Martha teichner looks into it. uptempo music reporter snacks is one pampered pig. Is she just a little spoiled . I have no say in these things. A little bit, yes, but he says that, but then for christmas he bought a leopard print robe with a magenta boa and a big rhinestone s. Reporter and another human sized one with a big d on it. So they match. Reporter tim taylor and dana boyle, snacks pet parents thats what they call pet owners these days dont care if people think theyre nuts. I generally fall asleep on the couch with her and sleep there all night. So, when we went furniture shopping the last time, we literally said, we need something deep enough because i need to be able to spoon with my pig at night. Reporter tim and dana often welcome squirrel girl into their new jersey home, as well. Come on reporter shes not exactly a pet, but close. Nearly 85 million American Homes are home to pets as well as people. Three out of four dog and cat owners consider their pets members of the family. dog barking pretty obvious from these pictures viewers sent us. So, no surprise there is Scientific Research proving that your pet is good for your health. When we are in the presence of a pet, our stress levels drop. So, you can measure things like cortisol in the bloodstream, and its lower when youre petting an animal than when youre not. But we also have research from some of the great labs that have shown that when we pet animals, their cortisol goes down, as well. Reporter Allen Mcconnell heads the department of psychology at Miami University in ohio. Pet owners, compared to non pet owners, they have higher selfesteem. They tend to get more exercise. Theyre less lonely. We know that they tend to have lower blood pressure. They can engage with difficult math problems better than people who dont have pets around them. Reporter wait, math problems . Maybe i shouldve taken my pets to college. Mcconnells latest work looks at anthropomorphizing projecting human qualities on pets. What we found is that as people view their pet as a Family Member to a greater degree, they get more wellbeing benefits from that. Reporter referring to them as your fur babies. Your mommies are here. Reporter not so ridiculous after all. Kaila clark and chloe prieto, a lawyer and a teacher stuck at home because of coronavirus, tried for nearly eight months to adopt a shelter dog. Its been quite a journey, lots of applications that went in. Reporter somebody else always beat them to it, until Peanut Butter showed up on the website of one of new york citys animal care centers. It was really just meant to be. You know . Reporter small dogs like Peanut Butter or rosey about to be renamed daisy by Octavia Osmon and her daughter, arya fly out of shelters. Its the bigger, older dogs that are harder to place, particularly pit bulls. dog cries who hasnt heard that during covid, everybodys been adopting pets . Not true. Nationally, a survey of nearly 1,300 shelters shows that adoptions are actually down 19 through september, compared to last year. Thats more than 200,000 animals. But then, fewer people have been giving up their pets during the pandemic. A homebound nation has been a bonanza for chewy. Com. With 60,000 products available online, its like amazon but for pet food and supplies. It now has 18,000 employees, 11 distribution centers, pharmacies, veterinary telemedicine, and 17 million customers. We added more than 4. 5 million active customers to the platform. Reporter just since covid. Sumit singh, the proud pet parent of dee here. He loves coming to work. Reporter . Is c. E. O. Of chewy. Think about it this way the pet industry in 2020, food and supplies, will grow roughly 3. 5 billion. Chewy will grow 2 billion off that 3. 5 billion. Reporter in a 100 billion dogeatdog business pun intended chewy. Com tries to win loyalty. This is my dog, this is dee. Reporter . By doing things like surprising customers randomly with a handpainted portrait based on the picture theyve uploaded to their pets profile. When this, a portrait, shows up to your doorstep unannounced, total surprise and delight. Reporter something to stare at fondly, whenever youre not fulfilling your duty as a member of your pets staff. Theyve got your number. Slinkys got mine. Pauley talk about people loving their animals ahead, lee cowan chats with michael j. Fox about the rescue dog who rescued him; david pogue introduces us to animals making a splash online; seth doane visits with bindi irwin, carrying on in the footsteps of her late father, animal conservationist steve irwin; tracy smith looks into why some people are trying to cheat death by cloning their beloved pets; and