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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