By Lauren Lipton

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — It was a beautiful, sunny day to take a walk in Philadelphia, and I had lots of company.

“We actually decided to take a short stroll through center city with some of our adoptable pets,” said Ray, the rescue coordinator at the nonprofit, no-kill, Philadelphia pet rescue organization, Operation Ava. “We wanted to show folks that these are great dogs who deserve homes — they deserve loving families, and adoption is the way to go.”

Ray (in green shirt below) and other volunteers were walking dogs through center city to Rittenhouse Square.

(Credit: Lauren Lipton)

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“These pets come from shelters where they’re in danger of being euthanized simply because there isn’t any space in the shelters,” Ray tells KYW Newsradio.

On this hot day, the dogs had something special to wear.

“This is the summer vest,” explains Ray. “You can see that it’s a mesh vest, and it says ‘Adopt Me’ on it.”

Steve was walking by and spotted Bronco, and it was love at first sight.

“He seems to be a mix of retriever and Australian shepherd,” Steve mused. “Undetermined breed (laughs).”

Bronco was eyeing Steve and had that “please pet me and take me home” look.

“He’s right over here, this brown one with the white paws and the white spot on the chest, so he’s really cute,” said Steve, apparently hooked.

For more on Operation Ava and how you can help, or to adopt a dog or cat, go to OperationAva.com.

And that’s “Positively Philadelphia!”

“Positively Philadelphia” main page

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