be revealed after the broadcast.
Perkins saidLady Luck was definitely a poodle, which she believes is a testament to the types of animals that end up in shelters, Perkins explained. Some people choose not to adopt because they are searching for a specific breed of dog and instead turn to breeders — many of which can be unlicensed or employ unethical practices, she said.
“They have beautiful dogs that come into shelters like this,” Perkins said. “I think some people are surprised and they kind of have this generalization that they think come to the shelter specifically, but I think she’s a good example of a small, very cute dog that has come out of this situation.”
You can watch Lady Luck battle for the Wayfair “‘Lombarky’” trophy, Most Valuable Puppy (MVP) title or Subaru of America Underdog Award on Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, truTV, Max and discovery+.
Then, of course, the Chiefs will try to become the NFL’s first back-to-back champions in 20 years when they take on the 49ers in Super Bowl 58 at 3:30 p.m. on CBS.
