You may remember back at the beginning of the year when we announced we had a new hire of the four-legged variety. Owen’s certainly earned his keep since, proving his couch-sleeping skills unmatched in the office + warding off telemarketers with a sigh of aloofness when he answers the phone, but, we must be honest with you—the decision to bring Owen on-board was an uncharacteristically hasty one for us.
Anyone who knows Katie or myself knows that we’re both very deliberate in most decisions + very picky, which can often result in exactly zero decisions ever being made. We’re working on that, but, to the point, we had talked about bringing a dog into our lives for years. When Katie saw a photo + description of Owen on Facebook (“good with cats”—key) and then we met the fine fellow on the night of New Year’s Eve, 2012, we decided to be very un-us and just go for it. Though, to be honest, there was an adjustment period for us—”What does that look mean? Does that mean you have to pee? Are you currently peeing? Do you need four walks a day? Seventy-two?”—we’re happy every second of the day that we took the plunge and, as a result, have this wonderful, kind-hearted dog in our lives.
But back to us being über-picky—though the shelter was kind enough to give us a leash when we picked up Owen (seriously—no pet supply stores are open on the morning of New Year’s Day)—we quickly became aware that such a dapper fellow needed some equally dapper duds. Plus, you know, he’s a dog, so he’s basically got one or two things he wears his whole life; may as well make them nice.
But no matter how hard we tried, we just couldn’t seem to find a collar or leash to suit our…or more accurately, his fine tastes. I know—overt personification of and public projection onto one’s animal companion is not an attractive quality. It’s like baby talk; we’ll stop. But, suffice to say, he’s a handsome fellow + we like to support finely made pretty things.
Which is why we’re thankful to have come across Found My Animal, a Brooklyn-based company that creates durable, timeless-looking products for the canine in your life. We absolutely fell in love with their canvas collars + super-strong, marine-grade rope leashes, adorned with solid brass fixtures + versatile clips (pictured above + below). We were impressed with Found’s aesthetic and, even more so, its raison d’être, so we thought we’d take a moment to catch up with one of the company’s co-founders, Bethany Obrecht (right), to learn more about the idea behind the company + its products.
raven + crow studio: What inspired you to start Found My Animal?
Bethany Obrecht: Co-founder Anna Conway and I are both artists that wanted to help encourage people to adopt animals. Anna was first inspired by a family member working as a fisherman, and she made her rescue pup the very first 3-strand, hand-spliced and whipped rope leash back in 2006. Nothing like it existed in the market, so by 2007, Found My Animal got started making the same unique nautical leads for our customers.
Why was making adopted animals a focus important to you? Clearly you could have left that part out of the branding/mission and opened the products up to a lot more customers.
Anna and I are both die hard animal lovers. That love for animals was the foundation that started our lasting friendship and partnership. We both have fostered countless animals in need. We basically thought that if we created a brand around the idea of making animal adoption the right thing to do, and cool, people would follow.
That is truly excellent. Your leash and collars are so beautifully designed, we honestly feel like we’re strutting Owen (our dog) around in the equivalent of doggie bling, in a really awesome way. Was playing up the company name—and thus adoption mission—with the tags and bright brass intentional in the design?
The brass tags represent our following. They were an integral part of the design of the leash, to keep count of the animals that were being FOUND and saved.
Very nice idea behind the brand. How are the stamped numbers on the tags significant?
The individually-numbered, stamped tags on each FOUND leash serve as a reminder of the uniqueness of your animal and allow us to keep track of the number of animals you have helped so far.
And how did the new hand-dyed ombre line come about?
We thought that dye would react beautifully with 100% US cotton rope. We did a few tests and came up with the Ombre—it’s so natural and chic.
Agreed. Finally, any chance you’d do a solid black canvas collar in the future? We think it’d look STUNNING on our fellow….
Sure we can make you one!
Suhweeeeeeet!
Visit Found My Animal’s site to learn more about their mission, see more images of their work, and check out their full range of expanding products for your favorite dog-breathed friend.
Pictured below, their adjustable black leash + Owen posing in his black watch plaid collar in the studio. Photo of Bethany with Claude and Henri at Found My Animal’s studio in Bed Stuy by Tre Cassetta.
