A US animal shelter who claimed that one of their rescued dogs looks like Paul Rudd no longer needs the actor to adopt him after a campaign went viral.
The Collierville Animal Shelter in Tennessee was looking to find a home for a male Australian Shepherd mix called Waffle House - which has now been nicknamed Pawl Ruff.
More than 73,000 have now seen the appeal on Twitter which coincided with the release of Rudd’s latest film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
But Waffle House was adopted (by a well-meaning non-Hollywood star) on Monday (February 20), just one week after their first tweet.
“While making connections between pets and people today, we discovered one of our dogs is meant to be with Paul Rudd,” the original Twitter post read.
“We have nicknamed him Pawl Ruff. Paul doesn't have a Twitter handle, but @AntMan does. And honestly, what is more heroic than adopting a shelter pet?”
With brown eyes, floppy brown fur, and a cheeky face that suggests an easygoing charm, the shelter is convinced that Waffle House is the doppelgänger of the actor named by People magazine in 2021 as the Sexiest Man Alive.
After making local front pages, the dog was confirmed to have been adopted on Sunday by Collierville resident Jennifer Roy.
While making love connections between pets and people today, we discovered one of our dogs is meant to be with Paul Rudd.
— Town of Collierville (@ColliervilleGov) February 14, 2023
We have nicknamed him Pawl Ruff.
Paul doesn't have a Twitter handle, but @AntMan does.
And honestly, what is more heroic than adopting a shelter pet? pic.twitter.com/Q0onM8dvw9
“I had been looking for a dog and was following different shelters in the area. When I saw him, I thought, ‘that’s my dog’,” she said.
She noticed his picture a few weeks ago, before he became famous, and had always wanted an Australian Shepherd.
“The story blew up and I was worried someone would come get my dog!” she said. She submitted her application, scheduled a shelter visit over the weekend, and ended up officially adopting him on Sunday.
Ms Roy added that the name Waffle House will be dropped, not in favour of Pawl Ruff, but a new name - Rowdy.
“He isn’t very rowdy at all, but he seems to like the name,” she said.
Jennifer Casey, the Collierville public information officer, said: “We did reach out to Paul Rudd’s publicists and asked if they would bring the story to his attention. We did not expect him to adopt the dog, we just wanted the story to reach him.
“And, if the story stops here, it will have a very happy ending.”
