Watch: Footballers Walk Into Stadium Holding Homeless Puppies To Promote Adoption

One of the most popular football clubs in Russia, Zenit St. Petersburg is known for reaching out to its fanbase with social endeavours. The club has been running a campaign to support the local shelter ‘Friend’, which accommodates a large number of homeless dogs.

This Friday when they were playing at home, Zenit players made a noble gesture as a part of their attempt to get little animals adopted from local shelters.

They were playing against FC Rostov at the Gazprom Arena. Prior to the the Russian Premier League match, Zenit players walked out of the dressing rooms, carrying puppies in their arms. A video shared on Twitter was captioned, “The Zenit players took to the Gazprom Arena field this afternoon accompanied by dogs from local shelters looking for a new home.”

On World Pet Day on November 30, Zenit St. Petersburg joined forces with a non-profit organization in Russia that oversees responsible dog breeding and preserves breed diversity. They launched a community project that aims to highlight the responsibility required of having a pet and raise funds for local dog shelters.

The footballers, accompanied by dogs looking for new homes, took the pitch with the intention to discourage buying and selling of the furry animals. The images from the field appeared on Russian television and circulated across social networking platforms.

As far as the football match is concerned, it was a 2-2 draw. Zenit’s Claudinho scored both goals for his team. Zenit are at the top of the Russian Premier League table at present with 37 points from 17 matches. They have a 5-point lead over Dinamo Mosow who have a match in hand.