Help Muddy Paw Dog Spaw

Hello, my name is Chris Kruse I am the co-owner of Muddy Paw Dog Spaw.

In 2018 my wife Alicia and I moved to Ridgway, Co. and started a dog grooming business. After 3 great years of serving our community (and managing to survive the covid closers), we decided to move to a larger space to expand our services, but we didn't expect what was to be the beginning of a long hard year!

Shortly after securing our new space in May 2022, Alicia (my wife and groomer), was in an auto accident that severely damaged her leg, 6 weeks after the accident the swelling and bruising were getting more intense instead of healing. Upon going in to have it rechecked the doctors found a deep infection that required emergency surgery to cut out a large part of the skin on her leg to get rid of the infection, which resulted in several months of going to a wound care specialist three times a week.

Being left in this situation with her unable to groom, I decided to go back into my Profession of 20 years of flooring installation to keep us supported financially, (I quit doing flooring because I had to have Knee Surgery in 2015 and my doctor told me to stop getting down on my knees), But after a few months of flooring the pain became too much to bear and I had to stop.

While I was working those few months the new space we had leased sold, and the new property owners had other plans for our new space. It became obvious that they didn't want us or our business in the space from the start as they did everything to get us to leave the space before our lease was over, (as well as the other businesses in the complex), meanwhile, Alicia's wounds had healed to the point that she was able to go in for a skin graph to help her heal faster. Unfortunately after the surgery, she developed a staff infection which caused the skin graph to fail, adding several more weeks to her healing process.

In September on our way home from one of Alicia's appointments we were T-boned, totaling our only vehicle and transportation.

At this point, Alicia had healed to the point that she could stand for short periods so we decided to try and open our shop up, and groom some of our local dogs 1 or 2 a day to try to stay afloat. Unable to keep up with the rent on time in full the new landlord had his opportunity and moved for eviction, on Dec. 23. We had to close our shop.

I used the money from my injury settlement from the "T-bone" to get a truck to go back in flooring, but it broke down costing me $400 to tow and two jobs that would have took care of our home bills. We are currently waiting on parts to fix it.

Since the eviction, in December we have been trying to find a new space to groom in. We have looked and found some spaces, but we are unable to afford to secure one as all of these events have taken a hefty toll on us financially.

Currently, we are down to our last dollars and about to be evicted as our lease is month to month at this time.

We are asking for help with securing a new commercial spot for our grooming business and some support to help with bills till my truck is running again

We love all of our furry friends and their owners, and we look forward to being able to support our community again.

All donations help and we can provide a certificate towards services for any donations recived.

Thank You

Chris Kruse

Co-Owner

Muddy Paw Dog Spaw