This animal rescue worker from Indiana is probably living his best life as he goes about cuddling pets and helping them find their forever homes.
Countless animals spend their life locked up in pet shelters, hoping to find a kind individual who can adopt them. Some of these animals might have disabilities, some are aged or some are still traumatized despite getting rescued from uninhabitable areas. But animals at IndyHumane don't have to worry about getting adopted sooner than expected because they have their "Dangler in Chief" helping them out, per USA Today.
Meet 31-year-old Cameron Shoppach who probably has the best job in the world. He works at the Indianapolis-based animal shelter and has gained a fanbase online while doing his "dangling tests" on the shelter animals. Shoppach makes videos on his Instagram @does.it.dangle to showcase his fun technique of dangling the animals by hooking his arms under their front legs and checking if the animal wiggles out of his grip or stays calm in the motion. These demonstrations have helped numerous animals from the shelter find their forever homes.
Shoppach's videos have not only helped 20 dogs get adopted but it has also contributed towards fundraising campaigns at IndyHumane. Shoppach told the outlet that his job at the shelter is to familiarize himself with the dogs and facilitate play groups. He came up with the idea to test the temperament of dogs with this dangling technique which is usually used to check how sociable the cats are. Soon, he figured out that dangling these dogs can help to detect their unique personalities.
Then he continued filming more videos with the dogs at the shelter to showcase them to prospective adopters. “I can show dogs that kind of get overlooked,” he told the outlet. However, Shoppach advises the general public to not casually dangle these animals. Being a trained individual at handling these pooches, Shoppach records himself individually dangling each dog to note their behavior when they are swaying back and forth with his help. If the dog remains calm then it passes the test and if it tries to break free from the hold then it fails the dangling test.
“Is it a dangle?” he asks each time before flashing an “X” or a checkmark on his videos. In the caption of each of his videos, he shares the name, breed and necessary information about the animals he can be seen playing with and it lets people know that they are up for adoption. “Tank is one of my favorite dogs in the shelter, he's also one of the longest stays,” Shoppach wrote one one of his Instagram videos. “His kennel presence is terrible so he almost immediately gets overlooked. He will smother anyone he knows with love, kisses, and snuggles. He has such a good heart and fun personality.”
Shoppach has gained a loyal following from the dog-loving community which has grown to 55,500 followers so far and counting. “I was not prepared to see so many people so passionate and positive,” he shared with the media outlet. “It has been a nice little serotonin boost to see an entire goofy community of people all just smiling and thumbs up and laughing.” According to the reports of the outlet, his videos have helped IndyHumane to raise nearly $5,500 for the program "Operation Pitstop" which works to stop the overpopulation and discrimination of bully breeds of dogs by spaying and neutering them.
The media outlet also reported that Shoppach’s videos have directly helped IndyHumane raise nearly $5,500 for the program "Operation Pitstop", which helps to thwart the overpopulation and discrimination of bully breeds by getting them spayed and neutered. The IndyHumane worker frequently mentions the fundraising in captions of his posts, like one about a pitbull named Baxter, and includes direct links to the campaign over the footage.