Woman Sends Her Friends $100 to Take Her Dog Out to Lunch. Then the Group Gets Even Luckier (Exclusive)

• Sophie Vershbow's dog was elected N.Y.C.'s 'Dog Mayor' this year
  

• Simon, the new N.Y.C. Dog Mayor, and Vershbow promise to use their platform to "advocate for rescue issues"

• Vershbow and her friend group initially went viral for celebrating the "adoptaversary" of another beloved dog, their friend's pup Sweeper
  

One New York City friend group has had not one, but two of their furry friends go viral in just a matter of weeks.

Sophie Vershbow and friends first scored attention for the adorable celebration of Sweeper's anniversary. The friends took the dog out to celebrate while his owner, Juliana, was away.

"My friend Juliana was going out of town the week of her dog, Sweeper's 10th adoptaversary. Our friend Emma was watching Sweeper and so [Juliana] Venmo'ed us $100 for the whole group to go and take Sweeper out to lunch, which we were all extremely thrilled to do, because we've known Sweeper his entire life," Vershbow tells PEOPLE.

Sweeper was the first dog to come into the group of friends, which has since grown as others have added dogs, too.

"Juliana was the first, Sweeper's mom, but I feel we've always been a very dog-loving group. Unfortunately, one of the first dogs just passed away, which was so terrible. But then we had a friend who got married to someone with a dog. Another friend adopted a dog with her partner and I adopted my dog," Vershbow shares.

"It's really just become a very core part of our friendship — we have a very active group text with a whole lot of dog photos," she adds.

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Related: Dog Adopted by a Familiar Face After Being Left Tied Up at a Park: 'He Will Never Be Without' Love

That group text had something else to celebrate recently as Vershbow's own dog, Simon, was elected the Dog Mayor of New York City.

"So we were invited to participate in the Dog Mayor election by Stephen, founder of Dog Mayor NYC," Vershbow says. "All of the candidates were invited to join. It was really just a silly thing to do but since there's a lot of stress, particularly around the election, I thought it would be fun."

Finding out that Simon had beaten out the competition to be elected was "hilarious" for Vershbow.

"I'm fielding press calls for my dog while doing my work-from-home job. I'm someone who finds the humor in just about everything, so this couldn't be funnier to me," Vershbow says. "There's also been a lot of support which is nice because I think a lot of people are having a tough time. People were saying, 'We finally have a win.' Not that it's going to change people's lives, but it's just nice to provide a little positivity on the Internet."

Simon and Vershbow will use their platform for good, to advocate for others to grow their fur families through the many local rescues available around N.Y.C.

"I've always tried to use Simon's socials to advocate for rescue issues. He's adopted from an organization called Hearts and Bones, who are incredible and so honestly, it's an opportunity to spread goodness and get more dogs adopted and more money for these organizations," she adds. "I'm grateful to have that to channel some energy into over the next few years."

Vershbow hopes that both these happy dog stories will encourage people to keep doing the most with their pets because they deserve it for all the joy they bring to our days.

"I am a really big believer in general that you have to celebrate little things because life is not always the easiest or the most fun. And so you have to enjoy those little moments when they come up. I also believe that our pets are family and they give us so much," she says.

While people have called her crazy in her social media comments for doing so much for a dog, she adds, "When I take my dog out to the same restaurant I took Sweeper to for his adoptaversary, I intellectually understand that he does not know what that means. But they also sense energy and just enjoy being with us and enjoy a special meal. So I think it's nice for them, too."

She concludes, "They bring us a lot of joy in our lives, so it's fun to do a little thing for them sometimes."

Read the original article on People