Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

NYC Backpack Adventure That Saves Shelter Dogs Every Week

Bryan Reisberg discovered that his Corgi named Maxine had a magical ability to cheer people up during their daily commutes underground in New York City, transforming serious faces into smiles and making heavy loads feel lighter simply by staring at subway riders from inside a backpack. The NYC resident started posting videos of his urban adventures with Maxine on social media where she quickly became a viral sensation known as “the dog in the backpack” all over the world, accumulating millions of views and prompting Reisberg to quit his job and create a dog backpack brand called Little Chonk. When a friend suggested using his platform to help homeless shelter dogs, Reisberg partnered with Best Friends Animal Society to create a weekly program where he picks up a shelter dog, takes it into the city in a backpack with an “Adopt Me” label attached, and shoots professionally polished videos that turn abandoned pets into social media superstars with content that has surpassed 75 million views. Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society, calls Reisberg a hero to both the dogs and shelter staff, noting that his visits provide a massive morale boost and his channels have influenced adoptions in remarkable ways.

All 11 dogs featured so far have been adopted except for one with ongoing medical problems, and even more impressively, adoptions at the shelter have increased substantially with about 100 more dogs adopted compared to the same time last year, likely due to the backpack videos. One recent Instagram video featured Bertha, a six-year-old bulky white dog weighing 65 pounds who rode piggyback through Queens, traveled on the subway, gave slobbery kisses, and captured hearts across both New York City and the internet with commenters predicting her happily ever after was coming soon. Reisberg shared the good news shortly afterward that Miss Bertha was adopted by a lovely family on Long Island with a nice big house, prompting Instagram users to cry happy tears and celebrate this perfect way to get the word out about beautiful souls that are alone and need love. What started as a Corgi cheering up stressed commuters has transformed into a powerful adoption machine proving that your best friend might be waiting for you in a shelter and you don’t even realize it yet.

PrevPreviousThe Cop That Quit To Help People On The Streets
NextScientists Taught Brains A New Language Using LightNext

Recent Articles

Happy News

The Happiest Countries On Earth Ranked For 2026

March 23, 2026

Every year, researchers survey people across 140 countries and ask them to rate their own lives, and every year the results reveal something worth paying attention to. The 2026 World Happiness Report has just been released, and for the ninth time in the past ten years, Finland landed at the

Read More
Happy News

Human Footprints Found That Rewrite The Story Of Our Origins

March 23, 2026

In the middle of what is now one of the world’s most forbidding deserts, researchers have found something that should not be there by any previous understanding of human history: the footprints of a small group of our ancestors, preserved in the dried bed of an ancient lake in Saudi

Read More
Happy News

Golf Course Sinkhole Reveals A Secret Wine Cellar

March 23, 2026

When a groundskeeper at an English golf club spotted a small sinkhole near the 13th hole, he figured it was just a collapsed drain and set about digging it out. As the hole got deeper, it kept opening up beneath him, and eventually he found himself crawling through a small

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2026 HappyNews.