Cage-free pet resort could be coming
City Council to consider allowing specialty boarding facilities at 7 p.m. meeting.
PALM BEACH GARDENS — A Jupiter resident who wants to open a cagefree pet resort and spa in Palm Beach Gardens first needs the City Council to change its rules to allow such a business.
Kerri Babcock wants to open an upscale boarding facility and day care for dogs and cats. The city’s regulations don’t account for the differences between a cage-free experience and a traditional boarding kennel, according to a city report.
The City Council will consider changing its code to allow specialty boarding facilities — including along the PGA Boulevard corridor — at its meeting 7 p.m. today at City Hall, 10500 North Military Trail. The proposal will require a second vote at a future meeting before it’s final.
Babcock is looking for about 5,000 square feet of retail space from the Mirasol area to the PGA corridor but hasn’t acquired any while approval of the cage-free resort is still pending, Planner Don Hearing said.
She said her own experience with two rescue chihuahua mixes, Marco and Rudy, and two cats, Peeps and Koji, inspired the plan to open a pet resort.
“For dog parents, those are your babies. A lot of people look at their dogs as if they were children. That’s how my dogs have always been treated,” she said. “You want to know that if you’re leaving your dog in someone else’s care that your dog is going to feel safe and comfortable, and they’re going to have a good time.”
In day care, there are ways to make sure a new dog gets along with the others, mainly introducing him or her to each other dog individually, Babcock said. The staff also can observe body language to make sure there are no personality differences and keep