Original Blog Entry: Nightclub for dogs

truesee — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 22:06:43 GMT

Nightclub for pooches

GINGER ADAMS OTIS

Last Updated: 11:49 AM, April 25, 2010

Posted: 3:08 AM, April 25, 2010

The woof, the woof, the woof is on fire.

Manhattan mutts will soon have a place to shake their tails on a Friday night -- the Fetch Club.

The 3,000-foot indoor dog park/canine club slated to open next month in the heart of the Financial District will be tricked out with sybaritic amenities synonymous with Wall Street: special spa baths, holistic mud masks and facials, homemade meals, manicures -- and even a doggie disco.

If an owner wants to go out one night, they can drop their dog off at our nightclub, said owner Peter Balestrieri, who hopes to even outfit the doggie dance club with a disco ball.

DISCO PUP: DJ in da' doggy club.

We're serious about the well-being of animals, but we also want them to have fun, said co-owner Jenna Lee, a former finance worker now taking veterinary courses.

The more sedate canines can swing by Fetch Club during the day for playtime (chasing tennis balls), movie hour (classics like 101 Dalmatians and Lassie ), trot on a tiny treadmill (that has a TV), or just play on the 3,000-foot dog run in the back of the massive space -- for $35 a day.

Inside the renovated space at 85 John St. -- a 200-year-old former tobacco factory -- will be a high-end boutique with doggie clothes and toys, plus a human lounge where owners can grab a coffee, use an iPad to check e-mail, and watch their pampered pooches play.

The dogs are our clients, so all our services are geared to them, said Lee, who plans to offer daily homemade entr es to owners who don't want their dogs eating commercial pet food.

But the downtown entrepreneurs nearly got muzzled last month when concerned residents went barking to the local community board.

We heard about it from neighbors who were concerned that overnight boarding would create noise, sanitation and health issues, said Community Board 1 director Julie Menin.

That got the Department of Buildings involved, and a stop-work order was issued in early April. According to Menin, the DOB reviewed Fetch Club's permits and ruled the building wasn't zoned for kennels -- meaning Fetch Club can't board dogs overnight.

Building resident Sean Daly told The Post his main concern was noise. The space between our floors is really thin -- we hear everything from neighboring apartments, he said.

Balestrieri invested $50,000 in additional noise insulation for Fetch Club -- adding about 8 inches of padding to his walls and ceiling.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/lift_ya_legs_in_the_air_IezB8oOiKNpjPPF2AtJa5K#ixzz0m9UAkp41

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