How Dogtopia’s Noble Cause Impacted The Life of Two Franchisees and Their Son with Autism
Watching the booming $100 billion pet industry grow, husband-wife engineers Girish Rao and Radhika Dontaraju knew they wanted to be part of it. “We were looking to do something with a smarter approach to the service industry that was organized and standardized,” said Girish. After doing their research, they identified Dogtopia and participated in the Discovery Day to learn more. That’s when they were introduced to the Dogtopia Foundation, Dogtopia’s purpose beyond profit. “That was a game changer for us,” said Girish.
As part of the Noble Cause of enabling dogs to positively change our world, the Dogtopia Foundation supports three worthy causes –youth literacy, employment opportunities for adults with autism and service dogs for Veterans. It was the job opportunities at Dogtopia daycares for adults with autism that hit close to home for Girish and Radhika as they have a 11-year-old son who is on the autism spectrum. As parents they wonder what his future will look like, but after learning about the work Dogtopia is doing to help lower the unemployment and underemployment rate for adults with autism, they were confident in their decision to operate a Dogtopia as it would not only provide a future for them, but for their son too.
“When we found Dogtopia, we were convinced in our brains. When we found the Dogtopia Foundation, we were convinced with our hearts,” said Girish.
