A South Florida championship hockey player has made it his personal goal to score homes for shelter animals — one puck at a time.
It’s pucks and paws for Sam Bennett. The Florida Panthers MVP is using his platform to save dogs and cats — like Kitty Reinhart.
It’s all part of a new partnership between the fierce spirit of the Florida Panthers and the soft purr of a new furry friend program.
“Reinhart, as well as many of these other kittens here in the Stanley Panther room, or, I should say the Florida Panther room here at the Humane Society of Broward County, are named after our Florida Panthers players,” said Cheri Wachter, vice president of marketing for the Humane Society of Broward County
It all started last year, when Sam Bennett and his fiancée Zoe adopted a dog from Broward’s Humane Society.
“I’ve always had a deep connection with animals,” said Bennett.
That’s when the idea for Benny’s Buddies was born.
“It really blew up even bigger than I could imagine,” said Bennett.
“Every time Sam scored a goal, he would underwrite the adoption fee through Benny’s Buddies for a pet here at the Humane Society of Broward County,” said Wachter.
And he scored 45 goals.
“We got 30 pets adopted, we have six waiting, and we got a couple more to pick, and it will be a total of 41 animals this year, so it’s really been incredible,” said Bennett.
“When he would score a goal, the comments that people would write, ‘another one for the dogs and cats.’ It was very exciting and it brought people that might not have been aware about the Humane Socienty and our pet adoption to think about maybe adopting a pet,” said Wachter.
“You can definitely say I was motivated to get some pets sponsored this year,” said Bennett.
And, when the team won the championship earlier this month, Bennett brought the Stanley Cup to the Humane Society — because, after all, it is a team sport.
“It’s a real win. It’s a win for Sam, and it’s a win for the animals,” said Wachter.
As for the future of Benny’s Buddies?
“Just get more pets adopted. It’s been great this year, and I think there’s a lot more that we can do,” said Bennett.
If you”d like to adopt a pet, and for more information about Benny’s Buddies, click here.