A long-troubled animal shelter in Mission may soon be replaced with a new doggie daycare business.
Playful Pack is eyeing the space currently occupied by Unleashed Pet Rescue and Adoption, an animal shelter in Mission that’s come under fire in recent years after multiple failed state inspections.
Damien Hicks, owner of KCK9s Inc., applied for a special use permit (see page 26 of the Mission Planning Commission agenda packet) to use the building at 5918 Broadmoor St. for a doggie daycare and overnight pet boarding business. Online county property records show Unleashed is still the owner of the building.
The Mission Planning Commission approved the special use permit in a 6-0 vote, City Administrator Laura Smith told the Post last week.
The Mission City Council is expected to make the final decision on the special use permit later this month.
Pet store Mission Pet Mart just south of the Unleashed property also offers similar services, including overnight pet boarding.
Hicks originally took his doggie daycare proposal to Overland Park last summer, eyeing a storefront in the Nall Hills Shopping Center at 95th and Nall, but the plan was met with opposition from residents in the surrounding neighborhood as well as hesitation from some city councilmembers.
He later withdrew the application after the Overland Park City Council remanded it to the city planning commission.
Hicks’ proposal and special use permit application in Mission comes a year after Unleashed put its building up for sale.
Unleashed failed two inspections in 2023 and 2024 by the Kansas Department of Agriculture, which then worked to revoke the shelter’s license to operate. The shelter continued to operate while its attorney appealed the state’s decision.
It is unclear whether Unleashed has been licensed by the state since then, but Unleashed appears to still be operating based on signage and furniture that remain in and around the building. It also continues to post about animals up for adoption on its Facebook page, including as recently as Monday.
Neither Hicks nor a representative from Unleashed responded to the Post’s request for comment for this story.
A look at Unleashed’s history with failed inspections
- Unleashed came under scrutiny in early 2023 following a Fox 4 report about complaints from multiple customers and former employees regarding the shelter’s conditions.
- The Kansas Department of Agriculture was working in February 2023 to revoke the shelter’s license due to a failed inspection in October 2022. Around that same time, the city of Mission stopped sending animals to Unleashed.
- Unleashed, through an attorney, has maintained its stance that the October 2022 inspection found no animals injured or mistreated.
- In September 2023, the shelter failed another state inspection that, among other issues, found non-spayed (female) and non-neutered (male) dogs in the same kennel.
- Unleashed representatives previously said that the September 2023 inspection was a “complete fraud” and that, because it is appealing the state’s decision, it can still operate.
- The shelter and the state took the issue to Johnson County District Court in late 2023 and into 2024. The shelter put the Mission building up for sale in April 2024.
Playful Pack owner wants to buy the building
- Hicks wants to buy the building at 5918 Broadmoor St. as long as the city council approves the special use permit for Playful Pack, Smith, the city administrator, told the Post.
- Hicks’ company has a contract in place with Unleashed to buy the building, pending the city’s approval of the special use permit, according to city documents. ReeceNichols’ website lists a pending sale of the building at 5918 Broadmoor St.
- The building is still owned by Unleashed, according to city documents. Previously, the asking price for the building was $1 million. ReeceNichols’ website now lists the property at $850,000.
- A special use permit will allow the city more authority over the business compared to the city’s control over Unleashed, which didn’t require licensing through the city, Smith said.
- Smith said Hicks plans to replace the asphalt in the outdoor play area with turf. The business also plans to immediately remove and dispose of pet waste, which will solve the city’s concerns about such waste potentially being washed into the municipal stormwater system, according to city documents.
City council to consider special use permit this month
- The city council is expected to discuss Playful Pack’s special use permit request during the community development committee meeting this Wednesday, according to city documents.
- The community development committee meets at 6:30 p.m. at Mission City Hall, 6090 Woodson St.
- If the committee sends the special use permit forward favorably, then it will likely appear on the full city council’s May 21 agenda.
- City council meetings start at 7 p.m. at Mission City Hall.
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