Pet Care Plus was started with a few hundred dollars and the desire to build a great pet sitting business based on customer service and catering to the animals. That was over ten years ago and we have not only done that, but expanded to include boarding, daycare, grooming and training.
As the owners of Pet Care Plus we also realize the value of giving back to the animal community. We actually got started in the animal world by fostering shelter animals and rescuing animals on our own while living in the Humboldt Park area of Chicago. We became the “go to people” in the neighborhood for those who found a dog or cat, or for those that could no longer care for their animals.
We took this love for animals and decided to turn it into a business to help pay some of the bills we had that were piling up for animal medical costs. This was our start, and we made sure we continued to grow in a responsible manner to make sure we never had to compromise our quality and value.
Our staff reflects our company image. The managers and staff we hire have to have a no nonsense attitude and positive energy in their approach to the daily work of operating our daycare and boarding operations. Below you will find out more about us.
Jennifer Stavrianos-
Jennifer is the driving force behind this successful Chicago dog boarding, daycare and pet sitting business as she has guided its growth from a simple pet sitting business to the #1 pet services business in the city of Chicago as voted by Citysearch.com users. Jennifer graduated from the University of Illinois – Chicago with a degree in Criminal Justice. After a brief stint in the world of social work, the animal world found her and her husband Chris in their new home in Humboldt Park. She always had a love for animals that was instilled in her by her father, but here it was taken to another level with the number of strays and homeless animals that they took in while living here. This experience taught her that animals always need to be treated as more than just the dollar sign that many kennels see when they look at your pet. It also has kept her working with local shelters to this day, through donations of equipment, money and space.
Chris Stavrianos-
Chris was the key dog walker and cat sitter in the beginning stages of the business. Having earned his BS in marketing from the University of Illinois – Chicago he is also the steward of the business image and marketing practices. He also shared in the experiences of caring for the many stray animals that fostered the business idea as a whole. In addition all the dogs who like to swim at the kennel can thank Chris for envisioning the idea of turning the old, unused loading zone space into the one of a kind in Chicago swimming location for the dogs. He is also proud to seen the business voted the best Chicago dog daycare and boarding facility by Citysearch users in part based on our terrific K-9 Oasis.
Alisa Cohen-
Alisa came to Pet Care Plus in the summer of 2007 as our general manager. She brings the knowledge of working in the corporate kennel environment of the Best Friends family of kennels. However, we feel she fits better here as it allows her to be herself and more of her super customer service skills come out here. She tells you like it is so you will know if your dog had a great day or if they were just having “one of those days”. Not like the other kennels where your dog was a "little angel" everyday. This honesty and straight forward approach is just what we were looking for and we got it in spades with Alisa.
Veronica Nunez-
Veronica has been with us longer than any other employee. She started with us in the fall of 2006 as a kennel attendant and new to the world of Chicago dog daycare. She proved herself over and over again as someone who is capable of handling the tough work and gentle enough to handle any dog. It may sound funny, but the dogs all instantly respect her, and even the toughest dogs become friendly around her. This is why she has risen to become our kennel manager. She had also learned the no nonsense and straight forward approach that we pride ourselves on here.
Mary Scheffke-
Mary is our trainer extraordinaire. She has been around dogs and training dogs since the age of eight. She worked with her father who was a breeder, trainer and showed dogs as well. In addition she worked at a vet for about four years where she learned not only how to care for dogs but added to her understanding of dogs.
She has been a Chicago dog trainer for over 10 years now while at Anti Cruelty Society in a senior trainer capacity. Here she not only led training classes for the general public but also taught those that were interested in becoming trainers themselves. While at Anti Cruelty she also saw a need for many different types of classes that were not being offered there or other facilities which is why we have our extensive selection of classes.
Mary, like many at Pet Care Plus, also spends a lot of time involved in rescue work. Obviously her work at Anti Cruelty shows this but she also is the head trainer for Chicago English Bulldog Rescue, in addition to her duties as the facilitator for the Chicago French Bulldog meet up group.
As you can see Mary knows and loves dogs and we are lucky to have her.
