Susie’s Senior Dogs is a one-woman movement to save dogs that have entered their golden years. Erin O’Connell lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. A while back, Erin created a Facebook page called, “Susie’s Senior Dogs.” Its tagline reads: “Matching humans and senior dogs one bond at a time.”

Word spread fast. Snce it’s launch in January 2014, the nonprofit’s Facebook page has reached 596,040 likes. This 501(c)(3) organization is responsible for multiple senior dog adoptions. I wanted to find out what had inspired this great effort so I clicked “Like” on the page and sent a private message asking for an interview. Erin graciously agreed to talk about her instant-soup campaign success.

Dorri Olds: What gave you the idea for Susie’s Senior Dogs?

Erin O’Sullivan: The first part of my story is about my boyfriend Brandon Stanton. He runs a project called “Humans of New York.” He takes photos of random New Yorkers. Brandon lives in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, and three years ago he spotted Susie the dog and her previous owner. He took a photo of Susie, who was 11 then, and posted it to his blog with the caption, “This is the best dog.” Soon afterwards the owner contacted Brandon and asked if he could adopt Susie because his new wife said they couldn’t keep the dog.

Brandon was hesitant at first. Friends said he’d be crazy to take the dog; a senior dog would die and he’d be better off getting a puppy. Who doesn’t love a puppy, right? But Brandon felt bad for Susie. He didn’t want her to go to a shelter so he took her in.

Susie is Brandon’s dog?

Susie is technically Brandon’s dog because he adopted her and if Brandon and I were standing next to each other Susie would jump inside of his lap  but I love Susie so much, too. She really is the best dog in the world. Just for fun I started a page called, “Susie The Dog.” It started getting likes and I wondered how to take that already engaged audience who loved Susie and make it more than random meaningless posts. I didn’t really plan anything out but I had this vague idea and made the new Facebook page, “Susie’s Senior Dogs.” Within 48 hours the new direction took hold.

How do you think you got so many followers so fast?

It’s really thanks to Brandon. He had been building his own big audience by taking photos of people he interacted with in New York City. His audience got so big he even has a book now. His Facebook page is up to 3.5 million likes so I asked him if it would be okay to post a link to Susie’s Facebook page. I told him I’ll do all the work and he’d get lots of love. So he said okay. When I’d posted a photos to my Susie’s page I got 400 likes but when Brandon shared it on his page, Susie’s Senior Dogs got 100,000 likes in one night!

What breed is Susie?

We’re not sure what breed she is. Her ears make her look like she’s definitely part Chihuahua and the poof frizz of hair on top of her head makes her seem like she’s part Chinese Crested.

Did you know things were going to catch on this fast?

We were on ABC World News and we’ve been filmed by Animal Haven. It’s been a whirlwind. I just hope we keep spreading the word to encourage people to adopt a senior dog. You know, you can plan and plan in life, but sometimes an idea just comes to you and it works. This was like that.

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Yes, there really is a man named Henry Lizardlover. Born Henry Schifberg, this 56-year-old lover of lizards has shared his California home with as many as 60 for over 25 years. “They have different faces, bodies and behaviors,” said Henry, who has named each one.

Henry has 21 lizards now—Schneider skinks, tree skinks and Chinese water dragons. He no longer has iguanas. Some died after 20 years and others he found loving homes for. He’s brought lizards to lectures in schools, libraries and museums and has appeared on TV in Japan, France, Germany, Spain, Thailand and the U.S. “The foreign shows paid nicely,” said Henry.

So what does he do with the lizards? In addition to raising them with love and care, Henry poses them in lizard-size lounge chairs. They remain statue-still and he photographs them, sells greeting cards and writes lizard care manuals.

“There are some that are better behaved than others,” said Henry. “It’s the calm ones that are the easiest to work with.” He brings his lizards to Urth Café in West Hollywood every afternoon and shares the posed reptiles with intrigued passersby.

Why? Because he likes to.

“I’ve learned a lot from the lizards and met people from all over the world. Total strangers became lifetime friends. I met a lot of really nice girls too. One I should’ve married but I blew it—I was too caught up with my books and TV shows and pursuing what interested me most.”

Lizards are vegetarians who should be fed small leaves and pieces of fruit. They don’t chew their food. They’ll swallow whatever you give them. Never give human foods if you want your lil guy to live a long healthy life. See Henry’s website for loads of lizard care instruction.

Iguanas can grow to 6 feet. “Most of that is tail, though,” Henry said. “There are a few types of lizards that can make good pets but I warn people that iguanas are a total gamble.” Other types of lizards get frightened easily and won’t make good pets.

Pet shop workers will tell you what to feed a lizard but most don’t know they need direct sunlight for vitamin D and that without it their bones can break. “People buy a reptile basking light thinking that’s all they need,” said Henry. “These lights sell for $15 but don’t do anything more than a regular 50-cent light bulb.”

Some pet stores carry fluorescent UVB lights that simulate sunlight but most are weak and only effective if the lizard is 10 inches away and these lights must be replaced every six months.

“It’s important to remember they’re wild animals,” Henry said. “Lizards are quite capable of doing you harm. Especially iguanas.” Female iguanas tend to be safer but there’s no way to determine the sex until at least one year.

Male iguanas can be tame but they have a hormonal shift during breeding seasons and can become enraged when they see another male iguana. Hyped up with hormones they can easily confuse humans with other male iguanas.

“Then you have a very powerful animal,” Henry said, “They can leap—fly off furniture—right into your face and want to tear your face off.” They would kill their own son during a hormonal rage.

Despite the risks, many pet owners love their lizards. Abby Venzor, NYC animal activist and social worker raved about her pet iguana. “She was completely domesticated and roamed the house climbing onto people and eating out of strangers hands. I got the craziest looks from guests when they walked into my home and saw a 5-foot reptile on the couch. She’d lie on my cats back, they were best friends.”

Most of us know Geico’s Gecko from commercials. Leopard Geckos make good pets for beginners. They’re docile and friendly, have minimal care requirements, only grow to 11 inches and they’re inexpensive.

To rescue one of the many abandoned lizards visit: AdoptAPet.com.

To learn more about Henry Lizardlover and how to care for pet lizards visit his website.

Video of Henry’s lizards.

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