Kyla Duffy

Founder of Happy Tails Books

Reported by Sasha Levine
Photo by Jaime Rowe Photography

Kyla Duffy teaches sales management classes at University of Colorado Leeds School of Business. She is also a member of the Imperial Flyers, a flying trapeze and circus arts club. It seems that whatever Kyla sets out to do, she accomplishes. And underprivileged canines are lucky in this because she has recently combined her talents to actively advocate for dogs in need.

What seems like a strange combination of talents has proved to be quite a valuable asset. Duffy’s in-depth understanding of both sales and storytelling have helped her to create Happy Tails Books (www.happytailbooks.com), a publishing company that donates at least 25% of its net profit to more than 225 rescues nationwide. Her aptitudes for business and teaching have also buoyed her abilities to direct a 501c3 nonprofit educational organization called Up for Pups (www.upforpups.org). But it’s Kyla’s gift of being a true entertainer that really captures the public’s attention when she travels the country performing the Don’t Kill Bill advocacy show.

“My passion for animal welfare is fairly recent,” she admits, “as I had no idea about the suffering going on in the dog breeding industry. Three years ago, I was simply a person who wanted a dog…. I knew I wanted a Boston Terrier—I think I had seen one on TV and just thought that if I had one in my home, I’d never stop laughing. I found MidAmerica Boston Terrier Rescue [through www.Petfinder.com] and contacted them about a dog. My husband didn’t really want us to have a dog, so I talked with him about fostering. The volunteer’s exact words were ‘Honey, if your husband doesn’t want a dog, he definitely doesn’t want to foster. You never know what you’re gonna get.’ Two weeks later, we had our first foster dog.”

One foster dog in particular, Bill, had a lasting impact on them. He had spent his first two years of his life in a chicken-wire cage as a puppy mill breeding dog. He was their second foster, and their only “foster failure” in 42 foster dogs-to-date. After having Bill with them for only an hour, he escaped and got lost in the woods! He was found three weeks later and seven pounds lighter by some kind-hearted people who happened to be walking adjacent to Bill’s gourmet dinner of carcass. “He had a gash so deep in his arm that we could see the muscle. Needless to say, during the rehabilitation process, which truly took years, we decided to keep him.” Three years later, the Duffys still adore their quirky Boston.

Bill inspired Kyla to educate more people about how great rescued dogs really are and how life-changing volunteering with rescues can be for both dogs and humans. “One day I woke up with the idea for Happy Tails Books. I thought I could publish books full of stories from foster and forever parents, highlighting life with rescued dogs.” Bill was also the muse for the Don’t Kill Bill show, a theater experience that advocates rescue volunteering and adoption. It consists of two aerial fabric acts and eleven multimedia stories about adopted dogs. “It’s not about the sad faces on the ASPCA TV commercials. It’s about hope—a hope born of an outpouring of support for the efforts of those who are working to create change. If we each just inspire a few people to adopt or at least visit breeders before getting a dog, we can stop the suffering.”

For more information or to contact:

www.happytailsbooks.com

www.upforpups.org

www.kyladuffy.com