ALAMOSA—  If someone is looking for a “feel-good” story with an unusual and pretty cool ending, this is the perfect story to read.

About a year and a half ago, SLV Animal Welfare Society was in serious trouble. As one of the only true no-kill shelters in the Valley, located in a less populated part of the Valley, staffed almost entirely by volunteers and unassociated with any large non-profits like the Humane Society, it is not uncommon for dogs to be abandoned, “dumped” or to just end up as strays one way or another. As SLV Animal Welfare Society is the only shelter in the area, they were filled to capacity and rapidly running out of resources.

“We’re a small shelter with no corporate sponsors,” says Elaine Bicking, a volunteer at the shelter. “We were running out of food and looking for donations. I was looking for grants, but there is so much red tape and a delay of at least four months and, even then, no one would give funding for food. We were really in need.”

After exhausting every resource she could think of, Bicking decided to try a completely different approach and it turned out to be one of the best things she could have done.

Bicking found out about a mobile app named TREAT, a game – as described by the company – where people “play to impact REAL dogs.”

So, she did some checking – actually, a lot of checking – and found out it was a legitimate game and was actually as good as it sounded.

“We met with them via zoom. They asked us how much dog food we needed a month and we said about 2400 pounds. They said that was doable.  It was a pretty quick process and we ended up signing a contract together. After that, we started promoting TREAT, the app, to different people and having people try it and it really, really spread.”

“Treat is revolutionizing the way people connect with shelter animals, blending the joy of gaming with real-world impact,” Zach Weiner, company spokesman told the Valley Courier. “Our play-to-impact model allows users to engage with fun, interactive games while earning real items like food, toys, and medical supplies for shelter dogs in need. Treat isn't just a game, it's a movement to make a tangible difference in the lives of thousands of animals across the U.S.”

As Bicking explains the process,  people go to the Google Play Store where they can download the app for free. Once the app is installed, people select a shelter and are then given a choice of dogs from which they can choose. The photos they’re looking at are real dogs in shelters all over the country or – in this case – in the SLV Animal Welfare Society.

Once the dog is selected, people start playing interactive games of all kinds. As apps work, the more people play, the more kibble is earned. People can either continue to play for free or there are various subscription levels – starting at about $5.50 – and then going up from there.

It’s up to the person how involved they want to be.

“People get really invested in the dogs they’re playing for,” Bicking said. “We’ve had calls from people on the east coast or as far away as Germany  wanting to know more about the dog they’ve chosen and how he or she is doing. They’re kind of…well, you could say they’re really fostering a dog remotely. The more they play, the more the dog gets treats or toys or medication. And then, if the dogs gets adopted by a family and leaves the shelter, they can select a different dog. It’s really something people enjoy.”

“Through this exciting partnership between Treat and the San Luis Valley Animal Welfare Society, we’re transforming the way the shelter accesses critical resources,” Weiner says. “Unlike traditional fundraising models, which often rely on time-consuming and red-tape filled grants and donations, Treat opens the door to instant support through its unique play-to-impact platform. By simply playing interactive games, app users directly contribute to the San Luis Valley Animal Welfare Society, earning essential items like food, medical supplies, and treats for the animals in need—all without the wait or complexity of traditional resource-gathering.”

The app has made a significant difference for SLV Animal Welfare Society.

“For the SLV Animal Welfare Society- they are already seeing upwards of 60 big bags of food each month being driven from the partnership,” Weiner adds.

“Our set up is a little different from other shelters. The app is interfaced with PetFinder, which is how people see our dogs, so they go to PetFinder on the app and what’s how they find out which dogs we have,” Bicking says. “The program can be glitchy at times but they’ve responded really quickly when there’s a problem and program has had a wonderful impact on our shelter and the eighty dogs we’re sheltering.”

SLV Animal Welfare Society has been in operation for over 20 years and, in speaking to Bicking, their devotion to the dogs in their care is obvious with the care they provide, the dogs having access to dog parks on site and the support staff offer in answering questions about which dog would be best for a person considering adoption.

Statista, a non-profit data research organization that focuses on technology, reports that people spend an average of four hours and 39 minutes each day on their cell phones. Some of that is texting or scrolling the internet, but a substantial amount of time is spent playing apps.

What better way to spend that time than knowing every click on every game is having real life impact on dogs, especially the one dog the player has chosen to virtually adopt?

“It’s a win win for everyone,” Bicking says.

Anyone with questions about the app, the shelter or the process of donating is encouraged to call SLV Animal Welfare Society at (719) 587-9663 or through their website at www.slvaws.org.