more. Its our pet project on this sunday morning on friday night. Well be back in a moment. Ornaments create time to hang. Gingerbread builds tradition. A string of lights sparks family ties. A lastminute gift makes a lasting impression. A tray carries your heritage. And an ending means a new beginning. Can make devices work even better than coppertop . This toothbrush brushes quicker. This screwdriver turns speedier. This fan spins faster. Upgrade your devices with duracell optimum. Charmin ultra soft is so soft much are you hon . Youll have to remind your family they can use less. Charmin ultra soft is twice as absorbent so you can use less. Enjoy the go with charmin. New aveeno® restorative skin therapy. With our highest concentration of prebiotic oat intensely moisturizes over time to improve skins resilience. Aveeno® healthy. Its our nature™. Pauley welcome back to sunday mornings pet project. Its easy enough to imagine zsa zsa here as an online video star, and as david pogue shows us, shed have plenty of company. uptempo music reporter behold the worlds first cat video, made by Thomas Edison in 1864. Nobody knows how many likes it got. Since that pioneering masterwork of feline film, viral pet videos have become a cliche of the internet. But as the internet matures, something funny is happening to viral pet videos. He just really didnt believe in himself. Reporter something funny, and something wonderful. You know, when we started the company, there was kind of pure fluff, which is, you know, just kind of silly cat videos where youre almost laughing at the cat. Reporter izzie lerer founded thedodo. Com. Today, its animal videos get five billion views a month. Theyre heartwarming short videos about animals that overcome neglect, abuse, or medical problems. She was born with deformities and death. Reporter . Or who find joy in interspecies relationships. We really try to highlight things like animal emotion, expressiveness, agency, point of view, spontaneity, and sort of all the things that make animals. Human. Reporter and its not all just for people to go, aww, right . Theres an. No. Reporter . Activism element. Activism is not the word i would use, necessarily. Reporter so, we could be changing peoples minds about stereotypes related to pit bulls. Yes . Reporter aw, thats nice or we could be actually getting animals adopted. Or we could be raising donations for for certain sanctuaries. Online pet videos no longer exist only for our passive viewing pleasure. Were starting to get involved with the animals welfare. I would say that the goal of my early internet days was just to make people laugh in whatever way possible. Reporter matt nelson is the creator of weratedogs, social media accounts that post hilarious daily profiles of wacky and lovable dogs. This is darla. She commenced a snooze, mid meal 13 10. Reporter he writes every caption himself, and he rates every dog at least a 12 out of ten. This is manny. He hasnt seen your croissant 13 10. The first time i said, 11 10, people kind of lost their minds. Reporter nelson started weratedogs as a twitter account in college, and when it took off, he dropped out to manage the account fulltime. Today, weratedogs has nine million followers, and hopeful owners send him pictures of over a thousand dogs a day. Philanthropy wasnt on my radar, because it was meant to just make you smile and laugh. Reporter but one day in 2016, nelson featured a senior pug who needed 700 for a doggie wheelchair. Its up to 433 donors. It was really an experiment to see what my followers would do, how would they react. And they raised that money in nearly 45 minutes. Just went from 99 to 160 donors. Reporter thus began the weekly weratedogs fundraising appeal for dogs who need medical care. What . Every single friday. Reporter oh, my god. Every Single Campaign weve ever posted has been fully funded. There it is. Is bulleit handy . Is bulleit nearby . Reporter i can see why you love him. Hes a goofball. Hes really special. Reporter this goofballs name is bulleit. His human is casey freund. So, he has a condition called kyphosis. And essentially, the vertebrae, instead of being, like, little rectangles, theyre little triangles. Reporter bulleitt could barely walk, but freund found a neurologist who was willing to attempt the ninehour surgery. The bill 12,000. I was about to put it all on my credit card. I was just going to put myself into debt over it. And then weratedogs saved me from that. Reporter so, one day, they post bulleits story on weratedogs, and what happens . Oh, so, it was actually it was so fast. They had the story posted within an hour, and within an hour after