When Covid-19 regulations went into full effect, Brian ?The Dogfather of Harlem? Taylor had to make drastic decisions in order to keep his business afloat. He unfortunately had to let go most of his employees, he maxed out all of his credit cards and used up most of his savings to get by. When the word got around that Brian was in trouble, some of his most loyal clients begin to give Brian donations. They asked that the donations be used to help less fortunate pet parents. With the donations, Brian decided to create the Pandemic Pup Relief Fund. Through the fund, he raised $2k and he was able to groom countless NYC pups for free. Brian was so inspired by his client?s generosity and wanted to do much more, thus the Pandemic Pup Relief Tour (PPRT) was founded.
The Pup Relief Tour (PRT) is a 6-city stop road trip that has assembled teams of black pet business owners to produce 2-day, pop-up grooming events across the nation. During these difficult times when, countless people have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Blacks Lives Matter tragedies the PRT will give back to pet owners offering free grooming and salon services to over 500 pups. The pet industry is a multibillion-dollar industry, of which black owned pet businesses are extremely underrepresented and disproportionately patronized. The PRT will service over 500 pups and partner with over 50 black pet professionals, in an effort to highlight and promote these businesses, and to gain recognition and promote diversity in the pet industry.
At Ryan?s Pet Supplies, we thank Brian Taylor, and everyone involved in the Pup Relief Tour for the work that they are doing in our industry! It is important to recognize and celebrate diversity. We are grateful that PRT is also spreading compassion. While these tense times have been difficult, we can all agree that compassion is something society needs more of! Compassion is the forefront of why groomers do what they do and it?s compassion that brings us together.
We will be sending the Pup Relief Tour $150 as part of our community outreach program. Send in your stories of community, triumph, hardship to [email protected] to be featured in an upcoming blog. We will continue to choose one groomer/cause to feature every month!
Follow Brian aka ?The Dogfather of Harlem? on Instagram here and the Pup Relief Tour on Instagram here. Check out their website for upcoming dates and to learn how you can get involved!
