'Storm our shelter': Oklahoma animal shelter uses Area 51 craze to its advantage

The Oklahoma City Animal Shelter has a message for those who are in on a joke event to storm Area 51: Make sure you've got a friend to protect you from the aliens.

The shelter on Friday posted pictures of dogs in foil hats on Facebook and said "come storm our shelter."

"We have great animals ready to protect you from the Area 51 aliens," the post said. "Adoption isn’t that far out of this world!"

The shelter also asked for donations on the post and has raised more than $2,200 so far.

More than 1.8 million people are "going" to the event to storm the secret military base and "see them aliens." An additional 1.4 million people have marked themselves as "interested" in the event.

The OKC Animal Shelter has more than 100 dogs and about 40 cats available for adoption as of Sunday evening. The shelter also has two pigs available for adoption.

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Storming Area 51 is an event that's meant to be a joke, but the U.S. Air Force has responded to the growing interest.

"The Nevada Test and Training Range is an area where the Air Force tests and trains combat aircraft," Air Force spokeswoman Laura McAndrews said in a statement to USA TODAY. "Any attempt to illegally access military installations or military training areas is dangerous."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oklahoma animal shelter tells Area 51 enthusiasts: 'storm our shelter'