Homeless Dogs Sleep Comfortably After Illinois Animal Shelter's Request for Armchairs Goes Viral

While homeless dogs at a no-kill shelter in Illinois are waiting for their forever homes, they are sitting comfortably in used armchairs generously donated by many community members.

On Monday, the Knox County Humane Society in Galesburg requested for armchair donations with a video of dogs Mickey, Tango and Goober lounging in their big, cozy furniture. The footage quickly went viral and has garnered over 15 million views so far.

“The shelter pets absolutely love their chairs! If anyone has any older chairs they no longer want, please think of the shelter pets!” the shelter captioned the video.

Donations of armchairs poured in and have taken up lots of space in the shelter as seen in another video shared on Wednesday. “We have had so many chairs donated this morning! Thank you everyone for sharing and donating! The shelter pets send many licks and purrs of thanks!!” said the shelter, which houses about 50 dogs and 50 cats at a time.

Erin Buckmaster, the volunteer executive director of the Knox County Humane Society, hopes that “every dog in every shelter is going to get a chair.”

Speaking with Today, Buckmaster, 71, explained that a dog named Buster Brown inspired the movement after he gave an old chair a second life and purpose.

Buster often refused to go into a kennel and insisted on sharing the staff’s desk chairs, which were too small for him to sit on. So in order to accommodate his wishes, the staff sought out to find a more comfortable solution and was contacted by a local plumbing and heating company that was getting rid of its office furniture. Thus, Buster was able to get his own chair.

“Buster was so comfortable. We thought they all needed one,” Buckmaster said. “We never dreamed it would take off like this. I really just wanted the dogs to feel more comfortable while staying at the shelter.”

Thanks to the viral video, armchair donations have spread across the country.

West Valley Humane Society in Idaho are now making their shelter pets feel at home. “They have kennels similar to ours and have comfy chairs for the dogs to sleep in,” West Valley Humane Society wrote on Facebook. “It provides a little bit of home while the dogs are waiting for theirs.”