Brody is the most beautiful dog in the world. Ask his family.
“She’s just a beautiful soul,” said Abby Michaels, her owner and pet mom.
A once-neglected puggle found by a teacher, his wife and son through an online ad, Brody has been an integral part of their family – he even goes to Phillies games – for more than 16 years. When he died in June, he left “a huge hole” in their hearts and a ton of beloved toys. The family knew they weren’t leaving anytime soon.
But then Michaels, 60, saw a post on Facebook: someone was collecting old pet toys – not annoying, missing the stuffing, chewable, unimportant – making them look like new, and giving them to shelter dogs and cats .
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Brody would like that, Michaels thought. So he grabbed a bunch of his old toys and put them down. And he actually felt a little better.
“It’s a good way to help you heal your heart,” he said, “and it’s a good way to give to those in need, whether it’s a dog or a person.”
Brody’s toys became part of the Ruff Toy Project, started by Northeast Philadelphia animal lover Caitlin Parylak.
“I’m a big repurpose kind of person,” said Parylak, 25. “When I first got my foster dogs a few years ago, they went through toys with no business. I thought it was a great way to reuse. Plus, it’s a win-win for everyone. People feel good when they donate their toys.”
Animal-lover Caitlin Parylak is big on repurposing. Photo: TNS
For the past few months, Parylak, has been mostly at home due to a work-related injury at his city job. He posted a call for unwanted, in-need-of-repair pet toys on a Fishtown Facebook page, which soon spread throughout the city. Parylak found himself making 15 pickup stops on a run, and people like Abby Michaels started dropping off bags outside his house.
Soon, Parylak had his own Island of Lost (Pet) Toys at his Academy Gardens home. Using scraps of old clothes, patches of new fabric, and squeakers bought on Amazon, hers is a one-woman Santa’s workshop that has rehabbed around 300 toys so far with more waiting to wings.
Sometimes, having all those toys around is too tempting for her own dogs, Terry and Polar, two rescue pit bulls.
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“Sometimes when I’m grooming them, Polar, my youngest, will come and try to keep one. I usually don’t let them take them. But if there’s one they’re really interested in, I usually only do one. I’ll go to the store and I’ll change it.”
Parylak would hear from donors that the toys they were giving away belonged to a beloved pet who had died. Her own cat Pippin had died two years ago, so she knew what it was like.
“Depending on how bad the shape of the toy is, I’ll try to gather a little piece of fabric and then they’ll make their own little keepsake to bring back to them,” Parylak said.
Nowadays, he gives away many of the repaired toys ACCT-Philly.
Parylak learned from donors that the toys he was refurbishing belonged to a beloved pet that had died. Photo: Handout
“Because they are the [city’s] It’s just an open-intake shelter, I feel like a lot of their budget should be prioritized for necessities, so they don’t really have money for toys,” Parylak said. “So I’ll try to go to them first.”
He also donated to Pennsylvania SPCA (PSPCA). And he worked on a few bags of toys for cats at a cat cafe on Girard Avenue.
But Parylak is a Secret Santa. She said she usually just puts her completed toys in the shelters’ donation bins or gives them to friends to drop off.
“I’m not a limelight person,” he says.
Gillian Kocher, spokeswoman for the PSPCA, said Parylak has been a volunteer with their agency since 2019, often bringing dogs to events such as a recent Philadelphia Union soccer game. But, he said, “Nobody had any idea about the toys coming from Caitlin.”
But they are appreciated.
As families leave the villages under the development plan, their dogs also need a home
“Toys are essential tools in keeping our shelter residents entertained while they wait for their forever families,” Kocher said. “We often think about walking dogs and making sure they get enough physical exercise, which is very important. But, we can’t forget their brains. They need exercise too.”
Pet owners who have contributed to the Ruff Toy Project say they are grateful for the opportunity to help animals in need.
Abby Michaels now maintains what she calls a “shrine” to Brody at the family’s Northeast Philadelphia home. Some of the puggle’s favorite toys are there, as well as other Brody memorabilia.
Parylak has donated to animal organizations such as ACCT-Philly and the Pennsylvania SPCA. Photo: Handout
“I kept his favorite ball and his favorite bone, and I still can’t get his jacket off. But everything else, I felt he was doing a very good service,” Michaels said.
“And I think it helped me through the grieving process to know that some cat or dog would be able to play with some of his toys.”
He always seems to teach his students: “Everyone has to pay for it in this world.”
