Vandals target Edinburgh doggy daycare
Edinburgh-based doggy daycare Citidogs has been targeted by vandals in what the company believes is due to the business moving site and gaining permission to create an outdoor space for dogs at the new site.
The incident, which took place between 13 November and 14 November, saw the vandals breaking in and spraying graffiti across the site.
Citidogs moved to its Swanson Road in September this year after the lease ran out on the site where the doggy day care operated for more than 10 years.
When the business moved it then put an application in to change the use of the site from ‘dog exercise and socialisation area’ to ‘doggy daycare’ and gained full permission for the change.
The business owners believe some in the community are not pleased with the change and have lashed out with cruel vandalism on the new site, spraypainting “F*** off” on the premises.
The company said on Facebook: “We are a reputable and established company, we employ 29 people, use the services of many others and provide an essential service for our clients. We relocated the business through no fault of our own. Our previous lease expired and the land was required for other purposes.
“The planning application for a ‘dog exercise and socialisation area’ had already been approved at Swanston long before Citidogs came on the scene. We put in an application for a change of use to ‘dog daycare’ and were assured by the council that this was not necessary as it constituted “no material change of use”.
“We are allowed to operate from this site. And please be assured, that were we not here, another dog care company would be instead.”
The company added: “The victimisation that we have been subjected to since we opened has been unnecessary and underhand. Not one person has contacted us directly.
“We do thankfully have CCTV and the police are involved as this is now illegal activity but we wanted to highlight that bullying people into doing things simply because you do not like what they are doing is not our way. We believe in kindness and that people should work together to co-exist.”