Our Origin Story

 

Hello! I am Brian, the Owner and Founder of Urban Stray. Below I would like to share the story about how Urban Stray came to be so that you can have a better understanding of my company!!

Well, it all started when I moved to a new city for the first. Although I was always surrounded in a sea of people I found myself constantly feeling pretty alone. After tons of thought and reflection I couldn't quite figure out what was missing. Then one day I was talking to my Mother and explaining my situation to her wondering if she can provide any help. As my Mother always has done before, she guided me to the answer I was looking for. She flipped the phone around so that I could see our family dog knowing that would cheer me up. Then it all hit me. Growing up, my family had always had a dog, yet we never really were looking for one or necessarily wanted one. Then I remember my Mother explaining to me one time she believed these were acts of God, him bringing the perfect companion at the right time because he knew that not only did the dog need us but we also needed the dog. It was that moment I realized what was missing. 

Fast forward a few days, I open up my phone to see a post about how the shelter is overpopulated. In the background of the photo, I immediately noticed a scared to death dog balled up in the corner of his cinder block cell. This dog instantaneously reminded me of one of the dogs I had growing up. I believed this was my sign, got in my car and headed to the shelter. When I got there, I was shocked at the barbaric conditions - the shelter was understaffed and overcrowded with dogs. But the volunteers were so upbeat and happy to assist me in finding a new friend. After discussing my lifestyle and living arrangements with a volunteer, they brought out a timid brindled pitbull mix named Tucker. I was shocked, out of the many dogs in the shelter she brought out the one I saw in the back of the post. As soon as I looked into Tucker's eyes, I knew we were a perfect match. We left the shelter together, ready to conquer this new life in a new city.

Tucker and I quickly formed a strong bond that gave us both the confidence to try new things and explore the city. We both were coming out of our shells and started to really enjoy this new city we found ourselves in. But one day I was informed I would need to travel for my job. My new job required me to travel sporadically and for varying lengths of time, due to this I was only fostering Tucker and it was time to bring him back to the shelter. I felt a pain in heart dropping him off that I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy, but I knew he would be in good hands with the volunteers at the shelter. 

When I returned from my first trip, I immediately visited the shelter only to find out that Tucker had been adopted. I was heartbroken at first, but spoke to the same volunteer who had initially matched us. She told me that Tucker's true personality had finally emerged when he returned to the shelter leading him to quickly getting adopted by this nice family that lived out on a farm. She thanked me for helping him come out of his shell and i came to peace realizing he is living his best life.

After self reflection and thought, I realized although it will hurt, fostering dogs is something I have become very fond of and realized it was the perfect situation for me. Despite my sadness at losing Tucker, I realized that not only was I helping the dogs, but they were also helping me learn important lessons about life. As I let each dog go to their forever home, I felt a mixture of sadness and joy, knowing that I had made a positive impact on their lives.

These experiences motivated me to start Urban Stray! A company whose goal is to not only give shelters across the country more exposure so that everyone can find their best friend but also enlighten people on their ability to foster. I never knew fostering was a possibility until I walked into a shelter that day. I believe if more people knew about fostering, it would vastly improve the lives of not only the people but also the scared and lonely pups. Thus resulting in better qualities of life all around. Through this work, I found a new sense of purpose and fulfillment, knowing that I was making a difference in the lives of dogs and people alike. We believe everyone, no matter what size or shape, deserves a family and a home. Help us out by joining the pack today!