The Kennel Club, (KC) has issued a response to the news that the dog rental company FlexPetz is to open in the UK..

"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.

Kennel Club Secretary, Caroline Kisko, said:

"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!"

Submitted by: Steve O'Malley      

---

Readers' Comments:       ..please LOG IN

no comments