Puppy Bowl Stars 2 St. Pete Rescue Dogs On Super Bowl Sunday

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl match-up between the Kansans City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, two puppies from the St. Petersburg-based animal rescue Compassion Kind will take the field as part of Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl XIX.

Nancy and Max will compete with Team Ruff, the organization said in a news release. Nancy will also serve as the team’s cheerleader.

This year’s big game features 122 puppies from 67 shelters and rescue groups from across the country. The dogs are filmed playing together on a mini-gridiron to raise awareness of pet adoption.

The Puppy Bowl, which was pre-recorded in the fall in Glen Falls, New York, will air Sunday at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Watch it live on Animal Planet, Discovery Channel or TBS, or stream it on discovery+ and HBO Max.

Both Nancy and Max will be signing “pawtographs” at a Puppy Bowl viewing party Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. at Dog Bar in St. Petersburg. There will be raffles and Jell-O shots, and after the Animal Planet program airs, the bar will host its own Puppy Bowl from 4 to 6 p.m.

Nancy, who is now six months old, is “a small and gentle” female terrier mix whose mother was rescued from a hoarding situation in Puerto Rico, Compassion Kind said. She was one of the smallest pups in her litter. She was adopted to a St. Petersburg home and renamed Nova.

“She gave kisses to all the production staff during the taping,” the group said.

Max, a lab/pointer mix who is also now six months old, was found under a bush on a rural road in Jamaica. He was adopted into a Riverview family, where he loves to play with his adopted sister and lie in the sun.

“He was a bit camera shy during the taping,” the organization said.

This is the second year Compassion Kind was part of the Puppy Bowl.

Last year was our first time participating, (and it) was really neat to see how everything was filmed behind the scenes and to have our pups represent the foundation,” founder Aja Estro told Patch. “(It) helps bring attention to our rescue work. They film in advance. We don’t see anything until Super Bowl Sunday.”

Compassion Kind focuses on global rescue efforts, rescuing animals during national disasters, such as floods, hurricanes and fires. They help find foster and forever homes.

Since launching, the organization has saved more than 8,000 animals.

“Our mission is to inspire compassion through global action. We are so grateful for all our dedicated volunteers who work tirelessly to help those in need,” Estro said. “We are also thankful to the producers of Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl for putting together another amazing competition and including Compassion Kind in their casting.”

Learn more about donating to the organization or adopting an animal at www.compassionkind.org.