Out of the Doghouse

Three years ago, on a Monday morning, Michael West went to work and found his employer out of business, doors locked and offices stripped bare. In one fell swoop, he had lost his job, his savings and his grip on the middle class.

But now, as the Sherman Oaks resident prepares the seventh edition of his Get-A-Pet photo adoption magazine, West, 37, is becoming a top dog.

With 35,000 copies of his biweekly magazine hitting the stands in six Southern California counties, West’s start-up publication has come to the rescue of overcrowded animal shelters throughout the region. Featuring hundreds of animal mug shots, descriptions and practical advice about pet ownership, the venture has saved many animals from death.

The magazine, selling for $1.50 a copy, could also save West from the doghouse.

The publication is being printed and distributed by the same companies that launched the Recycler--the ubiquitous used-goods trading magazine with a circulation of 1.3 million. Like the Recycler, Get-A-Pet couples pictures with brief captions to give readers a better idea about what they may be getting. For instance, an ad for a spotted tabby named “Harley” reads: “Year-old male lover wants to cruise into your home and your heart.”

Although there are some advertisements from owners trying to place their pets in other homes, most of the animals featured in the magazine are impounded at shelters. No animal breeders or pet store owners are allowed to advertise in the magazine, West said.

West has worked out arrangements to give free ad space to nearly every animal shelter in San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura counties. Peter Persic, spokesman for Los Angeles Animal Services, which impounds almost 80,000 animals each year, says the city will also start listing with Get-A-Pet next month.

“We see this as a great way to educate and inform the public that we have a wide variety of animals, from pure breeds to mixed breeds,” Persic said.

Joe Sykora, animal control supervisor for the Glendale Humane Society, said his staff fields an additional 50 calls every time the magazine comes out. Since the Glendale Humane Society started advertising in the magazine, an additional 25 animals have been picked up from the shelter, Sykora said.

“Get-A-Pet has definitely helped,” he said.

Before West started his new life as the savior for the canine and feline masses, he was making $65,000 a year as a sales manager. When he lost his job and the means to support his children as a single parent, he began interviewing three times daily. After three months without a job offer, he got desperate.

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“I spent all my savings, my car was repossessed and I lost my house,” West said. “Next thing I knew, me and my kids were living in a hotel room on Roscoe Boulevard in Sepulveda.”

Then a friend came to West with a problem. He was looking for a pet and had become frustrated with classified listings after he drove many miles to see a dog that was not as described in the ad.

West said his friend told him, “They’re never as good as they sound.” So West, an owner of two dogs and a cat, got an idea--why not start a publication that would allow people to see what they were getting?

Over the next two years, West and four co-workers worked to turn his $10,000 investment into Get-A-Pet. The first issue came out in June. West expects to turn a profit by the end of the year.

He is now negotiating with several supermarket chains throughout California to increase his magazine’s circulation to 90,000. And he has dreams of publishing his magazine in cities all over the nation.

“I kind of stumbled into this,” West said. “But we’re saving lives man, and you know, it doesn’t get any better than that.”