Apparently being man’s best friend is no longer enough.
An animal-welfare group in New Zealand has spent the past eight weeks teaching three abandoned dogs to drive a car. The group will host a televised demonstration next week on a closed track, which it hopes will show that shelter dogs aren’t damaged goods.
Sublime footage of the pups shifting gears and making turns in their designated Mini Countryman has been met with predictable enthusiasm on social networks. Rescue dogs Monty, Ginny, and Porter were recruited and trained by a “premiere New Zealand animal talent agency” for the canine driver’s-ed operation.
As one animal-welfare executive put it, “Driving a car actively demonstrates to potential rescue dog adopters that you can teach an old dog new tricks.” Hard to argue with that.
