If you were looking for just about the happiest way possible to close out your Friday, look no further. After a tough week, it doesn’t get any better than pictures of the before and after for dog and cat adoptions to bring a smile to your face.
The gallery of happy pups and kittens came to us by way of imgur user thund3rbolt, and it’s pretty freakin’ genius. This has been something of a trend on Reddit for a while, but we hadn’t seen anybody bringing all of the pictures together. Now thund3rbolt has, and we’re all happier for it.
The concept is simple: snap a shot of a dog or cat prior to adoption, probably while they’re still living in the animal shelter, and then one more snap a day after they’ve arrived at their new homes with their new owners. The idea is to show just how much a difference one day of loving and companionship makes, and these pics show that the difference is night and day.
Of course, pet adoption isn’t necessarily all smiles and sudden happiness. There’s the cautionary tale of Eddie the Terrible Chihuahua . Eddie’s a problem resident at the Human Society Silicon Valley, a demon on four legs that’s proved an absolute terror to other dogs, as well as potential owners.
That said, humane societies across the country still have their doors open if you’re interested in bringing a smile to a dog or cat’s face like in the pictures above. Late last year, many began offering “ dog-buster deals ” – terrible name, but their hearts were in the right place – going into the holiday season. There are, of course, still tons of animals that need homes, so you can make a dog or cat’s day today and make your own weekend even brighter in the process.