Rent a Dog Business Condemned
Published on August 2, 2007 by Ryan O'Meara · 1 CommentA company in California is offering people who are unable to make a full time commitment to a pet, the chance to rent a dog. For the equivalent of £49 a year, FlexPetz customers get to spend time with one of the company’s Afghan hounds, Labrador retrievers or Boston terriers. FlexPetz founder Marlena Cervantes is hoping to expand her business to London by the end of the year.
The Kennel Club issued a statement declaring concern over the humanity of the proposed business:
“It is with deep concern that the Kennel Club has heard about a new scheme under way in America called FlexPetz, which is set to come to the UK in October. The scheme offers to supply dogs on a rental basis to people who don’t have the time to own a dog full time.
The concept of renting out dogs as a ‘timeshare’ equivalent is detrimental to the dog, leading to all kinds of confusion for the animal. It also raises many questions about the kind of person who is making money at the dog’s expense, what happens when the dog gets older and no one wants it, and what happens in the situation where people who are renting the dog don’t want to give it back?
“It is also of concern that different people will have different ideas about house rules, leading to even further confusion for the dog when it is not given any consistency with which rules to follow.”
There are already plenty of opportunities in the UK for people who don’t feel they have enough time to own a dog to be able to take part in dog related activities. These include volunteering to walk dogs from a local rescue centre, or helping dog related charities which run schemes to send their dogs ‘out’ for the weekend to socialise while they are in training, such as Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. These dogs need our support first – and there’s no charge to people for the privilege!”
K9 Magazine would also like to add our support to the Kennel Club’s position in roundly condemning any practice of ‘renting’ animals for profit.
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What will happen if one of these dogs causes an accident of some kind, who is liable. the ‘company’ that ‘rents’ the dog out or the ‘temporary’ dog owner? There are many avenues in the UK for people who for whatever reason are unable to take a dog on full time to donate their time and effrot to helping dogs. Schemes that may work in one country do not always work in another, what happens to dogs that are not ‘rented’ out as frequently as other more popular dogs, do they presumably just sit around in kennels? This is a typical Californian idea that is totally unsuited to the UK.