Meet the shelter volunteer going viral and getting dogs adopted

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — For over a decade, Adrian Budnick has taken adoption photos of the dogs at Nashville’s county animal shelter, but it wasn’t until the COVID pandemic that an idea came to her.

As one of only a few people allowed to visit in-person, she could take videos of dogs, inventing humorous nicknames and capturing their individual personalities, for an audience of potential adopters.

First came her TikToks playing the persona of Anita Walker, a fast-talking, cowboy boot-wearing purveyor of certified pre-owned pets. Then she struck gold with the “What’s this then?” series — short videos featuring goofy dog names that drew in viewers and boosted adoptions.

Imaginative dog names made the videos go viral

“It was kind of just on a whim,” Budnick said. “We had this — I’m assuming it was like a poodle-doodle situation, and he was really big and lanky.”

People often assume the shelter doesn’t have fluffy…