SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) — Essential workers are doing more now than ever before. From doctors to nurses, police officers and grocery store workers and delivery drivers.
They still need care for their pets while at work doing these critical jobs.
One Bay Area business is staying open to care for these dogs, even as the doggie daycare struggles to stay afloat.
It looks fun and fuzzy at The Grateful Dog, even as the coronavirus pandemic crushed this doggie daycare company.
“We had to go into personal savings because we are in the red,” Karla Rivera, owner of the Grateful Dog, said. “And we go day by day, by the moment.”
Business is down 90%.
Most people are working from home and not traveling, so the need for dog boarding went bottom up.
The doggie daycare has two locations — one in San Francisco’s Marina District, the other in Greenbrae off 101.
While it could have closed, the owner decided it was important to stay open.
“We are literally just open for people who are out there working essential business who need a place to keep their dogs,” Rivera said.
The Grateful Dog follows all CDC guidelines for keeping clean and safe distances.
By still operating during difficult times, it is their way of giving back to the doctors nurses and first responders who must report to work and need care for their dogs.
“We feel we have to do our part,” General Manager Ernie Cervantes said.
Plus the pets still want to play all day.
“Dogs need dogs like people need people,” Cervantes said. “So we are here for them too.”
The appreciation for being up and running for essential workers is flooding social media.
And while business is hurting, this fills the owners hearts with gratitude.
“People who don’t even use us from other counties are thanking us for staying open for them,” Rivera said. “So we do it for them.”
Because business is down so much, The Grateful Dog has reduced hours.
Even so, it can accommodate graveyard and weekend shifts, for any dog owner who needs that kind of care right now.
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