Coco is a golden retriever with soft, silky honey-colored fur and
bright black eyes who wags her tail when you call her name. Coco is a dog that any dog lover would be happy to call his or
her own — and for $1,000 a year, they can, one weekend at a time.
Coco’s owner is Jack Zhu, a dog trainer who has run the Golden
Retriever Club in Taipei for six years. The club’s 1,023
members can join Zhu and his dogs for group trips to the park, or they
can take the dogs home for three days to a week at a time.
The rent-a-pet concept has grown in popularity worldwide, even as many
animal advocates voice their disapproval. Some canine lovers who long
for a faithful companion but are short on time or space say that
renting dogs is a good solution until they can raise a pet of their
own. Zhu is also adamant that letting members borrow his golden
retrievers helps them better understand dogs and, in turn, learn how to
treat them properly.
Jiang says his family had adopted a dog from a wild dog rescue
organization, but once home they found that the dog had not been
properly housebroken and had a difficult time adjusting to living
inside a city apartment.
Zhu himself complains that many people are inspired to adopt a dog
without considering the amount of work that goes into caring for and
training one. He hopes that his members, who he teaches how to treat
dogs, learn from their experience with his rental dogs. Potential members are screened by Zhu, who estimates that over the past
six years he has accepted just one out of every 10 applications he’s
received. As part of the process, Zhu interviews applicants about their
household, income and general knowledge of dogs, visits their homes and
calls personal and professional references.
While the idea of borrowing a pet was alien to the police officers Zhu
dealt with, the rent-a-pet concept is quickly gaining traction all over
the world. Within Taiwan, there are pet stores in Taoyuan and Taitung
that lend dogs, cats and other pets. Globally, stores have opened in cities like Toyko and New York that
market similar services to busy professionals who are squeezed for
space and time but still want to spend an afternoon or a weekend
romping with a dog. Some animal rescue organizations have also adopted
the concept. Stray Rescue of St Louis, for instance, started its
Rent-A-Pet program, which allows families to take home a dog or cat
from its shelter for the weekend, in a bid to increase pet adoptions.
Many animal lovers, however, deride the practice as cruel. Flexpetz, a
pet-rental company that has opened branches in San Diego, Los Angeles
and New York City, had a wrench thrown into their expansion plans this
summer when news that they were planning to open in Boston prompted the
city council to vote in favor of banning pet rentals.
But many animal advocates say that being treated like rental DVDs has a
negative psychological effect on pets. Amy Zhang, the head of Dog CHD, a Taipei-based advocacy group for dogs with genetic
disabilities, says that the stress of living with new households all
the time hurts dogs in the long term. “Dogs are loyal animals and they grow attached to their families.
Renting them out has a negative effect on their personalities,” says
Zhang.
“Instead of renting, we would advise people to volunteer at a shelter
or rescue organization and help them take care of their animals or take
their dogs out for walks. Those dogs could really benefit from
receiving some warmth and affection from people,” says Zhang.
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