A Brooklyn woman is launching a pay-by-the-minute network of sidewalk dog kennels that allow owners to safely park their pooches while running errands.
The kennels are locked by radio signals, monitored by Web cams and temperature controlled.
Chelsea Brownridge said she got the idea for the “dog parker” containers after she had to leave her pup, Winston, at home while she took a long summer walk to Prospect Park because the trip included a stop for breakfast with friends.
“I ran into this problem dozens of times,” said the 31-year-old former nonprofit worker, who doesn’t feel safe tying Winston up outdoors. “It was a bummer because it was a nice day and he wasn’t going to be able to go outside.”
Two models are being tested on Dekalb Avenue in Fort Greene as part a private pilot program.
They’ll be joined by eight more come mid-December, with a total of 100 available in the late spring.
At that point, the kennel network will be run through an app that charges members 20 cents per minute or $12 for an hour.
Membership is $25 per year, and users will be able to call dibs on a kennel 15 minutes ahead of time.
Currently, locks are used to secure the white doghouses to a storefront. In the future, they will be bolted to the ground.
The two Dekalb Avenue prototypes are already drawing interest.
“You get a range of responses, from, ‘Wow, great,’ to, ‘Seriously?’ to, ‘Do they have one for kids?’ ” said Keith Goldberg, 50, who owns Baguetteaboutit, a coffee shop and bakery where one is parked.
“We’ve had a couple of people use it in the past couple of weeks . . . I’m just happy to have another service I can offer my customers.”
Brownridge said she has been working with City Hall’s new animal advocate to get proper permissions, but most stores own the three to five feet of sidewalk in front of their shops, so it’s largely their cooperation that she needs.
The second prototype is outside Adrianna Spence’s Fort Greene General Store several blocks away.
“Some businesses can’t allow you to bring in dogs, and some dogs you can’t really bring into stores,” said Spence, a dog owner. “So if it’s cold out or you have a dog that might get stolen,
this is a better option than just tying them up outside.”