How a WA woman became a TikTok star by bringing attention to shelter animals

A Tri-Cities woman is a rising star on TikTok for bringing attention to shelter animals and reporter Chris Wright shows us how she's using social media to help connect rescue dogs with a new home. They can look crazy in their kennel and just be barking their heads off. And the second that they exit their kennel, they are a perfect angel. So I've actually been volunteering on and off since I was 13, but in 2020 was when I started volunteering every week. So with COVID going on there just there wasn't much to do. Now you're going to remember me. Yeah I know. 2020 was when I started doing the videos. I noticed a lot of the other volunteers were posting pictures and that was a really good way to advocate for the dogs. So I wanted to take it one step farther and show their personality a little bit more. Saraceno says these more fun, less Sarah McLachlan in the arms of an angel style videos help the pups be their happy selves. Holy crap! I think I got really lucky, and I had a video go viral, and all of a sudden I had 50,000 followers, and I helped that dog get adopted. I feel like I've gotten better at creating content over the years, but I could be better. That doesn't matter. I wanted to see the behind the scenes, the how-to, so I joined Saraceno one fall morning, taking out this pug mutt, Rinaldo. Dude, seriously. So it's great for these dogs to get out. There's actually been studies done that show that even an hour out of their kennel can reduce their stress by up to four times, but then they also just look better in the kennels. They're more of themselves, so that helps them to get adopted. My favorite part is obviously is with the dogs, but there's just no possible way that you can adopt all the So this is a way that I can help all of them. You know, Papa had been here for years, and I was really bonded and connected with him because he had been here as long as I had been here volunteering and then to have someone else fall in love with him and now to get updates from his new mom all the time. It's really special. It's weird to know that like so many eyes are on you, but then it's also been weird because within the last couple of months, I think more local people are finding me. So when I'm out with a dog, they'll be like, Julie, and I'm like, do I know you? Have I met you? And they're like, no, no, I follow you. Overnight stay away from the shelter can actually help a dog up to 10 times. Thank you. And that was Chris Wright reporting there, 176,000 followers and growing.