ANIMAL boarding kennels in Doha are feeling the strain as they are overburdened with cats and dogs whilst families escape the searing heat and return to their home countries for the summer. The owner of Paws and Claws boarding kennels, Janet Berry explained that this year has been busier than any before, and that she is still receiving requests from expatriates now. “I could have fully booked the kennels four times over this year,” she said, noting that “July is by far the busiest month, as everyone seems to go away at the same time!” Berry explained that 80% of her client base is expatriate, and that even more are returning clients, with some 90% having used her facility before. This creates its own problems, as most of the customers leave for “a minimum of six weeks”, during which time their pets need more attention than usual, she said. The Paws and Claws facility has 13 kennels, but because many households have more than one pet, she is currently looking after 25 dogs. “I am now completely full, and I have had people who have had to cancel their holidays because they cannot get a place here,” she noted, adding that the consistent increase of customers over the years has led her to expand the facility, which will be growing next year. “Because of the significant rise in numbers, we will be doing a rebuild for next year, which will see our kennels double in capacity,” she claimed. Another method of animal care that expatriates are using includes having people move into their house for the duration of a trip abroad. A large number of people ask their friends to ‘pet-sit’ whilst they go home for their holidays, and they feel more comfortable leaving their pets in the home to which they are accustomed. However, the fact that Doha experiences something of an exodus in July means that even pet-sitters are hard to come by. Berry advised pet-owners hoping to board their pets at any time of the year to book at least three months in advance to ensure that they will be able to go on holidays “safe in the knowledge that their pet is being looked after whilst they are away”. GT

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