Animal social media stars win petfluencer awards

Barking, growling and yapping was in the air in the Dünnwald outdoor pool in Cologne. 400 dogs were there, including mistress and master, to take part in the presentation of the "German Petfluencer Awards". Petfluencers — dogs turned into social media stars by humans — have millions of followers.

People are not only crazy about dogs, but also about feeding themselves pictures and videos of the four-legged friends. The initiator of the event is the PR entrepreneur André Karkalis. When I asked how he came up with the idea, he replied that he loves doing things that have never been done before.

Small dogs. Big dogs. shaggy. shorthaired. All kinds of dogs sniffed about the grounds. The purest dog zoo. Right in the middle is Marko Borbas, 33. He was suspicious of the word petfluencer or influencer, he told me. It sounds like marketing and selling, he prefers to call himself a blogger. Along with his girlfriend Alexandra Evang, 34, Borbas runs several social media accounts for the couple's two dogs - cocker spaniel Micky and livestock guardian Nalani. "It's like a diary for us," he said. And not only for him. As soon as he and his girlfriend haven't spread any news about their animals online for two or three days, the community rebels directly: "What's going on with you?!"

Prizes were awarded in five categories. Evang and Borbas, at home in Heinsberg, were awarded "Micro-Petfluencer of the Year" (less than 50,000 followers). The main prize "Petfluencer of the Year" went to Lisa Lai, 27, from Frankfurt am Main. Or to her husky cookie, who has 550,000 followers on TikTok.

She has had the dog for five years, she told me. She has been active with him on social media for almost as long. Why? "In the early days, I kept sending my friends pictures of Cookie." At some point, she feared annoying her friends and created social media accounts. Well, and that's what she gets out of it: Cookie is the petfluencer par excellence. Even if he doesn't have the slightest idea about it.