Owners of this new business created a place they’d want to take their own dogs and cats

Missy Cribbs loves animals so much that when she and her husband moved to Wichita several years ago, she started volunteering at rescues every day.

She was taking so many animals to be vaccinated and get medical treatment at Solomon Veterinary Clinic that she eventually was offered a job there.

That’s where she met Larissa Adair, whose husband is a veterinarian there. He had been encouraging his wife to open a boarding facility.

Adair mentioned it as an aside to Cribbs, who ran with it.

“I was like, ‘What would you think if we did this?’ ”

They decided they wanted to open a business, Suite Paws, “that encompasses what we want to bring our own kiddos to.”

Kiddos meaning cats and dogs.

“We wanted extra-large kennels; we wanted more play time; we wanted an environment that welcomed people like us.”

There are 33 all-suite kennels. Cribbs said they could have had a larger maximum capacity, but she said the idea is to provide maximum comfort instead.

In addition to boarding, Suite Paws also specializes in what Cribbs called play care in a safe, happy environment. She said animals will be kept in groups of three or four at the most for safe play.

There are half-day packages available for four hours or full-day packages for eight hours on the weekdays.

Boarding includes weekends by appointment.

Suite Paws is at 1717 S. Rock Road just south of Harry.

Jake Ramstack of InSite Real Estate Group helped with the deal after an oil change business was rejected for the space because it would cause too much congestion in the area, Cribbs said.

She said they’d hoped to build on nearby land but had trouble getting financing.

In the end, she said it’s OK because they were able to create a space to make dogs and cats feel at home and “would make it a place (pet owners) want to leave their kiddos and be comfortable.”