REGION
Thursday, February 10, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
Dog groomer encounters angrier clientele following pandemic
or two,” she said.
After announcing the new
policy, Crosby said “98%”
of the customers she talked
with were understanding and
supportive. But it’s not just a
rash of no-show appointments
that’s affl icting Pupcakes, but
an increase in upset custom-
ers.
“Prior to the quarantine we
would get one or two people
that maybe were grumpy once
in a while and now it’s like a
daily basis where someone is
so stressed out that we end up
getting it taken out on us,” she
said. “Whether it’s pricing or
how long it took for us to get
their dog done, it’s really hard
to put into words how it seems
that people have changed.”
Crosby said her staff got
cursed at after Pupcakes
raised its prices for dog nail
clipping services. The busi-
ness also was threatened with
lawsuits after customers tried
to redeem expired loyalty
points. She added that some
employees have left Pupcakes
after receiving “verbal beat-
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PEN DLETON
—
Pupcakes made an update to
its Facebook page while brac-
ing for blowback.
In a 305-word post made
on Feb. 2, the Pendleton dog
grooming and boarding busi-
ness thanked its customers for
their support but also alluded
to the prospect of losing
clients. All of Pupcakes’ words
were in service of announcing
a policy change: The business
now requires all customers to
put their credit cards on fi le or
prepay ahead of taking their
dogs to Pupcakes.
In a Friday, Feb. 4, inter-
view, Lesley Crosby explained
why Pupcakes was changing
its rules and why she expected
an angry reaction from some
corners of her customer base.
Crosby said she had
considered implementing the
policy in 2017 with the hopes
it would curb missed appoint-
ments from clients. But she got
heavy pushback from custom-
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Tyler Marker brushes out Naudia during a grooming session Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, at
Pupcakes in Pendleton.
ers and shelved the idea.
During the early stages
of the pandemic when many
businesses were on lockdown,
Crosby said customers grew
more consistent about getting
their dogs in on time, a trend
she attributed to less people
being at work.
“But as soon as the quaran-
tine started to lift, it became its
own pandemic of people miss-
ing appointments,” she said.
Crosby estimated
Pupcakes dealt with 20
appointments last week where
a customer failed to show up
or cancel ahead of time. She
Hermiston taxi programs see
drops and increases in 2021
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Rider-
ship in Hermiston’s Senior
& Disabled Taxi Program
declined in 2021 while its
Workforce On-Demand Ride
Cooperative program saw a
slight increase in its second
full calendar year of opera-
tion.
The Senior & Disabled
Taxi Program provides
service for eligible Herm-
iston residents to locations
within city limits. According
to a press release Monday,
Feb. 7, from the city, between
2017-19 the program averaged
18,000-20,000 rides per year,
but that fell in 2021 to 12,191
rides.
The service has primarily
been used for trips to medi-
cal appointments, shopping,
public events, and gatherings.
“The past couple of years
have disrupted people’s regu-
lar routines due to cancelled
appointments and events, and
that seems to be having an
impact on how many people
are using the taxi service,”
Assistant City Manager Mark
Morgan said in the release.
“We know that routine and
familiarity are important in
helping people choose to use
a public transit option like
the taxi service, so we want
to help remind folks that this
easy and reliable system is
here to help.”
Vouchers for the program
are $2.50 each and are avail-
able for purchase at Hermis-
ton City Hall. Residents who
are 60 years or older or have
an eligible disability under
Social Security, the Public
Good Shepherd Medical
Center upgrades its MRI
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Good
Shepherd Medical Center,
Her miston, recently
completed constr uction
and installation of the best
MRI technology available
to hospitals today.
Good Shepherd in a
press release Tuesday,
Feb. 8, announced the new
MRI machine is open to
patients this week in the
hospital’s Diagnostic Imag-
ing Department at 610 N.W.
11th St., Hermiston.
Rober t Rose, Good
Shepherd’s Diag nost ic
Imaging manager, said
in the press release the
Canon Orion MRI is on par
with what is available in a
major metropolitan area or
university‐based medical
center.
“From a quality stand-
point, there is no reason for
our community to travel out
of the area for MRI needs,”
he stated.
T h is M R I is more
comfortable, quieter and
faster than other MR I
machines, according to
Good Shepherd, and deliv-
ers the clearest, full‐quality
image available.
MRIs at Good Shep-
herd now take 20 minutes
compared to the former
30‐40 minutes and gener-
ate a collection of images
in multiple orientations,
according to the press
release. And the MRI room
even has a lighting system
that can change hues if the
patient so desires.
