Canines can ‘pawty’ in the New Year in Cape Coral
This year, Cape Coral pet owners can ring in the New Year and watch the fireworks with their furbabies.
Pawty Depot is opening its doors to all pets-big and small-so they can have a safe and quiet space to spend the New Year’s holiday with their humans.
The Pet Safe New Year’s Eve Pawty starts Dec. 31 at 4 p.m.
Pawty Depot is at 4706 S.E. 9th Place, Suite A.
Advance tickets are $10 per family and $15 at the door. Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite.
The event is BYOB. Drinks will not be provided.
Dogs can look forward to pizza, chicken and beef snacks and calming gummies. There will also be a barktender.
Attendees can win prizes after spinning a special wheel.
Most prizes are coupons for Pawty Express in-store purchases for $5, $10 or $20.
Donations will also go toward the Cape Coral Animal Shelter and other charities.
General manager of Pawty Depot, John Olsen, came up with the idea after attending a pet party for his brother-in-law’s dog.
He thought it was a really cool concept and wondered whether there was a market for it in Southwest Florida.
“I saw that competitors were doing parties and charging premiums for it and they looked like they were having fun doing it,” he said. “I thought, ‘Why don’t we start doing pet parties and photography for local animals?'”
And since Pawty Depot is near where the fireworks display is happening, Olsen thought it would be a great venue for dogs to have a safe place, “where it’s quieter, but it’s still a good place to view the fireworks as they happen.”
He expects 10-20 people to show up, but he’s hoping for 40-50.
If enough dogs show up and their owners are on board, Olsen would like to do a massive cake smash for the dogos.
The barktender is a bartender for the dogs. There will be special cocktails for the furbabies. They will have a base of chicken, beef or pork bone broth.
“There will be different additives that are pet friendly to go in them,” Olsen said.
For example, the Appletini will have a mix of apple juice and ginger.
“There’s a whole list of recipes,” he said.
The purpose is to give pets a safe space to enjoy one of the noisiest events of the year.
All dogs are welcome, no matter the breed or the size.