We recently connected with Lesley Brog and have shared our conversation below.

Lesley, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

The mission of Wags and Walks is to work with our dog loving community to reduce euthanasia in local shelters and increase awareness of rescue dogs being wonderful pets. I was inspired by falling madly in love with my first rescue dog who was a pit bull named Dunkin. As the daughter of a veterinarian, I grew up with pure breeds. Dunkin was the first dog that seemed to know empathy. When I was sad, he would sit by me and sigh. He always knew how to be a buddy and when it was time to run alongside me or sleep in on a lazy Sunday. Most importantly, Dunkin was the most friendly dog I had ever met to everyone, especially children and dogs of all sizes. Despite his affable and loving personality, people would cross the street to get away from him or leave the dog park when we arrived. I later learned the unfortunate stigma around pit bulls and it saddened me to know dogs that dunkin were not only judged by their breed but were the most likely to be euthanized in shelters due to overcrowding. Once I learned about the sheer numbers of pit bulls and all other breeds overcrowding the shelters and being euthanized I knew I had to do something about it. From that day in August 2011 on, Wags and Walks was born and has saved over 11,500 dogs from high kill shelters and placed them in loving homes. We have also grown and opened locations in Nashville and the Hamptons so that we can impact more lives and help change the minds about rescue dogs and breed misconceptions. Dunkin was surely the most inspiring being that has ever come into my life and I am so proud of what he helped me to accomplish.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Wags and Walks is a 501C3 non profit organization and a dedicated community of dog lovers working to reduce euthanasia in local shelters and increase awareness of rescue dogs as being wonderful pets. We are focused on advocating for wrongfully stereotyped bully breeds, medical dogs, and puppies that are often overlooked and at risk due to overcrowding at the shelter. We do not select dogs based on their age, size or breed. We select our dogs on a case-by-case basis, factoring in our ability to help and their likelihood of thriving when placed in the right home.

Wags and Walks is unique because we have centers that focus on community. It is a happy place to be and know that once the dogs are with us they are safe and loved while looking for their forever home. We offer endless volunteer opportunities as well as foster programs, humane education for children and fun events like puppies and yoga and so much more.

We know that, like amazing dogs, loving families come in all shapes and sizes. Our goal is to find every pup an adopter whose home, family, and lifestyle are a perfect fit for a lifetime of love and happiness.

Our work is fully funded by individual donors and we have created wonderful ways for anyone who wants to support to get involved whether thats thru our recurring Pup Club membership for as low at $10/month to the sponsorships onsite at our adoption centers and our local events and gala. We also offer corporate sponsorships, corporate event days, puppy birthday parties and more!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I believe Wags and Walks created a wonderful reputation because dogs posess a unique ability to bring people from diverse background and unite them in a common cause. Everyone who works and volunteers at Wags and Walks is so committed to the mission of saving the lives of deserving dogs and finding their perfect match. When people enter our adoption centers, they can feel the passion of our team and are always greeted with a warm and inviting smile. Having a track record of 11 years , we have established ourselves as transparent with our mission and our funding. Many of our families who adopt from us, come back and become a double alumni as well as word of mouth driving others thru our doors. We have saved and placed 11.500 dogs to date and our reputation is based on our proven track record.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Wags and Walks was started in 2011 when facebook was the way people connected on social media. I saw a post on facebook about a dog that was set to be euthanized that day. There were 100’s of comments about encouraging people to save him and prayers given but I thought to myself, someone has to go get him out of danger and I knew that someone would be me. Hooch turned out to be a wonderful dog who was sick with kennel cough, I had never been involved in a rescue and learned quickly how expensive one dog would be to save, At the vet, we were charged for an exam, an injection and his medications. Once healed, I has to finance his neuter so I turned to facebook and told his story. To my surprise, people were so willing to pitch in for Hooch’s care and I was so grateful and inspired to do more lifesaving with the support of my community. I provided an update to all my facebook friends when I matched Hooch up with his new dad and continued to share the journey (and the cost) of every dog I saved. I was able to cover my costs and save hundreds of dogs, Now, Wags and Walks saves thousands and I am always in awe of the generosity of dog lovers that allow us to commit to these pups no matter what.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wagsandwalks.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wagsandwalks/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wagsandwalks
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wags-walks/?viewAsMember=true
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/WagsandWalks
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81pTk-PWCH0
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wags-and-walks-los-angeles