For more information on
the Canon Orion MRI, visit
www.gshealth.org/diagnos-
tic‐imaging/magnetic‐reso-
nance‐imaging‐mri.
Employee Retirement System
or other recognized agency
may apply.
The city also reported
its WORC program issued
7,041 ride vouchers in 2021, a
slight increase from the 7,020
issued in 2020. The majority
of these rides — 62% — were
within Hermiston city limits
with many users getting rides
to service-sector and retail
workplaces.
The program off ers rides
to workplaces in Hermis-
ton, Umatilla or Stanfield
and ticket pricing is based on
distance between the worksite
and pickup/drop off location.
For more information
about the city of Hermiston’s
transit options, including
taxi service and the fi xed-
route HART bus service, visit
www.hermiston.or.us/transit.
said Pupcakes can try to bring
in a waitlisted customer to fi ll
the slot, but if they can’t make
the last-minute time window,
the missed appointment just
turns into lost business.
“I hate to make those
changes, but if we don’t, then
we won’t be around in a year
ings” from customers.
The prices Pupcakes
charges for its services can
be a sticking point for irate
customers. Crosby said
Pupcakes is a “mom and pop”
business with seven employ-
ees, including herself. The
prices the business charges
are what is needed to cover
Pupcakes’ overhead costs,
she said. While corporate
pet stores such as Petco and
PetSmart also off er grooming
services, Crosby said most of
their revenue is made through
retail sales of pet products
rather than grooming, an
area where Pupcakes can’t
compete.
Crosby said she started
Pupcakes as a gourmet dog
treat business in 2013, expand-
ing into grooming in 2015 and
then boarding and daycare
in 2016. She said she hopes
Pupcakes’ new policy will
lead to less stress and more
opportunities to expand her
business into new areas, such
as a private dog park and train-
ing area.
LOCAL BRIEFING
Veteran prosecutor
returns to Umatilla
County DA’s Offi ce
PENDLETON — A
familiar face is back in
the ranks of the Umatilla
County District Attorney’s
Offi ce.
Umatilla Cou nt y
Commissioner George
Murdock reported Jaclyn
Jenkins once again is going
to handle prosecutions in
Umatilla County.
Jenkins was the chief
deputy prosecuting attor-
ney in January 2021 when
she left for a role with the
U.S. Attorney’s District of
Oregon offi ce in Portland.
But a year later, accord-
ing to Murdock, Jenkins
is returning to family,
friends and her professional
colleagues in Umatilla
County.
One of those colleagues
is Daniel Pachico. He came
to the county in March
2010 and left for private
practice in
June 2020.
But
he
returned to
the district
attorney’s
office Feb.
1, 2021.
Jenkins
Pachico
was the county’s chief
deputy prosecutor. Murdock
reported the county board at
an administrative meeting
on Friday, Feb. 4, voted to
give Jenkins the title of chief
deputy district attorney for
Umatilla County with an
assignment in Hermiston.
Murdock also reported
District Attorney Dan
Primus said Jenkins’ return
was a great day for Umatilla
County and a great day for
his offi ce.
More deaths in
Umatilla County
from COVID-19
UMATILLA COUNTY
— Umatilla County Public
Health on Tuesday, Feb. 8,
reported COVID-19 claimed
the lives of two more county
residents.
The county’s 195 death
related to the disease is a
70-year-old woman who
tested positive on Jan. 14
and died Feb. 3 at Good
Shepherd Medical Center,
Hermiston. The 196th death
related to COVID-19 is a
72-year-old man who tested
positive on Jan. 23 and died
Feb. 5, also at Good Shep-
herd Medical Center.
The county health depart-
ment also reported 67 new
COVID-19 cases, bringing
the county’s total number of
cases as of Feb. 8 to 21,737.
— EO Media Group
The most valuable and respected source of
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for our communities.
eomediagroup.com
2/11-2/17
Cineplex Show Times
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3:50p 6:30p 9:10p
extra 1:10p show 2/11-2/13
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4:00p 6:40p 9:20p
extra 1:20p show 2/11-2/13
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4:10p 6:50p 9:30p
extra 1:30p show 2/11-2/13
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Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
We’re closing our doors
FOREVER!
After serving Pendleton
for 20 years, it is
time to retire.
All jewelry, watches, clocks and
giftware drastically reduced for
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EVERYTHING MUST GO !
including cases, furniture, displays,
even some tools and equipment
All sales are final!
Take advantage of these great
deals just in time to buy for
Valentine's Day!