Lorenzo's Oil Moments ...

The 1992 film Lorenzo's Oil is about a boy, Lorenzo, who was diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a neurological disease, which is usually fatal within 2 years. Dissatisfied with medical experts who saw no hope or relief, Lorenzo's parents tirelessly researched, scoured the world and developed a homemade oil that provided relief to the child and prolonged his life until age 30. 

I am seeing the same spirit in pet owners determined to make their pets happy and comfortable by inventing for their pets, that which is unavailable in the established public marketplace. It is truly amazing! Here are just 2 examples.

Two of our adopters fell in love with an "underdog" at our shelter. "Underdogs", are dogs who are over 6 years old or who have been our guests for over 3 months and who we specially promote to stimulate interest in them. Once home, the adopters felt the dog was not eating enough of any food to thrive properly. They were determined to help their new family member and created treats from original recipes with all natural ingredients and USDA certified meats.  Miraculously, the dog loved them! Of course, they then created a company, The Urban Sidekick, so they could share this product with the world. Additionally, these adopters, who want to help other dogs find good homes, promote adoptions and sponsor the adoption fees of one spcaLA "underdog" a month! 

I met another pet owner who loves Collies. Collies, like many dogs can suffer from digestive upsets. Not happy with existing fiber supplements on the market, he looked at what helped people with similar discomforts and developed a homemade recipe for his dog. This concoction resulted in much relief and success for his dog. This pet lover also created a company, Fiber for Dogs to share this solution with dogs everywhere who were having similar issues. 

 This is particularly impressive as these are not products propelled by celebrity fame, branding and funding, but rather, like Lorenzo's parents, these were created out of necessity, love and a determination to make their own pets feel better when there was nothing else that could or would.

In my humble opinion, this is entrepreneurship at its finest!