that, all the money had been fundraised. Reporter what . Yeah and i was in tears because its amazing when that kind of thing happens and you dont expect it. So, we posted bulleit over a year ago now, and i believe the most recent update we got is a video of him sprinting down a field. Reporter i mean, matt, you did that. My audience did that. Really, every week is just a tiny little miracle that my audience comes together to perform. Reporter for thedodos izzie lerer, going to work every morning means getting those audiences involved and maybe even cheering them up. baby laughs i think it does make people happier. You know, my whole life, ive kind of been made fun of for loving animals so much, and, oh, youre so emotional. But at the same time, you know, when you really get people one on one, most people really love animals, too. Pampers, the 1 pediatrician recommended brand, helps keep babys skin dry and healthy. So every touch is as comforting as the first. Pampers. The 1 pediatrician recommended brand. Shall i put her in snow mode . Nope what about offroad mode . Nah. Sport mode it is. Lets see what this baby can do. Or. We could check out that Farmers Market . No you know what . Ill be in chill mode. button click if anyone needs me. Propilot assist with navilink. Available on the allnew nissan rogue. You dont want to miss. On november 30th, score online only deals like the 8 quart ninja foodi tender crisp, and save 100. Lets end the year saving bigger. Ibut they all do it a littles tdifferent. Aundry,ear saving bigger. Honestly, i add a couple of tide pods and just stuff everything in. It works. And of course, everyone thinks their way is right. I stood in line for hours to get this. It has to be washed on delicate. It has to be cold water, its better for the planet. The secret is, with tide pods it all works. Of course it does. Told ya theyre going to do it their way, and i get a break from the laundry. No matter how you wash, its got to be tide. Cyber deal days plus take an extra 20 off get sweaters for her 11. 99. Save on shark vacuums. And take 25 off melissa and doug toys plus, Free Store Pick up. Shop cyber deal days at kohls and kohls. Com. Pauley few public figures have done more to bring the world of exotic animals into our homes than the late tv conservationist steve irwin. Its a mission, seth doane tells us, that his family pursues to this day. cheers and applause reporter this family has always worked from home. Awesome how cool was that . Reporter . Even before lockdowns. But theres no shortage of space or things to do, what with 700 acres and 1,200 animals. bird chirps that was awesome this is not your typical Family Business to take over. It is pretty wild. Its pretty crazy, yeah. We love it. You never know what the days going to bring, thats for sure. Reporter australia zoo is not just home but life mission of the irwin family mom terri, her kids, 16yearold robert and 22yearold bindi, and bindis new husband chandler. We have been incredibly grateful that weve been given this unique opportunity to be able to do what we love, which is cuddle animals all day, but then also take it to a new level of educating people on how to make a difference in the world. Reporter their surname was made famous and synonymous with animals by this man steve irwin. Crikey reporter he was the energetic tv conservationist who seemed to almost jump through the screen. Woooh wow reporter terri, as an american tourist visiting his zoo, first spotted her husbandtobe wrangling a crocodile, his signature. Their adventures together never slowed. You know, if there was a whale stranding in tasmania, hed be like, were leaving in an hour, were going to film for three weeks, and weve got to tell this story. Reporter steve told those stories until 2006, when he was killed by a stingray in a freak accident. Bindi, just eight but already comfortable in the spotlight, spoke at his memorial service. I dont want daddys passion to ever end. I want to help endangered wildlife just like he did. Reporter . Eulogizing her dad, capturing hearts, and since then continuing what he started. Its so good to see you reporter how often do you think about steve . Oh, my goodness. Every day. Every minute of every day. Its almost like every day is a tribute to his life. Reporter was there ever any doubt that this was going to be your lifes work . Did you ever think of being in insurance, or a lawyer or Something Else . No. I think for both of us, weve always just had such a huge passion for wildlife and conservation. I remember the first time we ever got to feed a croc, bindi was ten years old. And then, when i turned ten a few years