Meet Chris Van Dorn, a real-life superhero.
His super-powers don’t include defeating bad guys, or saving the world. His most valuable super-power is his non-profit organisation called Batman4Pawz, where he travels all across the country and saves shelter animals from euthanasia, and finds them their forever homes, dressed as Batman.
When Chris started with his efforts, he preferred staying anonymous. But after seeing his efforts being celebrated, he came to light and started a GoFundMe campaign to get funding for Batman4Pawz.
Chris spoke to the Dodo about his efforts,
When I was first starting out, I was keeping everything really anonymous, I would sign everything ‘Bruce Wayne’ and not put my real name out there. I would say I’m just the middleman. The real heroes are the people giving these dogs a good, loving home.
He performs his ‘life-saving’ missions with the help of his trusty friend and sidekick, Mr. Boots, who is also a licensed therapy dog. This Batman-Robin pair always travel together to shelters and hospitals. They even attend adoption events and fundraisers for animal shelters.
Chris says his catchphrase is “It’s not who I am underneath but what I do that defines me“. He is also a licensed pilot who now aims to use his license to use air-travel as a more efficient means of transporting animals in distress.