A pair of local pooches hit the gridiron yesterday to raise awareness for animal adoption.

While the San Francisco 49'ers and the Baltimore Ravens did battle in Super Bowl XLVII, Animal Planet's ninth annual "Puppy Bowl" aired.

Last year's installment of the increasingly popular football alternative, which plugs pet adoptions through the network's Petfinder.com rescue website, attracted a record 8.7 million viewers to the network.

This year, WHYY Newsworks reports, the starting lineup included "Cairo," a 5-month-old pit bull, and another pit-bull mix named "Cash." Both dogs came from the Greene Street Animal Rescue, which opened last year in Spring City.

The shelter's administrators are hopeful that the TV exposure will help find the dogs permanent homes.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that this year's broadcast featured a "hot tub" for Cairo, Cash, and their 61 fellow competitors to take a break from the action.