Ripley Before and After – photos courtesy of Ripley’s Believe it or Not
His story was meant to be a tragic one. He was discovered in a Louisiana ditch, abandoned, so badly matted that he was unable to walk. Local rescue group, My Heart’s Desire, took him in, nicknaming him Ripley because “believe it or not, there is a dog in there.” Ripley had to be sedated to be groomed; veterinarians found cockroaches — both dead and alive — snared in the 2.5 pounds of fur they cut off.
But word of Ripley’s journey traveled fast. More than 50 applicants came forward, hoping to provide Ripley a better tomorrow. Within a few days, the VP of Communications for Ripley’s Believe it or Not, Tim O’Brien, contacted the shelter to get involved. They offered to pay for his medical care, provided a gift card for food and supplies, and made a donation to the shelter. Finally new owners were chosen, and that’s when PETCO got involved.
Tim called his daughter, a PETCO associate, who put him in contact with the local RMPM, Michelle Cook. Michelle reached out to the Louisiana-area DM Pete Perez, who contacted BJ Neil, the ASM at store 1433 in Houma, La. BJ had worked with My Heart’s Desire in the past, so she/he coordinated a party with them to celebrate the new owners.
“We decided to create a whole event around it – Ripley’s Big Bash – bringing awareness to Ripley’s happy ending, other shelters in the area and our Tree of Hope fundraiser,” BJ explained.
On the day of the event, Ripley’s Believe it or Not picked up Ripley and his new pet parents, escorting them to the PETCO store in a limo. During the day, nearly 500 people came through the store, participating in a raffle, checking out pets available for adoption and donating to Tree of Hope. The store, which averaged $100 in Tree of Hope donations on a typical day, earned nearly $700 for Tree of Hope, with more than 400 roundups throughout the day. They also had arts and crafts, cake and a photo shoot to document the start of Ripley’s new life.
“The bash was a great way to spread the word about adoption and celebrate Ripley’s fresh start,” BJ said. “Plus it was a lot of fun!”
To cap it off, Natural Balance offered Ripley’s family a free year’s supply of dog food, and PETCO and Ripley’s Believe it or Not split the cost for a year of free grooms. Ripley will also be featured in the Ripley’s Believe it or Not 2011 annual compilation of believe-it-or-not stories from around the globe.
Since the celebration, Ripley’s parents have sent several updates, and made multiple trips to their new favorite store.
“We see them on a regular basis, they are definitely PETCO shoppers now,” BJ said.
The strong collaboration between Ripley’s Believe it or Not, PETCO and Natural Balance, came together thanks to the hard work of multiple people.
“Pete and Michelle empowered me and supported me to work with Tim at Ripley’s Believe it or Not, and Lee Kunkler, Account Supervisor for Natural Balance, worked with Pete to find a way to donate a year’s supply of Natural Balance dog food to little Ripley ,” BJ said. “He was in dire need and was saved – He deserves a good home and he has found one. These are the kind of stories we all like to hear!”