- And finally tonight, using social media to create social good.

A dedicated volunteer at the Associated Humane Society in Newark put out a call to action asking content creators from all over to come together in support of the local animal shelter.

Hosting a creator day for social media influencers to share the stories of Pets Up for Adoption with the hopes of helping each one find its forever home.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports.

(dogs barking) - Social media influencers on a mission toward the Associated Humane Society's animal shelter in Newark, walking through a barrage of barking from more than 160 dogs desperate for attention.

These content creators found a packed shelter every kennel occupied.

The idea of mobilizing social media comes from volunteer Olivia Marcus an Instagram icon with 80,000 followers of her own.

She figured fellow influencers could help dogs like Titan who's languished here for more than a year.

- We want them to feature a lot of the long-term residents, the ones that have just been waiting for their story to get told and have been in the shelter for hundreds and hundreds of days.

And also some of our little stars, like there's some really fun cats and kittens in the cat room.

- Some 200 cats here also need fostering or forever homes.

Kitties like seven year old Luna, surrendered by an owner with Alzheimer's.

- She comes off as a little bit timid, but once you get to know her, she is the absolute sweetest.

And she's next to some kittens, so she easily gets overlooked.

- Summer's kitten season, so the cat room's crammed with more cuteness than it can handle.

Pet surrenders far outnumber adoptions.

For many influencers, the shelter's request for help hit home.

- I've had four family pets that were all rescues.

I've had two senior cats that were rescues.

These animals are amazing.

They deserve homes.

And I feel like they're just sitting here and you don't know.

So trying to get more awareness would be awesome.

- About 40 TikTokers and Instagrammers from Jersey and New York signed up.

The tour left some a little shaken and many noticed most of the dogs here are pit bulls.

- A lot of pit bulls, which makes me really upset.

I love a bully.

I feel like they're very misunderstood.

And I think when it comes to a lot of apartment buildings, too, they're one of the breeds that aren't allowed.

They're so sad in the eyes and it makes me so upset because they just all deserve a home.

- Amongst the cats, it's the older surrenders who often get passed by.

- I wanna have a cat.

My apartment's not cat friendly, but I just wanted to be here to be of support if I can.

- This is Rock.

He was surrendered.

The epidemic of surrendered pets isn't just a Newark problem.

Last week, New York City's animal shelters suspended intake for the first time ever.

They simply ran out of kennels.

- So we are seeing increased cost of veterinary care, increased cost of pet food, increased cost of housing, and a lack of pet friendly housing in the entire nation.

There are breed restrictions in apartments for renters.

There are weight restrictions.

- Yeah.

- Hey, buddy.

- Featured dogs got to go for walkies where creators recorded content and gave lots of treats, including whipped cream pop cups.

- I love dogs more than people and animal rescue is literally the single most important thing in the world to me.

I wish people would stop going to breeders and would give rescue dogs a chance.

Oh my God, he's so friendly.

And he's good with also kids.

It's very important when they're good with kids, they're good to adopt.

- Are you going to try and get her matched up with someone?

- I mean, I'm definitely going to put her on, I have five social media pages.

The result of Friday's outreach, a flood of posts over the weekend.

♪ 'Cause I got a dashboard ♪ ♪ Begging for you bare feet on ♪ ♪ Everywhere you look ♪ ♪ Everywhere's a place ♪ - I need you to stop scrolling for a second so we can help out this kitty.

This is Tails, and he's often overlooked at the shelter because he actually has no tail.

- Under new management, the shelter's strong focus on adoptions reflected in the numbers.

According to the animal rights group, Best Friends, associated humane societies in Newark achieved a nearly no kill status between June, 2024 and this past May by saving some 90% of the dogs and cats here.

They're hoping to make it 100%.

- I'll be sharing more stories of the pups that I met.

- With a little help from their new influencer friends.

In Newark, I'm Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.

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