After being closed for nearly a year, Unleashed Pet Boutique & Spa, located at 122 Shore Rd., in Port Washington recently reopened. Laura Palattella, resident of Port Washington and owner of Unleashed Pet Boutique & Spa, has worked in the dog grooming business for 17 years.
“Port Washington couldn’t be nicer to us,” Palattella said. “People have been wonderful. I feel so fortunate. Everyone has said, ‘we’re so glad you’re back’ and I’m so happy to be back.”
Unleashed Pet Boutique & Spa carries high-end pet supplies including specialty food, raw and organic dog food and dog treats. Palattella is very particular with the types of dog food that she carries. She researches each product to make sure she is purchasing high-quality products without harmful or unnecessary ingredients.
“I’m very particular with the foods I carry,” Palattella said. “I [purchase from] small family-owned companies. What you can get at the supermarket—you’re not going to find it at my store. The treats and the food that I bring in have limited ingredients. When you walk into my store you’re buying quality and limited ingredients—there’s nothing in here that contains fillers or anything like that.”
Palattella even makes and sells her own dog treats, which she named Fiona’s Treats after her own Irish wolfhound Fiona. The treats do not contain any preservatives and are made of sweet potato and dehydrated chicken.
Palattella also offers grooming services (available by appointment only) for dogs of all sizes. Grooming prices are calculated by the type of coat and size of the animal. Appointments begin at 8:30 a.m. for geriatric and special needs dogs and 9 a.m. for all other dogs. Palattella stated that the master groomers do their best to work with their clients’ needs and always seek to have the dogs’ best interest at heart. She welcomes residents to come visit the store if they are interested in having their dog groomed but want to see what their facility looks like.
“We let people look in the back to see the facility because a lot of places don’t allow the owners to take a look around,” Palattella said. “We welcome the [opportunity for the] owners to come see. We’re pretty proud of how clean our facility is.”
Currently, for every dog that is groomed at Unleashed, Palattella will be donating $1 to the Farrell Scholarship Fund, in memory of James and Michael Farrell, two brothers from Manhasset who were killed in a head-on car crash in July.
While grooming is by appointment only, Palattella encourages pet parents to just come into the store if they need their dogs nails cut or their ears cleaned. Summer store hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pet parents can set up a grooming appointment via phone by calling 516-883-1003.
