Studies Find That Outrage Increased In The Period Between August 2005 And August 2007

As a Sunday Styles piece, it’s a convenient way to mollify fickle offspring. In the hands of the New York Sun, it’s one of the most disturbing trends to hit our thoroughly debased culture:

For New Yorkers without the time, space, or willingness to commit to owning a dog, a new share program launching in Manhattan next month offers pets for rent.

Singles who don’t own pets but want excuses to chat up dog lovers at city parks, for example, can break the ice with Jackpot, a midnight-black Labrador retriever billed as a “happy dog who loves everyone,” who can be a best friend for a month, a week, or an hour.
While researchers tout the positive impact of spending time with pets, the rent-a-dog program, FlexPetz, is seen as a “shocking” development by veterinarians, dog trainers, and longtime pet owners. Veterinarians say renting out dogs could inflict permanent damage to their psyches, as multiple owners could muddle their understanding of loyalty.

“The whole point of having a dog is having a relationship,” a veterinarian and health director of the doggie day care center Biscuits & Bath, Deborah Sarfaty, said. “It’s not like wearing a piece of jewelry. Dogs get attached quickly and then it’s lifted away from them, which is cruel.”

. . .

FlexPetz members pay a monthly fee of $50, a “daily doggy time charge” of up to $40, and a yearly membership fee of $250. The dogs, most of which Ms. Cervantes and her team adopt from local shelters, are put through extensive training before they are sent into homes. Members also go through a rigorous screening process, Ms. Cervantes said. The dogs, most of which sleep at day care centers when they’re not working, can be delivered to a member’s home or office for $18 a trip.