Teen makes bow ties for shelter dogs to help them get adopted

Darius Brown was 8 when his older sister, Dazhai, painstakingly taught him how to sew a bow tie. He wore the new Ninja Turtle-themed tie to school the next day, and when several of his friends wanted one, he returned to the sewing machine to make more.

Two years later, in 2017, he found a better use for his new hobby when he learned hundreds of dogs and cats were left homeless in Florida and Puerto Rico after the devastation of Hurricane Irma.

The animals needed families to adopt them and Darius said he realized he could help them to stand out in crowded animal shelters if he made them look hilarious and adorable by wearing a bow tie.

So when some of the rescue animals were brought up north, Darius dropped off about 25 pet-sized bow ties at ASPCA animal shelter in New York City. It worked even better than he’d hoped, he said.

“Even something small like a tie can help get an animal adopted because a bow tie is unique and helps bring out a pet’s personality,” said Darius, now 14, who lives in Newark, New Jersey.

Four years later, his Singer sewing machine is still working overtime in his mom’s apartment. He estimates he’s donated more than 600 bow ties for dogs and cats in shelters.

“Polka dot ties, striped ties, ties with dog paws and rhinestones — every tie is different, and I like to sew them all,” said Darius, who is in eighth grade.

Shelter workers say that Darius’ bow ties help older animals, in particular, get noticed and adopted more quickly.

“Animals who wear them get adopted right away because people find them instantly charming,” said Lorri Caffrey, executive director of the Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter in East Hanover, New Jersey, who received a first batch of two dozen ties from Darius two years ago.

Darius said he’s been motivated to make them since he realized how successful they were with the Hurricane Irma pooches.

“I saw how happy the people at the shelter were to get the bow ties and how much the dogs liked them, and I decided to make more,” he said. “I came up with a goal to give bow ties to an animal shelter in every state.”

So far, he’s taken his bow ties to dogs — and a few lucky cats — in Washington, D.C. and eight states.

COURTESY So you’re thinking about adopting a pet and you visit an animal shelter and — pow, you’re hit by this sight of pooches sporting bow ties. How are you going to resist taking at least one of them home? That’s the thinking behind Darius Brown’s efforts to make irresistible bow ties for animals in pet shelters around the U.S.