Amazon's AI tool connects shelter dogs and cats with potential adopters as part of the Protect Playtime campaign.

      In summary: Amazon’s Brand Innovation Lab, the PetArmor brand from PetIQ, and Best Friends Animal Society have introduced “Protect Playtime,” a campaign that integrates an AI-driven pet-matching tool on Amazon with video content generated by Amazon Nova Reel of individual shelter animals aimed at boosting adoptions. The tool analyzes natural language inquiries to pair potential adopters with suitable shelter pets, and a pilot event held in Glen Rose, Texas, in February 2026 resulted in 24 adoptions in one day, which is four times the previous record. Customized generative video content for each animal will be shared through Prime Video and Amazon Streaming TV ads until July 31, 2026.

      Every 90 seconds

      Best Friends Animal Society estimates that a dog or cat dies in a U.S. shelter every 90 seconds, leading to around 400,000 animals being euthanized in 2025, even as nearly two-thirds of U.S. shelters operate under no-kill policies. The disparity between the national no-kill goal and the current situation lies in the one-third of facilities still lacking the necessary resources, visibility, or adoption rates to place animals into homes faster than they arrive. Launched on April 9, 2026, the Protect Playtime campaign seeks to bridge this gap through AI-supported discovery, personalized generative videos, and direct investment in shelter infrastructure. The campaign's title references PetArmor’s core product for preventing fleas, ticks, and parasites, emphasizing that pet protection begins with adoption rather than treatment. Best Friends, collaborating with over 6,000 shelters and rescue organizations in the United States, has provided the data infrastructure and network necessary for the matching tool to operate effectively. “Best Friends aims for a future where no dog or cat dies in a shelter due to a lack of a safe home,” stated CEO Julie Castle. “This innovative initiative will significantly influence the lives of dogs and cats nationwide, offering new ways for people to connect with adoptable pets, and we are proud to partner with PetArmor and Amazon to realize it.”

      The matching tool and the Glen Rose pilot

      The AI pet-matching tool, available at amazon.com/ProtectPlaytime, handles natural language inquiries from potential adopters regarding preferences like size, temperament, energy level, compatibility with children or other pets, and living circumstances to identify suitable shelter animals from Best Friends’ partner network. The interface aims to alleviate the research burden that often hinders adoptions, as many prospective owners struggle with navigating various shelter databases, filtering by specific traits, or assessing compatibility through static photos, leading them to abandon the adoption process. By utilizing Best Friends’ extensive network of over 6,000 organizations, the tool consolidates inventory that would otherwise require multiple searches. Furthermore, the campaign team has made direct investments in shelter conditions: physical "Protect Playtime" spaces have been established at participating locations to allow animals to showcase their personalities to potential adopters, addressing the longstanding issue of stress behaviors in shelters that can make animals seem less adoptable. A pilot event for Valentine's Day at Glen Rose Animal Control in Texas in February 2026 tested this integrated approach — enhanced shelter conditions, AI-assisted matching, and localized marketing — and resulted in 24 adoptions in a single day, a fourfold increase from the facility's prior record. Kyle Lembke, PetIQ's senior vice president, described the campaign as a natural extension of the brand's 15-year mission. “For 15 years, PetArmor has shielded pets from outdoor dangers,” he remarked. “Now we are safeguarding their opportunity to find a loving home. By providing adoptable dogs and cats with AI-generated animated videos that depict their future and by creating shelter spaces where they can express their personalities, we are eliminating barriers between shelter pets and the families ready to love them.”

      Nova Reel and the generative video layer

      For each animal in the campaign, Amazon’s Brand Innovation Lab created an animated generative video using Amazon Nova Reel, the company’s AI video production model accessible through Amazon Bedrock. These videos are generated from text prompts and images of the individual shelter animals, depicting each pet in a simulated home environment to help potential adopters envision them in a domestic setting rather than a kennel. Nova Reel can create multi-shot video sequences lasting up to two minutes, using text prompts and optional reference images to produce footage that Amazon deems suitable for commercial use. The Protect Playtime videos will appear across Prime Video and Amazon Streaming TV advertising inventory until July 31, 2026, as well as in PetArmor’s Amazon Brand Store. The production pipeline allows for a unique generative video for each adoptable animal instead of a generic campaign creative, a model that would have been financially unsustainable with traditional video production methods; Nova Reel enables per-animal personalization that scales across the entire inventory of Best Friends’ partner shelters. Nova Reel has garnered attention beyond the Protect Playtime campaign launched in April 2026: the model