This weekend, 15 rescue dogs made history by invading the pitch during a live-streamed football match on Twitch. But this wasn’t a glitch — it was part of a new creative campaign from Pedigree, part of Mars Incorporated, and Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, designed to turn virtual pitch invasions into real-life second chances – by helping rescue dogs find loving new homes.
The campaign comes as new research from Pedigree reveals that despite growing interest in pet ownership, rescue dogs are still being left on the bench. However, Gen Z gamers are emerging as the unexpected champions of adoption with 85% saying they’d consider adopting a rescue dog, compared to just 70% of the wider Gen Z population.
And many are already leading by example, with almost a third (32%) of gamers aged 18–30-years-old having adopted a canine companion, defying outdated ideas about who rescue dogs are ‘right’ for. In fact, respondents believe traits essential to gaming — like responsibility (59%), patience (55%), commitment (53%), strategy (31%) and problem-solving (25%) — also make for great dog ownership. Over half (57%) also said a pet dog makes a great companion whilst playing games, with 28% saying it encourages them to take regular gaming breaks too.
Pedigree’s latest E-Doption campaign brought these insights to life on Saturday 26th April, when the dogs’ pitch invasion occurred during a live streamed football match between gaming legends Bateson87 (1.1m followers) and NepentheZ (629k followers) on Twitch, the popular live streaming video game platform. Nearly 37,000 viewers witnessed dogs like Billy, Larry and Teddy invading the play in a first-of-its-kind furry flash mob with a mission. Eight of the dogs who made a surprise appearance have a real-life counterpart currently waiting to be adopted at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.
Gamer Bateson97 said, “I’ve always backed an underdog’s comeback—whether it’s bringing a player back into the team, supporting them to achieve epic wins in FC, or seeing a rescue dog get a second chance. The underDOGS campaign is such an amazing idea because it reminds us that comebacks are possible for anyone—or any dog—with love, time, and effort.”
And who understands the value of a comeback better than footy video game players? When the digital pitch is all about turning things around, investing time, care, and belief to build champions – It’s the same with rescue dogs: with the right support, love, and attention, they too can go from the sidelines to stars.
Despite growing enthusiasm for pet ownership, less than half (48%) of Gen Z have adopted a dog as misconceptions about behaviour issues of rescue dogs is still prevalent (11% of Gen Z have this worry). Additionally, concerns around financials (26%), and being time poor (24%) are also factors young people have in mind when thinking of adopting a dog. Pedigree and Battersea hope to challenge this by proving that rescue dogs can be just as loyal, loving and life changing as any pedigree pup and the right one to fit your lifestyle is out there.
Battersea’s Rehoming and Welfare Manager, Sofia Papaloizou, says, “Owning a dog can be incredibly rewarding but does require a lot of commitment, training and patience – all things that are needed for gaming too. Rescue dogs are incredibly special and it’s great to hear that so many gamers are already enjoying the wonderful companionship of a rescue pet. We hope that this campaign will not only help find a home for the dogs involved but also showcase how unique every rescue dog is and inspire more people to consider adoption when looking to get a pet in the future.”
