Better Buddies, Inc. is an exciting new pet bed start-up in the pet industry with a specific mission, promote adoption. According to their mission statement, they plan on doing this through a series of social programs directed at educating the public on the merits of adoption as well as at supporting organizations that save pets. Organizations like The Best Friends Animal Society, to whom they currently give 10% of profit from their products.

The company emerged as an idea on a casual shopping day at a mass-­-market pet supply franchise for co-founders Julie Marie Berman, an actress who plays 'Lulu' on General Hospital, and her husband Mike Grady.

"We were looking at the toys and products, they were such low-quality, but were so expensive. Literally, within five minutes we realized that no one has design focused, thoughtful, eco- conscious products. Also, nothing was pushing social change in the industry through various social programs."

This social change spawned from an experience they had when purchasing a pup through a breeder mill.

"When I was dating Mike, we wanted to get a dog. I knew that there were breeders, so I looked online. I found a huge web site that had, literally, every color imaginable of the breed I was interested in. I thought, 'Great!' So I ordered my dog online. It started with one, and then I got the other one. The first one came with a lot of issues that we're still dealing with today. I thought I was doing the right thing by not going to the pet store. But I think it is safe to say that I ordered our dogs right from the puppy mill. I had no idea that I was doing that. I thought that because they were AKC registered, and I talked to the breeders on the phone, that everything was normal. But after receiving our dog, I started to question the validity of the breeder and the care that they give their animals. And when you find that they're constantly putting out more and more puppies after every litter is born, you wonder if something is forced."  

Julie and Mike educated themselves on the world of adoption and found causes that supported the rescue and rehabilitation of wonderful pets. They wanted Better Buddies to follow this lead in directly supporting the adoption of pets through whatever aid the company can provide.  

It was within a few months that Mike decided to leave his job to begin to build the company. To help make this idea reality the couple brought William Busch, a family friend, into the partnership as he was just returning from his MBA studying social responsibility. Together, they reached out to the Best Friends Animal Society to join forces on ending the homeless pet problem and push to highlight adoption as the best choice when searching for a pet!  

From that point roughly a year ago, Better Buddies, Inc. emerged and is converging the worlds of design, quality, eco-awareness and social change to reinvent the perspective of how a consumer good interacts with the world around it. "Our goal is to make our products attractive vehicles that help push positive social and environmental change."  

For more on Better Buddies' mission and to see their current line of products, please visit

Better Buddies' website.