Beers from Bradenton's Motorworks Brewing are grabbing national attention, thanks to a new program created to help shelter dogs find loving homes. Earlier this month, the brewery began putting pictures of the adorable faces of adoptable dogs from Shelter Manatee on their cans, which have now been featured in USA Today and on CNN and, most recently, The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

DeGeneres projected a photo of the cans during her Thursday show and spoke about Motorworks as “a company doing something really cool.” Her production assistant read descriptions of the dogs on the cans and sampled the beer.

Barry Elwonger, Motorworks' director of sales and marketing, says that when the show came on "our staff and team and leadership all ran down to watch it and we applauded the whole time." 

Profits from sales of the dog brews also directly benefit Shelter Manatee to help the organization build a new facility. According to the shelter, its current building has significant utility service and maintenance issues.

As for the dogs featured on Ellen, King and Morton have already been adopted. Dede will be transported to Minnesota to reconnect with her owner, who lost her years ago and recognized her on the can. "All of this publicity has helped connect a dog and owner together, which is really beautiful," says Elwonger.

The dog adoption cans are available for sale exclusively at the brewery in both four- and 24-packs, but limited quantities of the dog labels that are used on the cans are available to be purchased on the Motorworks website.

"We decided to sell labels to get more money for the shelter, since we can’t ship beer legally, and they're already just about sold out," says Elwonger. "We've had tremendous outreach from all over the country."

Motorworks Brewing is located 1014 Ninth St. W., Bradenton. For more information, call (941) 567-6218 or visit motorworksbrewing.com.