Doggy daycare owners search for new site for cyclone-hit business

Dogs spend time at the river while being looked after at The Doggy Farmstay Boarding and Daycare. Photo / Katrina Harris

By Lauren Crimp of RNZ

Wanted: 1.60 hectares of flat land in the Napier-Hastings area.

Reward: The money can’t buy the joy of giving local dogs a new home away from home.

Owners of a Hawke’s Bay doggy daycare decimated by floodwaters are sniffing out new land so they can rebuild their business and be reunited with their beloved customers.

During Cyclone Gabrielle, Katrina and John Harris were up to their necks in floodwater in their Eskdale home - putting their six canine boarders first and getting them to safety in the roof cavity.

The kennel is now buried under 2.4 metres of silt.

The business soon after it was hit by Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Katrina Harris / Supplied to RNZ

And with the land - including their home - now in Category Three (for properties that cannot be lived in), they are on the hunt for somewhere new for The Doggy Farmstay Boarding and Daycare.

“We’re looking for a new place to re-establish our business and create another home away from home for Hawke’s Bay doggies,” Katrina Harris said.

“We’ve had so much wonderful support from people, and you know, Hawke’s Bay just needs another place, another happy place.”

In the meantime, they were offering an adventure walk service to keep money coming in - and to give dogs somewhere to go and others to play with.

Katrina and John Harris who are keen to re-establish their business in Hawke's Bay. Photo / Katrina Harris

Some owners were struggling without the farmstay, and there were not enough similar businesses in the region to meet demand, Harris said.

“Dogs are their absolute world and some [owners] just don’t go away.

“They’ve got nowhere for their dog and they don’t feel comfortable.”

Customer Haylee Wrenn was one of them.

“It really has hampered our lifestyle.

“We can’t go anywhere or do anything until doggy daycare, or doggy farmstay, gets back up and running.”

Her golden retriever, Zac, and border collie Poppy were close with their second parents.

“If Katrina and John turned up at my house, my dogs would just jump straight into their car,” she said.

“They are dog people, the dogs love them.

“I’d do anything I can to help these guys, you know, they love my animals as much as I do.”

That included the search for a new home. Wrenn said she was keeping an eye out, and had a message for anyone with a slice of land that might be suitable.

“I’ll bake you a cake or do anything I can to make it easy because we desperately need these guys back up and running.

“The service that they provide people here in Napier is just next level, and the dogs need it, they really do.”

So far the options were limited, Harris said.

But they were staying optimistic that they would come across the right spot soon and be reunited with their favourite customers.

“There’s nothing that fills our cups more than happy dogs.”