I recently became aware of an owner of a pet care facility resorting to bribes (they called it “incentives”) to get their employees to get the Covid-19 vaccine. This was not a situation in which there were one or two employees not getting vaccinated nor a situation in which an employee was raising an Americans with Disability Act (ADA) or religious objection to the vaccine, this was simply widespread refusal to get vaccinated. I want to let you know how different the situation is at Pet Camp.

You should first know that, after a year of the Covid-19 pandemic AND Pet Camp being open every day, not a single Pet Camp counselor tested positive for Covid-19! Yes, we had some scares and several counselors got tested (a few got tested multiple times) but every test was negative. You should also know that almost every counselor now has 1 dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and most completed both doses. The counselors did not need to be incented to get the vaccine, in fact when we became aware that as “Food and Agriculture” workers we were eligible for the vaccine, many counselors started trying to sign up immediately (I have to admit I wasn’t really thrilled about the amount of time spent hitting the refresh button on myturn.ca.gov – but I bit my tongue).

I tell you these things because I think it speaks so highly of the community the counselors have established. The counselors have spent the last year both working as a team and looking out for each other. While we can have rules about wearing a mask and keeping physically distant from each other at Pet Camp, we cannot dictate behavior away from the workplace. The counselors took it upon themselves to protect each other with their actions. This is something they did for each other and they should be thanked and applauded for their efforts.

While many pet parents have thanked us over this past year for staying open, the real thanks goes to the Counselors for protecting themselves and each other and thus enabling us to stay open.
Thanks for reading.


Pet Camp has been providing healthy, safe and fun overnight and day care for San Francisco’s dogs and cats since 1997.  If you are a pet parent in need of overnight care for your dog or cat, doggie day care, dog training, bathing, or pet transportation please reach out to the one of the counselors.

2 Responses to “Pet Camp Counselors: Truly a Caring Community”

  1. Pam Barkley

    As the East Coast mom of one of the counselors at Pet Camp, I definitely appreciate the care that was taken by everyone at Pet Camp during Covid. Knowing that you all were doing everything that could be done to ensure the health and safety of people and pets has helped this paranoid mother be a bit less anxious. Thank you, thank you!!

  2. Mark Klaiman

    Ms. Barkley: Thanks for the kind comment, thanks for sharing Leigh with us, and, of course, thanks for the amazing cookies!