Flair’s Warriors
Flair’s Warriors
Dog advocates on a mission to help keep families together “furever”
If you’ve ever lost a pet, you know what an incredibly heartbreaking experience it is. Pets aren’t “just pets”. They become an important and irreplaceable part of the family. They bring so much comfort and love, that once that’s gone, it leaves a painful emptiness. And sometimes, we’re not sure what to do with that. We all respond to loss differently and grieve in our own ways. But you can either let the grief overcome you or you can use that grief to do something positive, and that is exactly how Flair’s Warriors came to be.
Alex Popiela had a 3-year-old Goldendoodle named Flair. He was fun-loving, energetic and so loyal. The only thing he cared about was spending time with the people he loved the most. Flair was a perfectly healthy dog until last summer. One day he started acting lethargic. He wouldn’t eat or drink, wasn’t moving much and no longer wanted to play. Alex took him to the vet, but after some testing and blood work, he was ultimately sent home with medications and was told to monitor Flair.
The next day Flair became sicker and was taken back to the vet. The vet recommended they perform an exploratory surgery under the assumption there was an intestinal obstruction. Unable to find anything, the vet noticed Flair wasn’t recovering from the anesthetic and began crashing. He was rushed to an emergency facility, where it was determined that he had an Addisonian Crisis, meaning his adrenal glands were not producing enough cortisol to help regulate his body while he was under during surgery. His body couldn’t wake itself up from the anesthetic and it started to shut down.
Over the course of a long, anxiety-filled week, the hospital was able to stabilize Flair and send him home. After a day, Flair was slowly getting back to his fun-loving self, but then became sick again and was taken back to emergency care. Because he was so weak from surgery and the disease itself, his organs were starting to fail. Already having acquired a week’s worth of hospital bills with an uncertain future for Flair, Alex still told the hospital to do everything they could to save Flair. However, each time an organ had been stabilized, a new organ would start to fail. With so much unpredictably regarding Flair and vet bills piling up, Alex had to make the most difficult decision of his life - to put his best friend down.
During Flair’s time in the hospital, Alex spent a lot of time researching ways to receive financial assistance for Flair, but he couldn’t find a single place in Western New York. Dogs who suffer from treatable diseases deserve a chance. But dogs don’t get a say. “Their livelihood is based on our financial circumstances, which is unfair,” said Alex. “If they had a voice, they’d prefer that we keep fighting.”
Enter Flair’s Warriors.
Alex founded this organization with the help of his brother, Tyler, and a few other friends, about a month after Flair passed. Originally, it was an idea his mother gave him to distract him and help cope with his loss, to keep his mind busy. But Alex was motivated to do this in Flair’s honor. “It was a way for me to help keep him with me. It’s almost like I carry him with me now. His legacy kind of lives on with the organization. That’s what motivated me to keep going with it,” Alex explained.
So what exactly does Flair’s Warriors do? They offer ongoing financial assistance for sick and disabled dogs in the Western New York area. “We don’t pay for surgeries, but what we can do is allocate funds to help pay for ongoing medications for dogs with treatable diseases,” Alex said. Since they are a relatively new organization, they’re still working on building up the means to do so. Their goal is to generate enough funds through events and donations to be able to service a few dogs by the end of this year.
Flair’s Warriors not only wants to prevent people from putting their dog down, but also giving their dogs up to the shelter. “What we didn’t realize, and what we ended up being told by the local animal shelters, is that a lot of people who have dogs with illnesses such as diabetes & Addison’s Disease, who have these ongoing medication costs, they just give these dogs to the shelter because they can’t afford it,” Tyler mentioned. “They’re not getting put down. They’re going to the shelter and now the shelter has to deal with it. And those dogs aren’t getting adopted out.” Flair’s Warriors wants to be able to step in and help these families with the bills. The best place for these dogs to be is with the ones they love most - their families.
If you’re looking to receive financial assistance, all Alex asks is that you tell your story. He explains, “Once we can see the severity of it and what it would mean to you, that’s what we really want to know. We don’t want to have strict criteria because everyone has different situations. We just want to help anyone that we can.” Making a difference for the people that could really use the assistance is what matters most. “We’re trying to make it so that if there’s something unforeseen that goes long-term that you can’t afford, that’s when we’ll step in and help with that cost, whether it be partial or full,” adds Tyler. Once funds become readily available, they will start accepting applications. Individuals can apply online at flairswarriors.org.
To raise said funds, Flair’s Warriors will be sponsoring and participating in Bark Bash 2022. The event will take place at Knox Farms in East Aurora on August 6th from 10:00am-3:00pm. There will be vendors, food trucks, and best of all, dogs! They will also be hosting their very 1st Annual Meat Raffle on November 5th at the Moose Lodge in Hamburg. The raffle starts at 7:00pm, but doors will open at 6:00pm. Tickets for the meat raffle will go on sale later this summer. If you are interested in purchasing tickets, you are asked that you attend the event in person, as they are basing the amount of meat off the number of tickets sold. Monetary and basket raffle donations are also being accepted and are greatly appreciated. If you’re interested in donating a basket, you can get ahold of Alex by calling 716-289-9640 or email alex@flairswarriors.org.
For more information on Flair’s Warriors, to donate or apply for future assistance, visit flairswarriors.org. Make sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram (@flairswarriors) to keep up with news and more upcoming events.