ATTLEBORO - Dog owners who worry about leaving Fido or Spot alone and cooped up at home all day while they go off to work could soon have a new option.

Two city residents went before the zoning board of appeals Thursday seeking a special permit for a dog day care business in the Northwest Industrial Park off North Avenue.

The application comes under a new ordinance approved by the city council in June that allows the businesses in industrial zones for the first time. If approved as expected, the business would apparently be the first facility in the city that's primarily for dog day care.

Ralph Gasbarro and Emily McHugh of Icarus Lane are seeking the permit and are pushing to open Off the Leash Doggie Daycare at 40 Walton St. in an existing industrial building as soon as possible.

The facility would handle a maximum of 30 dogs daily from 6 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Friday. Owners would drop their pets off before going to work and pick them up at the end of their day.

The dogs would spend the day playing with other dogs, mostly indoors. An outdoor fenced area would be available for the pooches to defecate and urinate. Dogs would be grouped by size, and every 10 dogs would have at least one human supervisor.

Gasbarro and McHugh believe there's a big demand for the service with the prevalence of two-worker families and an increasing desire for specialized pet care. There are an estimated 2,500 licensed dogs in the city.

Dog day care businesses are very common on the west coast, but relatively new in this part of the country. Gasbarro was the manager of a dog day care facility in Portland, Oregon, for five years.

He's also a certified dog trainer and would offer that service on Saturdays.

Approval of the special permit is expected after the couple makes some technical changes to their plan requested by the ZBA.

GEORGE W. RHODES can be reached at 508-236-0432 or at grhodes@thesunchronicle.com.