Local Business Spotlight: Safari Pets

As most of you know, Aaron and I lost our beloved dachsund, Droopy, on April 1, 2009 to cancer.  A lot of people told us that getting a new dog would help to ease our pain, so we decided to start looking for dogs.  The only thing we knew is that we wanted another dachsund because we were familiar with the breed and loved its quirks.  We also wanted to find a local breeder if possible.  Aaron was looking online for breeders and we looked at Petland, but didn’t find “the one” there.

On April 11, I remembered that there was another pet store in Topeka, but I wasn’t sure if it was still around.  We decided to drive over to Brookwood Shopping Center (just off 29th and Oakley) to find this pet store, but ended up driving around the entire shopping center without finding it.  We were getting ready to turn onto 29th Street from Oakley and head west to dinner and a movie, when I saw Safari Pets on the North Side of the intersection where a liquor store once was.  It was fate, we walked in to Safari Pets and the only dog they had was an 8 week old mini-dachsund.  They had just received her that morning from a local breeder (just north of Manhattan).  We started to play with her and ended up buying her within an hour.  Ruby is acclimating well in the Gooden household.  Our experience at Safari Pets was wonderful and we are so happy with Ruby.  I wanted to share a little about this locally owned pet store.

Safari Pets is owned and operated by Buster Brown.  It opened in 1991.  For the last seven years, he has used only one kennel (the local breeder near Manhattan, KS) to ensure that all of his dogs are healthy.  He relies solely on word of mouth advertising.  For the hobbyist, his fish room speaks for itself.  The store prides itself on its selection of fish, but holds its own with pet supplies.  Aaron and I had a wonderful experience at Safari Pets, and, of course, couldn’t be happier with our purchase.

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  • Thanks for sharing your great experience with Safari Pets, Shay. We are all so glad that you found cute little Ruby!

    I also had an enjoyable experience with Safari Pets a little over a year ago. I had organized a project where several members of the jhP team made a trip into the store. They were buying a variety of pet items for donation to the Helping Hands Humane Society last year for the Christmas holiday. After the owner found out we were making the purchases to donate to the shelter, he kindly gave us a discount, thus allowing us to buy and donate even more for the needy cats & dogs!

    I hope everyone in Topeka will consider shopping at Safari Pets instead of the chain pet stores located on/near Wanamaker!
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