9 year old raises funds to save shelter dogs lives

Most kids want cake and a huge pile of gifts for their big day. But Ethan isn't like most kids. Turning nine he decided that for his birthday, he wanted to raise money to save dogs. “Ethan is an avid dog lover and always has been,” said mum, Lisa.

The Katz family has two rescue dogs: a golden retriever named Fly and a mini golden retriever named Brooklyn, who started off as a foster puppy from City Dogs Rescue, a D.C.-based nonprofit that rescues dogs from overcrowded or high-kill shelters and places them in foster homes. The family fell in love with “Brookie” while fostering her and decided to adopt her last fall.

According to Ethan, the pup was the impetus behind his selfless birthday wish. “Since I started fostering my dog Brooklyn, I came up with the idea to do something off of that,” he told Huff Post.

So Ethan decided that for his birthday he would design and sell T-shirts online for $20, and donate all the funds to City Dogs Rescue. “Every day we would check, like ‘How many shirts have we sold? How many dogs can we save?’” Lisa said.

By his ninth birthday, Ethan had raised $2,640 - enough to save 10 dogs from being put down. City Dogs Rescue expressed their gratitude on their blog, posting:“Thank you Ethan and HAPPY BIRTHDAY from all of us here at City Dogs Rescue!”

The campaign was so successful that at the request of City Dogs Rescue, Ethan and his parents agreed to launch a second one which raised another $4,150.

“Ethan is so excited to see his campaign take off and we are thrilled to help CDR get some national attention for the hard and selfless work that they and their team of volunteers do,” Lisa said.

To support Ethan’s fundraiser for City Dogs Rescue, click here.