A doggie daycare in Anchorage called Dog Tired has had a rough go during the pandemic, like a lot of businesses.
Dog Tired was shut by city order as a nonessential business, and owner Kari Campbell was forced to lay off her staff. Then, the city allowed Dog Tired to open in a limited capacity, only for the pets of essential workers. That’s about 20 dogs a day, less than a quarter of the daycare’s usual clientele.
Campbell didn’t get a loan in the first round of assistance from the Small Business Administration. And while she would be allowed to re-open fully on Monday as city restrictions lift, she is hoping a second round of loans comes through to rehire her full staff.
For now, Campbell is watching the dogs by herself and trying to stay open. But she thought earlier this week she might have to close the doors for good.
Campbell told Alaska Public Media’s Casey Grove that being forced to lay off her staff and the thought of losing her business of 15 years have been gut-wrenching.
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Casey Grove is host of Alaska News Nightly, a general assignment reporter and an editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cgrove@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Casey here.