later, it was the right of passage for me. Because thats good parenting. Exactly reporter their tv show, crikey its the irwins on animal planet, chronicles their efforts to educate and expose people to the wonders of the animal world. Through your work, you talk about trying to create this connection between people and animals. But how do you find that balance . They are still wild animals. The respectful and responsible appreciation for wildlife through tourism is really whats going to save us. Is that some watermelon . Reporter their message is resonating. Bindi not only has four million instagram followers, but this yay bindi barbi reporter yes, theres a bindi barbie doll. Good on barbie for for standing up for wildlife conservation. Reporter its serious work. It funds a Wildlife Hospital they opened in 2004. In that first year, they treated 64 animals. Now, theyll see more than that every single day. Robert showed us around via videochat. Its kind of the daily work that happens here at the australia zoo Wildlife Hospital. Reporter thats a koala on the operating table. The habitat for koalas are dwindling, and theyre kind of isolated to smaller islands. And at this point, disease spreads very, very fast. Reporter the hospital was inundated during the devastating bushfires earlier this year, which burned more than 20 of australias forests and killed as many as three billion yes, billion animals. But then, on top of that, theres this huge knockon effect that were going to feel for decades to come for so many species that rely on these beautiful, large areas of natural habitat. Reporter then, the pandemic brought another challenge keeping all of this going without visitors their main source of revenue and some very big bills. Just the animal food was 80,000 a week. Reporter they finally reopened after 78 days. I was shocked by how much our animals missed everybody. Oh, our animals were just as excited to see everyone back at australia zoo as we were. The koalas were basically jumping out of the trees to see us. Reporter Chandler Powell married into the family this past spring after a Pitch Perfect courtship, which no surprise involved a crocodile. Go i i knew that that was the man i was going to marry. Reporter their engagement and wedding were all documented on their show. Now theyre expecting a baby girl. She already has some sort of little safari shirt . She does. She does. She has her very own khaki, because we always say that khaki is not just a color, its an attitude. Its not your typical Family Business, but its my favorite line of work. Reporter the irwins are carrying on steves legacy and apparently inherited his affinity for having so much of their lives broadcast, hoping their love of animals might just inspire yours. Through the walk of life, walgreens has always been there to help make life easier. And now were doing the same with medicare. So you can easily find the best, most affordable plan for you. Visit walgreens. Com medicare to get started. Walgreens. We make medicare easy. To fight wrinkles . Its what i use neutrogena®. The 1 retinol brand used most by dermatologists. Rapid wrinkle repair® visibly smooths fine lines in 1 week. Deep wrinkles in 4. So you can kiss wrinkles. And other wrinkle creams goodbye rapid wrinkle repair®. Pair with our most concentrated retinol ever for 2x the power. Neutrogena®. I never said it but. dramatic crying whoa did svenrod just die . Yeah can you do it again . Sure, sure i always loved you. Oh man. Missed it again. Alexa, rewind 10 seconds. Oh my gosh you made it oh shoes i thought yall got lost or something. Did you put some ah, kale in the greens . Oh thank you we didnt forget about you welcome to the family. Thank you. Wooooow. I love it laughter thank you dad pauley could it really be true, as some folks say, that pets and their owners begin to resemble each other . Our nancy giles investigates. uptempo jazz music reporter our dogs constant companions, best friends, part of the family. And do our loyal fourfooters also look like us . As soon as i saw him, i knew he was the one who was coming home with me. Reporter Frankie Robie and his dog, ozzie, live in rutherford, new jersey. Theyre both sharp dressers and i noticed that youve got, like, a little goatee happening here. And i cant help but notice ozzys got one too. Yeah, hes got the fu manchu look going on, the mountain man look. Reporter do people tell you that you look like him . Yeah. Normally when mines grown out a little bit more, well get some laughs and stuff, Walking Around in the neighborhood here. This is sookie. Were matching. Were always matching. Reporter in abilene, texas, Chris