Our Mission

We are dedicated to supporting the financial costs of sick and disabled dogs. Our goal is to promote and support the ongoing wellbeing of our dogs. We seek to eliminate the need for dogs to suffer abandonment or euthanasia due to future financial uncertainties. Once a disease or defect is diagnosed in an animal, pet insurance options are no longer available. Our goal is to not only decrease the amount of dogs being euthanized in hospitals due to the stress of future costs, but also to improve adoption rates among sick/disabled pets.

Flair's Story

The organization is inspired by the life of our founder’s 3 year old goldendoodle, Flair.  Flair was a very energetic, loving, loyal and kind dog.  The only thing he cared about was spending time with the people he loved most.  Flair was a perfectly healthy dog until he started showing symptoms of lethargy, depression, dehydration, loss of appetite and overall wellbeing.  Flair was taken to the vet where he went into emergency surgery under the assumption of having intestinal obstruction.  Post-surgery, unable to find any obstruction, the vet noticed Flair was unable to recover from the anesthetic and began crashing. He was quickly rushed to an emergency care facility where he was determined to have experienced an Addisonian crisis.  

Dogs with Addison’s Disease lack the ability to produce high enough levels of certain hormones (cortisol in particular).  Cortisol is essential while on anesthesia as it helps regulate your bodily functions during surgery.  Over the course of a long anxiety-filled week, the vet hospital was able to stabilize Flair and send him home. Flair appeared back to his old fun-loving happy self. However, a couple days passed and Flair became sick again, and was taken back to the emergency care facility. Numerous medications and care was administered in an attempt to make Flair healthy once again. However, due to Flair’s weakened state from the exploratory surgery and disease, his organs throughout his body began failing. Already having incurred numerous hospital bills with an uncertain future for Flair, our founder was forced to make the most difficult and disheartening decision of his life.

Flair fought so hard to the very end and we couldn’t be more proud of him.  During Flair’s stay inside the hospital, our founder spent a lot of time researching ways to receive financial assistance to support Flair.  Addison’s Disease was going to be a lifetime commitment.  Medication, additional vet checkups and testing would have been required.  To his surprise, there was no such foundation in Western New York.  Dogs like Flair, who suffer from treatable diseases deserve a chance.  Unlike humans, dogs do not have options.  Their life and wellbeing is entirely based upon our choices.  Most of the time our choices are very much financially driven.  Our sole purpose is to eliminate the choice between putting dinner on the table for your family or buying your dog life-saving medication every month.  We dedicate our foundation to bridging the gap between dogs who get abandoned/euthanized due to physical and psychological ailments and those who get to live happy and healthy lives with their families.  We want to give the dogs back their choice to live. The choice to spend a long life of love and affection with the people they love most.


Our Team

Alex Popiela

Founder

Alex Popiela is the Founder and President of Flair’s Warriors.  After the passing of his three year old goldendoodle, he founded Flair’s Warriors with the goal of saving as many dogs as possible.  

“If financial circumstances are removed from the equation entirely, how many dogs would still be with us today?  Too many dogs are euthanized or abandoned due to a family’s inability to afford ongoing treatment/medications.  Families should have the ability to make the choice of keeping their pets without the financial burden of maintaining their everyday lifestyle.”

Alex graduated from Orchard Park High School in 2010.  He graduated with his B.A. in Accounting from Niagara University in 2014, then obtained his MBA from Niagara University in 2015.  He has worked in the accounting industry, primarily working in tax since graduating college.  He is currently working as a Tax Manager at Advantage Global Resources in Williamsville.

Tyler Popiela, CPA

Treasurer

Tyler is the Treasurer of Flair’s Warriors. Growing up, Tyler found a love for animals at a young age. Living in a family that had up to 5 dogs in the house at one time, including 2 doberman pinschers, a schnoodle, a havenese, 2 poodles and a goldendoodle, for Tyler, a house isn’t a home without them. Tyler currently resides in Orchard Park, NY with his girlfriend, her rescue dog, Rose, and her cat, Margo. 

Tyler graduated from Orchard Park High School in 2012. He graduated with his B.A. in Accounting from Niagara University in 2015, then obtained his MBA from Niagara University in 2016. He has worked in the accounting industry since graduating college. Tyler started his career in public accounting with Freed Maxick, CPAs, P.C. in both an assurance and tax role. He currently works in the Accounting department at National Fuel Gas Company in Williamsville. 

Brett McDermott

Director

Brett grew up just outside of Rochester in Geneva, NY. He moved to Buffalo in 2005 to attend college at Daemen.  At Daemen, he played on the golf team as a division 2 athlete. Brett went on to graduate from Daemen College with a Masters of Science in Professional Accountancy in 2009.  After college, Brett decided to stay in the Buffalo area making it his new home.  He has become enamored with all Buffalo has to offer when it comes to job opportunities, sports, recreation, dining, etc.  Buffalo has become his new home. He has worked the past 13 years in the accounting industry with a specialty in not-for-profits.   

Brett is an avid dog and animal lover.  He is thrilled with the opportunity to give back to a Buffalo community that has already given him so much.  He currently serves on the United Church Manor Board as the Treasurer. Brett can also be found throughout the Buffalo area sharing his psychic medium gift to those who seek comfort in the ones they have lost.  Brett’s psychic medium journey has only enhanced his love for animals.

Alison Pepero

Director

Alison graduated from West Seneca East High School in 2011. She then went on to Daemen College to complete her bachelor’s degree in Childhood and Special Education in 2015. After completing her bachelor’s degree, she went on to St. Bonaventure University to complete her Masters program in Literacy Education in 2017. She is currently a Special Education teacher within the Depew Union Free School District.  

Alison’s love for animals started at a young age when she received a golden retriever for her birthday. From that day forward she strived to provide the best life for her four legged best friend. After 10 loving years with her golden best friend, he unfortunately passed away due to a cancerous tumor within his stomach. Currently, Alison has a new golden retriever in her family. He is a loving, playful and happy puppy that requires all of Alison’s attention, but she doesn’t mind giving it to him. 

Alison hopes to help families through Flair’s Warriors by providing a means of support to families in a time when they need it most. Pet’s are our family members and they deserve the same quality of life that we have.