Can't commit? Get a dog part-time

Dog rental business targets pet lovers who are unsure or too busy to own a dog full-time
Ho Lian-Yi, The New Paper 15 Sep 08;

DISNEY is a cheerful West Highland White Terrier that will sit down obediently whenever anyone pets it.

The dog has been trained to obey whoever is with her because, well, it's her job.

Disney is a pet-for-rent.

She is part of a novel business that dog trainer Herbert Lim, 41, came up earlier this year to serve potential owners who may have doubts whether they are fit to take care of pets in the long term.

The service has 10 dogs, ranging from golden retrievers to jack russell terriers, for rent.

One of Mr Lim's clients is 23-year-old sales executive Bryan Teo, who takes Disney home three times a week.

The dog lover, who as a child had a jack russell terrier, said his busy lifestyle made it hard for him to have a pet.

'I work irregular hours, so it's imposssible to have a dog permanently,' said Mr Teo, who works in sales.

To rent a dog, you first have to pay a membership fee of $100. Members then pay an additional $50 to rent a pet on weekends, or $30 for a weekday.

The scheme, called Easy Dogz, also provides freefood, toys and other accessories such as a collar and leash, with the dog .

Mr Lim said he has been working with the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (Score) since 2003 to employ prisoners to train his dogs.

'I was thinking, instead of putting the dogs in a pound, why not lease them out?' he said.

Rental business in US, Japan

He wants to tap two markets - people, like Mr Teo, who love dogs but have no time to own one, and those who are thinking of having a dog and want to 'test' whether they are ready for one.

His business plan is not original. Renting pets is available both in the US and Japan.

Back in 2002, a pet shop here implemented a similar scheme, but the authorities said pet shops are not allowed to rent out their animals.

It is not clear whether that particular shop is still in business.

Calls to the shop went unanswered.

Mr Lim has more than 20 clients so far - mostly professionals in their 30s.

The dogs have all been abandoned by their formerowners.

When they're not being rented, Mr Lim keeps the smaller dogs in a rented apartment at Dover Road.

He keeps the bigger dogs at a kennel at Lim Chu Kang.

Mr Lim conducts compulsory lessons on how to handle a dog at a customer's home before the client is allowed to rent a pet.

This allows him to assess whether the clients know how to handle the dogs and whether their homes are suitable to keep dogs.

As part of the deal, those who lose the dogs or injure them have to compensate Mr Lim.

But even if a client grows attached to the dog, he cannot buy it.

Mr Lim said these dogs cost a lot of money to train and are not for sale.

But he will be happy to help the client train a dog similar to the one they rented.

Mr Lim said rent-a-dog is a situation where everyone wins.

It generates income to pay the prisoners who train the dogs, busy dog lovers get to play with their four-legged friends and the dogs get companionship, he said.

At the Singapore Botanical Gardens on Thursday, where Mr Lim and Mr Teo met The New Paper on Sunday, Disney happily rolled around in Mr Teo's grasp.

'Some people may not like the idea of getting a dog rented out... but wouldn't it be worse to have an abandoned dog caged every day, waiting for an organisation to end its life?' Mr Lim said.

Disney, for example, was abandoned by an expatriate before Mr Lim adopted her.

Now she is one of the 10 dogs Mr Lim specially trained to adapt to different environments.

Like the other dogs, Disney has been toilet trained, taught not to bite furniture, not to bark, to be used to life in both apartments and landed property, as well as being used to getting touched by all kinds of people.

Mr Teo said when he first rented Disney, she 'did not entirely feel at home'.

But she got used to the situation in half an hour, he said.

Nowadays, Disney shuttles between Mr Lim's Dover Road apartment, Mr Teo's home and the home of another female client.

AVA vet: Rental dogs treated like commodity

HERE, like in the US, the emergence of pet rental services sparked a debate.

In the US, proponents said pet rental was win-win for animals that would otherwise be caged or euthanised, while naysayers decried it as an immoral practice that was traumatic to the animals.

The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) in Singapore says that pet shops are not allowed to rent out animals.

Dr Leow Su Hua, AVA's Senior Veterinary Officer, said: 'Pet shops, which are licensed by AVA, are not allowed to do pet rental.'

She added: 'A rental dog may get confused and stressed with different people handling it. The dog is likely to be treated like a piece of commodity, such as a car or other rental equipment.

'This detracts from AVA's public education to promote responsible pet ownership, that 'A Pet Is For Life'.'

Dr Leow said that AVA planned to look into Mr Lim's case.

Mr Lim said he had heard similar concerns from his clients. But he assured that the dogs, unlike therapy dogs, were specially trained for this.

'I ask the clients, is it better for the dogs to have someone playing with them and the chance to go out, or be caged up?'

As for its legality, Mr Lim maintains that AVA's prohibition does not apply to him as he does not run a pet shop - he doesn't have any animals for sale.

But he also plans to get in touch with AVA and see how he can work within its guidelines.

When contacted, the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) also expressed its disapproval.

Its executive officer Deirdre Moss said it could be traumatic for dogs to have to adapt to different people and different commands.

It could get attached to people who rented it, 'only to be returned and the whole process repeated'.

For her, dog rental is 'not unlike an orphan child being passed around'.