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BBC News
By Ione Wells
image captionPet boarding businesses look after people s pets when they are away, usually on holiday
Pet boarding businesses in Wales say they have fallen through the loopholes for most coronavirus support.
The small businesses that look after people s pets when they go away are not automatically eligible for tourism-sector grants.
Nearly 70 have formed an alliance calling on the Welsh Government to treat them like tourism businesses.
The Welsh Government said some boarding firms could apply for council grants.
Rhian Cowen runs a home-boarding business for dogs in Pembrokeshire. She said her full diary of bookings for 2020 were all cancelled last February and she has had no significant bookings since.
The Chancellor is facing mounting pressure from businesses to extend the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme over the coming months of lockdown.
TUC general secretary Frances O Grady said: The Government must stop dithering and delaying and extend the full furlough scheme for at least the rest of 2021, and it must (give) urgent support for the self-employed. With jobs and livelihoods hanging in the balance there is no reason to keep workers and businesses waiting. We need a plan for supporting the parts of the economy hit hardest by repeated lockdown restrictions, like hospitality, retail, aviation and the creative industries.”
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