Patas Felizes

Patas Felizes is a social impact project aimed at improving the welfare of animals in Lisbon's shelters by addressing two core challenges: lack of public awareness and limited resources.

Over nine months, our team worked closely with local stakeholders to understand the systemic issues behind overcrowded shelters, low adoption rates, and heavy reliance on volunteers and donations.

Animal shelters in Lisbon face a combination of structural and cultural challenges — chronic underfunding and resource shortages, low public engagement despite positive attitudes toward adoption, misconceptions about shelter animals, volunteer shortages due to time constraints, and complex adoption processes that can discourage potential adopters.

We focused on creating practical, high-impact interventions that could be implemented within our scope while contributing to long-term change. Our work centered around two key questions: How can we increase funding and resources for shelters? How can we mobilize more people to get involved?

We organized a week-long donation partnership with a local pet store (Patinhas Mimadas × União Zoófila), where every €20 spent translated into a meal for shelter animals — simplifying the donation process and increasing participation significantly. We also coordinated student volunteers to support shelter operations and produced social media content to improve public perception of shelter animals.

The project mobilized local community engagement through donations and volunteering, strengthened collaboration between private businesses and animal shelters, contributed to a sustainable partnership model, and generated insights into how behavioral barriers and perception gaps affect adoption.

The biggest learning: real impact in social systems requires more than good intentions. The biggest leverage points are often behavioral (perception, awareness) and structural (incentives, accessibility) — not just financial.