Pet rental is the practice, usually administered by for-profit companies, of

renting Renting, also known as hiring or letting, is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for a ...

pet A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence ...

s such as

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

s and

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

s. Rental also includes animals who are hired out at a specific rate for a specific time. It is a controversial practice opposed by many

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...

advocates and has been banned in at least one municipality: Boston, Massachusetts. TherapyEnglishBulldog

Methods of Pet Rental

Therapy Dogs

There are several methods of

therapy dog A therapy dog is a dog that is trained to provide affection, comfort and support to people, often in settings such as hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, libraries, hospices, or disaster areas. In contrast to assistance dogs, w ...

as a part of the Mayo Clinic's Caring Canines program. The dogs that participate in this method of pet

make regular visits to various hospital departments and can make special visits upon request. The dogs that participate in this program have been welcomed by the

patients A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health care ...

and are considered a good

distraction Distraction is the process of diverting the attention of an individual or group from a desired area of focus and thereby blocking or diminishing the reception of desired information. Distraction is caused by: the lack of ability to pay attentio ...

from the atmosphere of the hospital.

Renting an Animal for an Event

Another method of pet rental includes renting animals for an event. Animal Craze, a traveling farm, specializes in renting animals for

birthday parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

or other events. These services usually range from $200 to $500 depending on the number of

animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...

and the kind of animals a person chooses to

rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

. Mobile Zoos are also a form of pet renting for events. Mobile Zoos are popular in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and provide exotic animals for children's parties. Another form of pet renting includes puppy parties. Puppy parties usually include 5-10 puppies that are placed in a playpen for people to come and either cuddle, handle, or play with. If the people at the party are younger in age, they are instructed on how to properly handle the

puppies A puppy is a juvenile dog. Some puppies can weigh , while larger ones can weigh up to . All healthy puppies grow quickly after birth. A puppy's coat color may change as the puppy grows older, as is commonly seen in breeds such as the York ...

. The puppies at these parties are usually between 2-6 months old. Companies such as Puppy Parties add a cute and

therapeutic A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different ...

aspect to

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...

corporate A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

, and private events. Their puppies have also been seen on the ABC show Good Morning America.

Renting Pets as a Test

Another common method of

renting is to test whether or not a person is ready to take on the responsibilities of being an owner. This also includes pet renting for various reasons listed below: * Not being able to have

in their house due to rental agreements. * Not being able to have animals in the house due to

allergies Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, refer a number of conditions caused by the hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic dermat ...

. * Not being able to properly take care of an animal due to excessive

traveling Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel can ...

or work. * Not being able to currently afford an animal or supplies necessary for caring for a pet.

Accessibility

Cat Cafés

The first known

cat café A cat café is a theme café whose attraction is cats who can be watched and played with. Patrons pay a cover fee, generally hourly, and thus cat cafés can be seen as a form of supervised indoor pet rental. "Cat café" has been officially reco ...

was located in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

, Taiwan, named Cat Flower Garden. Opening in 1998, it became a place for stressed out visitors to come drink coffee and pet cats. Cat cafés increased in popularity in Japan because most renters were not allowed to own pets. In 2005, Shop of Cats in Tokyo became a place for single income families to enjoy the comfort of the pets that they couldn't own. In April 2014, New York took on the cat café idea, which took off immediately. Sponsored by Purina One, it lets families meet adoptable cats. Additionally, two pop-up cat cafés in California, located in Bay area and Oakland, opened in 2014. The

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

location, KitTea, was open to both rescued and feral cats. The Oakland location, Cat Town, was designated to cats that were ready to be placed in a home. In Europe, cat cafés took off in places like

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Dog Cafés

Dog cafés are popular in Korea and the United States. One café in Santa Monica, named Grounds and Hounds, sponsors shelter dogs that are up for adoption. Customers can pet these puppies in a designated area of the café. In Korea, dogs in the café are from puppy mills and are not up for adoption. This practice, however, is changing quickly. Dogs in cafés like Grounds and Hounds are adoptable shelter dogs, some suffering from physical illnesses. In these cafés, strict health codes are enforced, requiring animals and food to be separated. For the animals to stay overnight, the café was built in an industrial zone - which is a requirement given by the L.A. Health Department.

Animal Cafés in Tokyo

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, there are pet cafés with rabbits, birds, goldfish, reptiles, goats, and penguins. These cafés are the most popular for those with strict renting policies in Japan and for tourists. To protect the well-being of the animals, some cafés have specific time limits. Other rules include that food must be separate from the animals, or there must be trained handler on hand. With some animals, specifically penguins and reptiles, visitors are there to watch, but not to touch the animals. In some cases, visitors may pay extra for pictures with the animals.

Importance

One method of pet renting is

animal assisted therapy Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is an alternative or complementary type of therapy that includes the use of animals in a treatment. The goal of this animal-assisted intervention is to improve a patient's social, emotional, or cognitive functionin ...

. Animal assisted therapy can help to reduce pain,

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

, depression and fatigue in people with a range of health issues including: children having dental procedures, people receiving

cancer treatment Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy (including immunotherapy such as monoclonal antibody therapy) and synthetic lethality, most commonly as a series of separate treatments (e.g. ...

, people in long-term care facilities, people hospitalized with chronic heart failure and veterans with

posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats ...

