It happens every year. Struggling businesses hang in there through the holiday season and then call it quits in January. So far this year we’ve lost La Taqueria, Hog Mountain, Naidres in Carroll Gardens and now Willie’s Dawgs, the stylish hot dog place on Fifth Avenue between 4th and 5th Streets.

I for one am sorry to hear because we loved their hot dogs, loved their decor and loved their dedication to dog adoption.

Everything about the place was creative, including the names of the hot dogs (mutt, pedigree, best in show, bird dawg, downward facing dawg with tofu), the huge mural on the wall, the dog adoption photographs, and their commitment to raising money for Sean Casey Animal Rescue.

Willie’s garnered fantastic reviews from the New York Times, Time Out, Yelp, New York, where they were selected for best cheap eats.

So what gives?

Sounds like the owner, Tom Anderson, after four years just got doggone tired of running a business around here. “It was a great four-year run and it’s time to move on,” Anderson wrote in a statement.