Chuck Rubin is an animal lover. He lives on a farm with horses, alpacas, donkeys, chickens, and of course dogs and cats. 20 years ago, he started a labor of love: pulling dogs from shelters and grooming them, one by one. He would give them a bath and a professional groom job, and then give them back to the shelter to find their forever home.
“For me, it was enough that I got to kiss and hug them, and make them feel better through grooming,” Rubin told iHeartDogs. “But I also saw the adoption rate increasing.”
He did this quietly for 20 years – supported by his grooming business, Hollywood Grooming, a mobile grooming and pet sitting business in the Los Angeles area.
A Bigger Calling
Then, Dawn Poomee, creator of the PAWsitive YouTube Channel, published a video that included Rubin and his work. It quickly received 15 million views, with people all over the world commenting on the great work he was doing. It was then that Rubin realized he could be doing more.
“I understood that it could be something bigger,” he said. “And if more people knew about it and help sponsor more days, I can send groomers and pay them through a foundation.”
So Rubin started Hollywood Rescue Grooming, a non-profit dedicated to transforming shelter dogs through expert grooming.
They do cats too.
Why Grooming Matters
Many of these dogs are matted to the skin – having never been touched by a brush or nail clippers in their life. Some have hardly been handled by people. The entire process can have an amazing effect on a dog that was previously cowering in the corner of shelter kennel.
“The fact that the dog gets some attention and gets rid of all those mats makes him feel more comfortable,” Rubin explained.
Like for Joey, a recent transformation done by Hollywood Rescue Grooming. You can tell from the video he was scared and wasn’t sure about human contact before his groom. After, he feels so much better that he is willing to interact with people.
This makes them more adoptable.
“These are dogs that people just passed by in the shelter and didn’t see the potential of how cute they can be,” Rubin said. “We were at the south central shelter and this couple went by this Cocker’s cage and thought nothing on him. But when I got him back to the cage with a nice hair cut they asked to take him out and play with him and they end up taking him home. How can that not make you happy?”
In fact, 85 percent of the dogs Rubin grooms are adopted within hours or days of their makeovers!
Rubin has amazing volunteers that help bath the dogs and bring them from the kennels, but he only uses professional groomers to do the actual grooming work. These dogs are getting the five-star treatment!
National Work
Up until the end of last year, Rubin was founding this entire endeavor out of his own pocket. The groomers are paid for their time to help the shelter dogs and of course, he has a few volunteers as mentioned. Now that he is a 501c, he has started to get more fund in, which allows him to help more dogs.
Each week, they take a van to a shelter and do ten pets. Additionally, the business side (Hollywood Grooming) does an all-business event with their five tucks about every other month. He’s even doing work nationally.
Recently, he contacted a groomer in New Jersey and covered the groomer’s expenses to groom 15 dogs. Even better, a woman in Canada sent him a check that covered the entire trip.
“My initiative is to have more groomers understand how good it’s for the soul and for the pets, that everyone wins,” he said. “And maybe then all the groomers around the nation will volunteer their time. Until then, we will pay them.”
The next city he is partnering with a groomer in is Phoenix, Arizona. In addition, he has the following events planned:
- Feb 13 – Orange County Shelter (5 trucks Hollywood Grooming0
- Feb 20 – East Valley Phoenix (1 truck natural pet mobile grooming)
- March 19 – East Valley Shelter (5 trucks Hollywood Grooming)
- May 22 – Baldwin Park Shelter (5 trucks Hollywood Grooming)
- October – Rescue Train, Pasadena 2 trucks Hollywood grooming)
- Dec – Santa Paws (5 trucks Hollywood Grooming) They will be grooming the homeless pets in Skid Row this year.
You can help by making a donation at their website, Hollywood Rescue Grooming.
