April 25 , 2007

Southeast San Francisco Home to a Number of Illegal Animal Boarding Facilities

By Steven J. Moss
Special to the Neighborhood Newswire

Several San Francisco kennels have been especially noisy of late, and the ruckus hasn’t been coming from the dogs.  The owners of two animal boarding facilities, Pet Camp and Reigning Dogs and Cats, say some of their competitors are operating illegally, and that the City should do more to enforce its permit requirements.

“I want to see places shut-down until they comply,” said Susan Rouse, who has operated Reigning Dogs and Cats in the Mission since 2002.

In a city with upwards of 120,000 canines – roughly one for every five humans -- only six animal boarding facilities are currently operating with proper permits, including the San Francisco Society for Protection and Care of Animals (SPCA) and San Francisco Animal Care Shelter, neither of which offer boarding to privately-paying customers. Another four kennels have started the permit process, but are waiting for City approval.

In addition to a regular business license, San Francisco requires that any person caring for three or more dogs for 24 continuous hours obtain a $130 kennel permit. The permit, which must be renewed annually, is cheap, but complying with the City’s rules for operating an animal boarding facility can be costly.

“What you have to do to operate safely is expensive,” said Virginia Donohue, co-owner of Bayview-based Pet Camp.  Donohue said she’s spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last 10 years to outfit her facility with the proper floors, drainage and ventilation systems.

Rouse and Donohue say the City’s failure to enforce regulations that apply to professional pet care businesses creates an unfair playing field among small business owners and compromises animal safety.  “There are a lot of people who say, ‘The dog business, that’s easy. I’ll go open up whatever,’” Donohue complains. “If you’re not going to meet standards, then I’d seriously question your ability to take care of dogs.” 

To obtain a kennel permit a business must undergo inspections by the Public Health (DPH) and Planning Departments and Animal Care and Control (ACC).   DPH inspects the facility first, usually with an ACC representative. While the former evaluates the proposed boarding facility for potential health hazards, the latter considers animal safety.  “How is the animal going to be treated? Is there enough staff?” asks ACC Director Carl Friedman.

In addition to DPH and ACC site inspections, kennels must comply with the Planning Department’s zoning rules, which restrict dog boarding facilities to neighborhoods that are zoned for industrial, light industrial and heavy commercial use, otherwise designated as M1, M2 and CM on zoning maps, and require them to be located at least 200 feet from a residential area.  As a result of these requirements kennels can essentially only legally operate in the City’s southeastern neighborhoods:  Dogpatch, Mission, Bayview-Hunters Point and Potrero Hill.   “Dog kennels are not at all permitted in most residential districts,” says City Planner Kimberly Durandet.

Unlike boarding facilities, businesses that only care for dogs during the day have been essentially unregulated.  But prompted by complaints from nearby residents, as well as the recognition that the formal “doggy daycare” industry, which started just a decade ago, is growing fast, the Planning Department has stepped-up its efforts to clarify what rules it will require these facilities to abide by   “This seems to be an emerging business. The Department is responding to an emerging economic industry,” said Durandet.

To legally operate as doggie daycare a facility can’t keep dogs overnight, offer outdoor play space for animals or exceed 5,000 square feet. If the facility cares for more than 12 dogs at a time, it may have to undergo neighborhood notification procedures and public hearings before it can open.

While there are no official statistics on how many animal boarding and daycare facilities are operating illegally, a quick scan of Craigslist’s pet services listings reveals a plethora of posts offering overnight dog boarding and daycare, often in residential settings.

Rouse says she has mixed feelings about in-home boarding.   “There’s a fine line. If somebody’s got three toy poodles in their house, I don’t care. It’s people who cross that line,” she says.

ACC’s Friedman advises pet owners to be cautious and ask questions when choosing dog care services.  “The bottom line is that the buyer has to beware. These are living, sentient creatures. People really have to do some homework to make sure these are legit and not just fly by night operations.”