When I got home last night, the missus was listening to All Things Considered -- specifically, a piece about Unleashed Indoor Dog Parks on Samuell Boulevard, which bills itself as a "one-of-a-kind facility with indoor and outdoor off-leash play parks for dogs and their owners, shopping, dining and dog services." In the piece, founder Kelly Acree explains why she and her husband Cody raised the $10 million to open the 50,000-square foot facility minutes away from downtown Dallas. (Oh, and they're considering others in Plano, Phoenix and Minneapolis.) Spoiler alert: She hates the city's outdoor dog parks.
"People didn't clean up after themselves, so it smelled bad," Acree says. "There were no amenities, no restrooms, nothing to drink. Half the time, the water spigots wouldn't be on, so you couldn't even water the dogs in the heat of the summer. So we thought if you took it inside and it was air conditioned, clean, and you had handlers to break up fights and make it safe -- and you made the experience comfortable for both the owner and the dog -- would people be willing to pay for it?"
