WESTFIELD – The Planning Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to grant a special permit to allow a pet kennel and grooming facilities in a pet food and supply retail store to be located in the Little River Plaza.
The special permit application was submitted by Petsense, Inc. to establish a pet supply and grooming retail store at 619 East Main St. Petsense Inc., founded in 2005 and based in Scottsdale, Arizona, is planning to provide pet food, supplies, toys and grooming in smaller retail markets nationwide.
Petsense applied for the kennel special permit to support its grooming business and to promote pet adoptions. The retail chain works in coordination with local animal shelters and has a weekend program in which dogs and cats are brought to the store for adoption.
The retailer petitioned the Planning Board for permission to set up nine adoption kennels in the front of the store for the adoption animals. Shelter volunteers and store staff frequently walk those dogs and cats inside the store so that patrons can interact with the adoptive animals, as well as to exercise the animals. Adoptive dogs are not kept overnight, but cats may be kept for several days.
The store will also have 12 kennels in the rear of the store in the area dedicated to bathing and grooming operations. Those kennels are equipped with blow dryers so the animals will be dry when returned to their owners.
Local residents involved in the pet grooming, training and show dog businesses raised a number of questions during the Nov. 19 public hearing on the special permit application, regarding animal care and safety, animal control, and sanitary practices.
The board members requested the applicant to provide additional information on the store protocols and procedures specific to adoption fees, fecal matter management and disposal, the size of the adoption kennels and the identification of local shelters who would participate in the adopting program and what policies those shelters have in place for pet adoption, including background checks of perspective adoptive patrons.
Those issues were addressed in the conditions attached to the special permit by the Planning Board Tuesday night.
The conditions prohibit housing more than one animal per kennel, with the exception of “kittens or bonded cats” and limit the number of adoptive dogs to “no more than one unkenneled dog per caretaker or attendant.”
The conditions require no more than one unkenneled dog per groomer, except when under the direct control of the owner, and prohibit kenneling of dogs in the grooming kennels when the store is closed.
The retailer is also required to establish a pet sanitation protocol, including disposal bags, receptacles and signage outside the store and that the store monitor the common and parking areas of the plaza to ensure proper disposal of pet waste. The management is also required to dispose of small pet waste by the end of the business day.
