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Puppy Bowl IX on Animal Planet Adds Hedgehog Cheerleaders

Puppy Bowl IX will air Sunday prior to Super Bowl XLVII.

Take 63 puppies playing faux football and add nine hedgehog cheerleaders in tutus and 21 kittens performing during a halftime show and you've got what might be an overload of cuteness — it's Puppy Bowl IX! 

Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl IX will air from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday. The Los Angeles Times sums up the premise: During the low-key football game, the puppies are placed on a 3-by-6 yard field with a bunch of plush chew toys shaped like footballs, ducks and sausages and are left alone to play. Eventually a puppy will manage to drag a chew toy into an end zone and the referee, Dan Schachner, will declare a touchdown has been scored.

And don't forget the half-dozen hamster reporters that fly above the puppy stadium in a blimp! 

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According to The Hollywood Reporter, also new to this year's Puppy Bowl is a cool down tub where puppies can rest, new "Puppy Cam" technology that will get viewers closer to the action with "in your face" camera angles and special cameras to show some of the best moments in slow motion.

What's more? All of the animals featured in Puppy Bowl IX come from shelters and rescue organizations across the United States and Puerto Rico. And last, year Animal Planet's pet-rescue site Petfinder.com saw a 22 percent increase in visits and a 32 percent jump in search referrals, including a 500 percent increase in referrals from Animal Planet's website as a result of the Puppy Bowl.

Find out what's happening in Barrowwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Will you be watching all the cuteness that is Puppy Bowl IX? Tell us in comments. 

You might also be interested in reading: 

  • Super Bowl Sunday — What You Should Know about the Big Game
  • Super Bowl 2013: Harbaugh Brothers' Teams to Play for Championship Title

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