Another broken window for Stretch and Fetch has made life increasingly frustrating for the local business focused on animal care.

By Tommy Osborne

Downtown Vandalism

Downtown business owner calls for change following third vandalism incident

Aug 26, 2025 | 5:05 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Stretch and Fetch, a downtown business located on 3rd Avenue and Queensway St., is growing increasingly frustrated following another incident of a broken window, the third in two years since it opened its downtown location.

“(We also had) spray paint on the windows, that’s happened a few times. We used to have a little shed out in our lot, and the gate was cut with wire cutters. They went in there, started a fire, so that thing was on fire. Stuff like that happens frequently,” said Marissa Dubois, owner of Stretch and Fetch.

Incidents like that have been incredibly stressful for a small business trying to maintain its downtown location, and adding to the frustration is the fact it is ineligible to receive grants from Downtown Prince George due to its location. Had it been on the other side of Queensway, it would have been able to receive grants and supports, but a difference of metres prevents Stretch and Fetch from accessing this help.

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The boundary for the Downtown Business Improvement Area abides by the City of Prince George’s C1 zone. Stretch and Fetch, being on the other side of Queensway, just misses out on being eligible for grants and supports. Screenshot courtesy City of Prince George.

“We are literally looking at downtown and we get to watch all the fun things that happen downtown without actually getting any of the benefit of trying to revitalize the area and bringing clients downtown, which then are going to help other businesses in the downtown. We definitely feel like we are part of it, but we’re getting kind of shoved to the side a little bit,” Dubois said.

“I want to be able to make improvements to the outside of my building and make improvements to our parking lot and our entryway. But I’m also hesitant to do that because I don’t want everything to get ruined. And unfortunately, because we are not able to apply for any of the Beautify Downtown PG Grants, I’m in a hard place,” she continued.

It’s a difficult situation for a business owner downtown to handle, and one that Downtown Prince George President Eoin Foley sympathizes with. He says he wants to support all businesses, whether they are in the boundary or not, but expanding or moving the boundary isn’t as simple as one may hope.

“Expanding that boundary is quite a bit of an administrative, task. It would require that the property owners affected would have to agree to it, at least a certain percentage of buildings representing 50% of the value,” Foley said.

However, Foley said he still hopes to find other ways to help, which could include potentially starting a separate business improvement grant program for the area east of Queensway.

“I don’t want to speak for all the property owners over there, but if a significant amount of them wanted to create that, then they could do that. We’ve even talked to a handful of them and said that we’d be willing to help with all the administrative parts, and then they would also have the luxury of determining what level of services that they want,” Foley said.

Other options included potential paid membership into the already existing Downtown Prince George grant framework, and Foley also emphasized the importance of continuing to advocate for the provincial government to address the root issue of crime. However, at least for the immediate future, it means businesses like Fetch and Stretch will continue to pay out of their own pocket for vandalism and security incidents.

“I’m not asking for more than the other businesses are getting on the other side of the street. I would like to just get the same support that they’re getting,” Dubois said.

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