10,000 signatures reached
To: Manchester Council
Keep our Manchester Dog Hotel Kennel Free
Please be proud of our pioneering dog care business, Daycare 4 Dogs and its innovative luxury Dog Hotel and save us from closure or having to isolate dogs in kennels.
Why is this important?
No license is currently available that fits what we do. We are asking that the council either create us a dog hotel license, where dogs don't need to be kept isolated in kennels, that we can apply for, or find us exempt from needing a license until they come up with one applicable.
Trying to pigeon hole us into one that doesn't fit is unfair and against the pioneering culture of amazing Manchester.
We opened the first dog creche in 2007 - Daycare 4 Dogs. It has grown and lead the way with daycares now being the norm. 3.5 years ago we extended our service to a much needed home from home holiday hotel care for dogs. It has operated successfully since and once again we are trail blazing, we are certain others will follow suit as word spreads and this is a good thing. New laws came into affect Oct 2018 which tried to regulate the kennel and pet sitting industry but as hotel care isn't yet a thing we fall outside of the 2 licences available (kennels or dog boarding in your own home).
We have been running the hotel, where the dogs live in a home from home environment with the staff and their friends, where they are safe and happy with usual comforts of TV, fire, couches, any a choice of any kind of dog bed. We have had no incidents in the hundreds of dogs we have looked after every day, week, month over the past 3.5 years of the hotel operating. It's most certainly the best a pet can get.
We are passionate about dog care and our Daycare 4 Dogs runs to fund our Dogs 4 Rescue CIC, the UK's first free running dog rescue (separate location). The rescue doesn't require a license because we do not make a profit but it operates group care for dogs in the same way.
This is not a welfare issue - we offer the highest standards possible the only issue here is that the new laws have been put in place without realising that we run a completely different operation for the betterment of all dogs and customers.
Our customers are in uproar and many would never go away again as they just wouldn't leave their dogs in a kennel whether here or anywhere else. There is a huge lack of decent pet care services and things need to move with the times. Many of our customers are now made up of the over 1000 dogs that have come through our Dogs 4 Rescue who have had some horrific times in kennels prior and for whom kennelling would be detrimental to all the work that has gone into rehabilitating.
When we opened the first daycare 2007 there had been none previously and so there were no licenses for it;12 years later the government comes up with one but, by this point, we have moved onto the next stage of pet care, always exceeding expectations and designing everything for the welfare of the dog in mind.
We are determined to campaign against our closure and the immovable is that we won't kennel our dogs. We are proud to be the industry leader and set the highest bar for others to follow, it's unfair to the dogs and customers that we are being penalised because the legislation doesn't allow for it and so we urge the council to amend the legislation or determine us exempt.
We are not trying to flout the law in fact we would welcome a hotel license and always strive to exceed expectations. We want to work with the council to allow us to continue to provide our incredible service of which we are so proud.
