11 puppies you actually CAN adopt during Puppy Bowl XVII

If you’ve ever watched Puppy Bowl, you’ve not only fallen for one of the furry players on the field, you’ve probably even thought about adopting him or her. After all, that’s one of the (field) goals of the event: to raise awareness for pet adoption. If you actually did make the effort to try to adopt one of these MVPs from its shelter, though, you likely were heartbroken to find out that YOUR puppy already had been claimed. (That makes sense, given that Puppy Bowl is filmed in October, several months before it airs.) But Puppy Bowl XVII — which can be seen Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on Discovery+ and Animal Planet, complete with a kitten-centric halftime show  — will tackle some of that disappointment. The special will highlight 11 additional dogs (and three cats) who could not attend due to the pandemic. These segments were just filmed, so the animals will be available to adopt. Can’t wait until Sunday to preview your pick of the litter? Scroll through this gallery to see if there’s a dog (or cat) that you’d like to bring into your own end zone.

BREED: Beagle/Labrador Mix
SEX: Male
AGE: 18 weeks
SHELTER: AHeinz57 Pet Rescue & Transport in De Soto, Iowa
HISTORY: "Enzo and his siblings were found living alone in an abandoned house in Antlers, Oklahoma. They were taken to a shelter in Oklahoma who reached out to AHeinz57 Pet Rescue & Transport on their behalf. They were then transported to Iowa."

BREED: Terrier Mix
SEX: Female
AGE: 12 weeks
SHELTER: Charlie's Crusaders Pet Rescue in Sunderland, Md. 
HISTORY: "Jersey Girl and her littermates were born in a foster home after her pregnant mom was left at a home where the owners were gone for over a week (the man was arrested and he made no attempt to let anyone know the dogs were in his home needing help) and the neighbor called the rescue for help. The neighbor caught the mom and brought her to a Charlie's Crusaders foster home where Mom went into labor the night before Thanksgiving."

BREED: Labrador
SEX: Male
AGE: 16 weeks
SHELTER: Miami-Dade County Animal Services in Dotal, Fla. 
HISTORY: "Crowley was brought into the shelter as a stray along with his siblings. He is currently in a foster home until he is adopted."

BREED: Cattle Dog/Blue Heeler
SEX: Male
AGE: 15 weeks
SHELTER: Helen Woodward Animal Shelter in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. 
HISTORY: "Bandit came to Helen Woodward Animal Center with her sibling in a van transfer from the Fresno area of California. More than 90 percent of the orphan pets who arrive at the center come from overburdened or overcrowded shelters and rescues and that’s the case for Bandit as well. Her arrival at Helen Woodward Animal Center gives her a second chance at finding a forever home."

BREED: Corgi/Border Collie Mix
SEX: Female
AGE: 4 months
SHELTER: SPCA of Westchester in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.
HISTORY: "She and her siblings were found on the side of a rural road down south where they’d clearly been dumped. They were running in the road and then onto someone’s property who luckily gathered them up."

BREED: Catahoula/Aussie Mix
SEX: Female
AGE: 3 months
SHELTER: Double J Dog Ranch in Hauser, Idaho 
HISTORY: "Ester was purchased by a family who did not want a deaf dog. They tried to return her to breeder and were unable. They contacted Double J Dog Ranch to turn her over."

BREED: Blue Heeler/Lab Mix
SEX: Male
AGE: 2 months
SHELTER: Best Friends Animal Society in Houston, Texas 
HISTORY: "Link came into one of the municipal shelters as a stray."

BREED: Terrier/Schnauzer Mix
SEX: Female
AGE: 12 weeks
SHELTER: Compassion Kind Foundation in St. Petersburg, Fla. 
HISTORY: "Sadie's mom was found pregnant and wandering the streets in Puerto Rico."

BREED: Cocker Spaniel Mix
SEX: Male
AGE: 6 months
SHELTER: SPCA LA in Los Angeles 
HISTORY: "Owner turn-in."

BREED: Beagle Mix
SEX: Female
AGE: 5.5 weeks
SHELTER: Delaware Humane Association in Wilmington, Del.
HISTORY: "Mom dog Nina came to DHA after being rescued from North Carolina where they unfortunately still must euthanize for space when necessary. As it turns out, Nina was pregnant with puppies. She went into labor the day her foster picked her up and the moment she made it into the foster room, her first puppy arrived! From there, she had the rest of her litter — six in total."

BREED: Chi-Terrier Mix
SEX: Female
AGE: 13 weeks
SHELTER: Shaggy Dog Rescue in Norwalk, Conn.
HISTORY: "Their mom, Quince, was found in a ditch and injured from abuse (according to the vet who analyzed her injury). She was picked up by animal control and a Houston city pound. Shaggy Dog Rescue gave her her freedom ride and saved her, and in doing so saved the puppies. Unbeknownst to anyone, Quince was pregnant with the two puppies when she was saved — she was so skinny from neglect nobody could tell."

BREED: Turkish Angora
SEX: Female
AGE: 10 weeks
SHELTER: Citizens for Animal Protection in Houston
HISTORY: "The night before Thanksgiving I was in my garage putting in a load on laundry when I heard meowing. I called Blake outside, and we spent 10 minutes or so listening and trying to figure out where it was coming from. We figured out it was coming from our neighbor's backyard, so we called them to see if we could go into their backyard to search. We went over, and they were literally laying in the cold dirt with fleas all over them just outside our neighbor's kitchen window. They told us they had been born three days before and their mother wasn't very attentive and had only been checking on them once a day or so. It was in the 40s that night, so we knew we had to pull the kittens inside or risk them getting too cold and passing away. We tried to catch mom that night by using them as 'bait' but no luck. We pulled them inside around midnight, and the rest was history."

BREED: Siamese Mix
SEX: Female
AGE: 15 weeks
SHELTER: Virginia Beach SPCA in Virginia Beach, Va. 
HISTORY: "Jill and her brother Jack were found as strays and transferred to the VBSPCA when they were only 6 weeks old."

BREED: Domestic Medium Hair/Manx Mix
SEX: Male
AGE: 3 months
SHELTER: CJPaws in St. Petersburg, Fla.
HISTORY: "A woman found Orion and his siblings in the garage of a rundown house. They were trying to eat lizards and leaves because they were starving and their mother hadn't come back for them. A kind neighbor found them and collected them up one-by-one. Orion was first because he was the runt — very tiny, very sick, and very thin. He was brought to CJPaws and after a few vet visits, some strong antibiotics and some nutritional supplements, he started acting like a new kitten again! He's very thankful that he didn't have to die outside in a garage during the coldest nights of the year."