One Animal Lover Is Providing Makeovers For New York’s Stray Dogs

A generous animal lover is helping find homes for New York’s stray dogs - by giving them a free bath and haircut. In 2016, almost 9000 homeless dogs were taken in by the Animal Care Centers of NYC according to the ACC Asilomar Statistics. Over half of these were strays found on the streets, with no owners to care for them, feed or groom them.

Armed with his scissors and electric clippers, volunteer dog groomer Mark Imhof has been visiting the centers for two years to help the homeless animals desperately in need of a haircut.

He said: "My wife and I adopted a Pitbull. She was filthy and I gave her a bath and I said, ‘Wouldn't it be great if somebody visited the shelter and cleaned up the shelter dogs?’, and that started my idea."

About two years ago Mark started coming in and grooming a few dogs at the ACC and in that time he’s transformed over 500 dogs, basically making him a fixture at the care centers.

After bathing and grooming the dogs, Mark drastically changes their appearance. And this also causes an immediate affect on the dogs' personality, with many of them instantly becoming more confident and happy.

Mark’s selfless acts of kindness has enabled many of the dogs to finally find their fur-ever homes, some within an hour of being groomed.

"There’s a great, lovable dog at the shelter, just waiting to be your new best friend. Adopt, don’t shop.