You'd think he's running for office, but Bruce Baber of north west Gainesville says he's just trying to live.

"This is my livelihood, this is my way to exist and I can't make a living out of walking dogs," he said.

Baber had been operating a "doggy daycare" out of his house since 1986- until the city shut him down about two years ago after complaints from at least one neighbor.

His latest attempt to change city code-- failed.

In a 4-3 vote, city commissioners denied a petition that would allow people to operate kennels in single-family neighborhoods.

"Times are tough now, coming up with that idea, if people need dog walkers I think it's perfectly fine to do it out of your house," said Emily Rickerson, Baber's neighbor.

Baber has about 150, "SAVE-BRUCE-DOT-ORG" signs all over the city, and many of them in his neighborhood, however not everyone is "team Bruce."

"There's already places established that this man can have his business," said one woman during public comment at Thursday's city meeting.

Baber says he's not giving up on bringing back his "doggy daycare."

"I'll keep walking dogs at a loss of income to myself, but will try to find another way around it," he said.