Amy Sacks and Karli Covington
Founders of The Pixie Project
Meet Two Young Entrepreneurs whose Love of Animals has Saved Over 1,000 Dogs from the Shelters and Secured them Forever Homes!
The American Dog reports
Photos by Lara Blair
The entrepreneurial spirit is what drives American business, but some fear that doing business with a conscience means losing a competitive edge. Happily, more and more are discovering that it's entirely possible to do well and do good at the same time. Exhibit A: Amy Sacks and Karli Covington, co-founders of the Pixie Project, an unusual pet-supply store in Portland, Oregon that's also an animal adoption and counseling center.
The daughter of Ann Sacks, whose top-of-the-line tile business is a favorite with the country's most prominent interior designers, Amy is no stranger to smart business practices. Her dedication to animal rescue dates back to childhood, when she saw her parents help out homeless people with dogs, offering blankets, dog food, and their phone number to arrange free spay/neuter. Then she met Karli while the two were students at Iowa State University; during her college years, Amy was busy learning how to be an animal activist by volunteering to help a local vet perform free spay/neuter procedures on the pets of the area's low-income residents. "Between trapneuter-release and general low-cost veterinary assistance, I probably facilitated over 2,000 surgeries while I was in school," Amy recalls.
Amy lives with two adopted dogs, a Malamute-Shepherd mix named Chandler and Sadie, a Chihuahua mix; Karli has Chihuahua-Brussels Griffon called Malcolm and a Pit Bull mix named Jake. But they couldn't stop thinking about the many thousands of other, less fortunate dogs in need of good homes, so together they cooked up a plan. The result is the Pixie Project, named after a terrier mix Amy rescued while in college; that lucky dog was adopted by Amy's parents. "She was rescued from a hoarder in Iowa City, and she ended up living the greatest life ever," Amy explains. "Pixie is a perfect symbol of hope."
In the past year, many pet shops have either shut down or changed their business model in response to increased public awareness of cruel conditions at puppy mills that supply puppies to such stores. These days, smart businesses are the ones that refuse to sell animals from puppy mills, showcasing adoptable rescued dogs instead. Amy was ahead of this trend; the Pixie Project has operated on the "adoption option" for two years now.
"Our goal from the very beginning has been to support our county's overcrowded, underfunded shelters," Amy explains. For first-time dog owners who might feel intimidated about going to an animal shelter to adopt, the Pixie Project offers a hand to hold. "Going to a shelter is not always an experience for everyone," Amy allows. "Shelters are working so hard as it is, and they can't always give adopters one-on-one support.
So we pull animals out of shelters and board them, and my cell phone extends to every adopter! We equate what we do to eHarmony for pets," she adds. "A lot of components go into making a perfect match, so we take all of those into account." When a match is made, the proud new dog owner can leave the Pixie Project with all the necessities, from leash and collar to food and biodegradable waste bags.
The one-stop-shop-for-a-perfect-pet formula is working: Thanks to the Pixie Project, more than 1,000 Oregon shelter dogs have found ideal homes - which means the same number of homes now have the right pet for them. Talk about doing well and doing good at the same time! The adoptables are housed at a doggie-daycare business located in the same building, where they receive socialization and exercise. Meanwhile, back at the store, "100 percent of every dollar we make goes right back into the pot for rescue," Amy says proudly.
Among the items for sale are stylin' T-shirts as well as dog collars that say ADOPT and leashes that proclaim SUPPORT THE ADOPTION OPTION. "We said, Let's design things that people will want to put on themselves and their dogs," Amy concludes. "The more we can get the branding of adoption out there everywhere, the better."
For more information:
The Pixie Project
510 N. E. Martin Luther King Blvd
Portland, OR 97232
Store (503) 542- 3432
Adoption (503) 512-3437
www.pixieproject.org