(PTSD). Other benefits from programs that use pet renting include not only the people who are sick, but it also includes the loved ones of the ill patients too. Patient's family can also receive benefits due to the happiness that an animal can bring to their loved ones.

Ethics

Concerns

In the

, the use of Mobile Zoos has become a cause for concern. Because of this, Mobile Zoos will soon require licenses to operate in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The

RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...

recently announced that the Mobile Zoos' were handling the

meerkats MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Kilo ...

and

raccoons The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of . ...

inappropriately. Under the changes to the

Animal Welfare Act 2006 The Animal Welfare Act 2006 (c 45) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Overview It is the first signing of pet law since the Protection of Animals Act 1911, which it largely replaced. It also superseded and consolidated more tha ...

, anyone who wishes to own a business that provides an animal for an exhibit must require a license from the local authority, including Mobile Zoos. The exhibits must also adhere to welfare standards developed with those working in the sector and animal welfare charities. Some of the biggest concerns that

hospitals A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

face is the safety and sanitation that comes with the therapy dogs that visit. Most hospitals with dog therapy programs have a strict policy to ensure that animals are clean, vaccinated, well trained and screened for appropriate behavior.

Animals in the Media

Across the United States, there are over 40 animal talent agencies. Every day, agents audition talented animals for parts in film, theater, photo shoots, and

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

. Each animal talent agency represents hundreds of clients which include animals in

wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...

preserves, pets, and even domestic and exotic species. Though the need for animal actors is declining due to modern digital animation, for commercials, the typical rate in New York is $800 a day for a dog.

Abuse in the Media

In the movie ''

Snakes on a Plane ''Snakes on a Plane'' is a 2006 American action film directed by David R. Ellis and starring Samuel L. Jackson. It was released by New Line Cinema on August 18, 2006, in North America. The film was written by David Dalessandro, John Heffernan ...

'', reptile wrangler Jules Sylvester had brought over 27 types of snakes on the movie set. Snakes get tired after an hour of work, and can become over

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

ed, causing a snake not to eat for a week. It is for this reason that particular snakes are leased for an hour at a time.

Animal Safety

The American Animal Defense League (AADL) started taking measures to protect hired animal actors from abuse. Investigations involved popular Hollywood studios such as

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

and

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

regarding abuse in films as well as abusive living conditions. More recently, the

American Humane Association American Humane (AH) is an organization founded in 1877 committed to ensuring the safety, welfare, and well-being of animals. It was previously called the International Humane Association before changing its name in 1878. In 1940, it became t ...

's (AHA) Film and Television Unit have taken the initiative to make sure animal actors were not harmed in the making of the movie. The AHA began monitoring the safety of animals after ''Jesse James'' provoked an outcry when a horse was forced to leap to its

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

from the top of a cliff in 1939. The AHA prides itself on ensuring safety for all animal actors.

Highest Paid Animal Actors

The Wizard of Oz Judy Garland Terry 1939

The animals people gaze upon on the internet, in

advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

, are prized for their “

cuteness Cuteness is a subjective term describing a type of attractiveness commonly associated with youth and appearance, as well as a scientific concept and analytical model in ethology, first introduced by Konrad Lorenz. Lorenz proposed the concept ...

.” This was seen in the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'', as Toto or “ Terry the Terrier” made over $125 a week, compared to the Munchkins, who made $50. Other famous animal actors include... *

Rin Tin Tin Rin Tin Tin or Rin-Tin-Tin (September 1918 – August 10, 1932) was a male German Shepherd born in Flirey, France, who became an international star in motion pictures. He was rescued from a World War I battlefield by an American soldier, L ...

the

German Shepherd The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for ...

(1954) — $6,000 per week *

Pal (dog) Pal (June 4, 1940 – June 18, 1958) was a male Rough Collie performer and the first in a line of such dogs to portray the fictional female collie Lassie in film, on radio, and on television. Pal was born in California in 1940 and eventual ...

(1959) — $4,000 per week *

Keiko (orca) Keiko (earlier Siggi and Kago; 24 September 1976 – 12 December 2003) was a male orca captured in the Atlantic Ocean near Iceland in 1979. He portrayed Willy in the 1993 film ''Free Willy''. In 1996, Warner Bros. and the International Marine Ma ...

— 35 million in career earnings *

Moose (dog) Moose (December 24, 1990 – June 22, 2006) was a wire-hair Jack Russell Terrier who portrayed Eddie Crane on the American television sitcom ''Frasier''. Early life Moose was born on Christmas Eve, 1990, in Florida, the youngest littermate. He ...

— $10,000 per episode *

Crystal the Monkey Crystal (born May 6, 1994) is a female tufted capuchin monkey and animal actress, acquired and trained by Birds & Animals Unlimited, Hollywood's largest supplier of animals. Her acting career began as a baby monkey in Disney's 1997 film '' Georg ...

— $12,000 per episode *

Bart the Bear Bart the Bear (January 19, 1977 – May 10, 2000) was a male Kodiak bear best known for his numerous appearances in films, including '' The Bear'' (for which he received widespread acclaim),Prettyman, Brett"Utah's Bart the Bear: Hollywood star, ...

(1980–1990) — 6 million in career earnings * Higgins (dog) (1974–2000) — 200 million in career earnings

References

{{reflist Ethically disputed business practices towards animals Pets