Animal Welfare Is Not for Rent

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2009-12-02 11:00:00 UTC
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There's a Jim Beam commercial where men line up to rent puppies as a gimmick to pick up women. It's not like the commercial is promoting puppy rental -- the men come off as idiots and the rental booth is a lemonade stand caricature -- but the way advertising affects people, I'd rather not see animal welfare as part of the punch line. The creative team probably thought it was such an absurd idea that it could be funny without raising any animal welfare hackles. Maybe they forgot about the failed Flex Petz venture from a couple years ago.

Flex Petz sprouted in several major cities in 2007, offering pets for rent -- as if transferring the Netflix model to animals was an inevitable idea that had just been missing the right entrepreneur. The last thing that should define pet ownership is "flexibility." Pets are about commitment and trust, on both ends of the leash. Anyone who has worked in a shelter can tell you how damaging it can be on a dog not to have a family to bond with. I can only imagine how tough this was on the dogs bounced around every few days like a popular New Release on DVD.

Flex Petz claims that was not the case, that they were an innovative new model for adoption. Except their website says that "where possible, Flex Petz dogs are rescues or in urgent need of rehoming." When has it ever not been possible, in any community in the country, to find dogs in urgent need of rehoming? And, for those dogs, this so-called new concept has existed for ages: it's called fostering, and many local shelters already have such programs in place.

Notice the past tense in reference to Flex Petz. Following public outcry, legislators took steps to ban pet rentals. In July 2008, after a state law was passed in Massachusetts, Flex Petz closed its doors.

So many of our battles -- not just in animal welfare, but in all the Change.org causes -- are long and uphill. The policy is complex and fought by special interest groups; issues presumed dead are resurrected in careless commercials. But next time you're not sure if it matters whether you call your legislator or write your local news outlet, just remember that sometimes our officials do the right thing, and keep climbing.

Photo credit: Randy Son of Robert

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.
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