Perhaps you’ve noticed people acting strangely of late, staring into their phones even more than usual, stopping traffic on highways, swarming parks. The cause of this curious behaviour? Some cute fictional creatures and an app with a user base that has quickly outnumbered both Twitter and Tinder. The craze for Pokémon Go, a free, location-based, augmented reality game you play on your phone, has swept the globe—it’s as inescapable as the media coverage that has followed in its wake. But some fans of the game are looking past Pikachu, Charmander, and Squirtle (those would be Pokémon characters, for the uninitiated), and to its altruistic potential.

Phil Peckinpaugh, director of the Muncie Animal Shelter in Muncie, Indiana, noticed the uptick in people walking outdoors thanks to a Pokémon Go obsession when an idea struck: all of these people could be walking dogs! Phil quickly turned to social media where he promoted the opportunity through the shelter’s website. “Just come to the front desk and say your are here for the Pokémon dogs,” read the post. Social media went crazy for the initiative, with people sharing, retweeting, and commenting on the post. And then came the people. Within one hour of the post, they saw a surge of people lining up at the shelter to do their part (and “catch ‘em all”—the game’s motto—in the process). Safety concerns were addressed, too: “If you can’t be responsible while playing the game, you’re not the best fit,”  Phil noted.

How do the dogs feel about? They’re probably concerned for the sanity of their dog walkers, but will likely keep that information to themselves. Why mess with anything that results in more dog walks? This win-win situation gets two paws up from us!