My name is Salvatore Mavaro and I am 50 years old. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and have spent the past 30 years working on Wall Street as an accountant. I have had or been involved with animals my whole life, from dogs and cats to parakeets and fish tanks. When I married, my daughter helped me decide to adopt my "first" dog, Buster, in 2003 from the North Shore Animal League. My happiest moments have always been taking him to the park for long walks. By the time 2012 rolled around, I had adopted a new dog (a rescue) - Baxter. I have made many friends in my community through taking my dogs to the park and have enjoyed doing favors for them by walking their dogs when they were away
Over the past several years, my company experienced many layoffs and in 2012, I was laid off as well. Rather than sharing the despair that many of my colleagues had felt, I experienced a sense of relief. As I searched for employment, I decided to volunteer at St. Hubert's, located in Madison, where I was placed in their Doggie Day Care (DDC). During this time, while assisting a neighborly dog boarder by taking on 'jobs' caring for neighborhood pets, I realized that a wonderful opportunity was being presented to me, one where I can turn my true passion - taking care of animals - into a career. I decided to establish Sal's Pals.