Must watch: Doggie day-care to solve pet obesity?

It’s old news that the British are stupidly soppy when it comes to their pets. But research by veterinary charity the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), claiming that more than one in three dogs in the UK is overweight, shows that soppiness in the form of an extra portion in exchange for pouchy-eyed and drooling devotion, is more likely to result in the early death of said beloved pet.

The food-is-love approach to caring for pets is increasingly prevalent, with 50 per cent of UK dogs likely to die early due to obesity according to the PDSA’s warnings. And people are, understandably, getting worried about their prize pooches. Today almost as many column inches were given to the subject in national newspapers as to the revelation that pregnant women risk an obesity epidemic by submitting to the age-old-adage of “eating for two.”

In 2005 (the last available stats) Britons spent more than £1.4 billion on cat and dog food. The average cat owner spends an average £476 a year on their pet, including veterinary bills, food and toys. The trade in pet life insurance is booming. Veterinary surgery (not mention bills) has come on leaps and bounds, with demands for canine heart surgery, cat cancer treatment and animal hip replacements. In short, we no longer feed household animals scraps from the table and take them for a walk if they’re lucky. Instead, animals are prized and valued members of the household, who incur costs accordingly. But in spite of this, we humans seem to be getting it wrong – especially in urban areas – with pets’ waistlines following the expansive route already trodden by their owners.

America, which last year spent a whopping $45 billion on its pets, has come up with a rather mollycoddling, yet creative, solution. A brand new trade in “doggie day-care” has sprung up. Owners can now drop their pampered pets off to the equivalent of a nursery school every morning, to prevent them from getting lonely and chewing up the sofa. Pets are treated to nap time, eating time, and kept trim and toned on walkies with their peers – all of whom have to be interviewed prior to admission. Their anxious owners can even chart the progress via webcam throughout the day. “Only in America!” I hear you cry. Hmm, don’t be so sure.

Animals are being increasingly anthropomorphised by their owners; turned into replacement children, dressed up in little coats and jackets and packed off to expensive “puppy pre-school.” The importance people place on their pets, while in some ways laudable, is actually a little frightening. The idea that their dog might actually graduate to doggy junior school doesn’t sound too absurd. Or that it might just pipe up in perfect English that actually it doesn’t much like Pedigree Chum and might it be possible to try an organic brand?

The PDSA’s scheme to tackle concern about fat dogs even follows these humanised lines. It has set up a Pet Fit Club, a six month diet and exercise programme, vowing “to recruit some of the nation’s porkiest pets to give them a new leash of life” – something which sounds not dissimilar to weight watchers. So, next time you think Rover is veering on the wrong side of cuddly, why not take him down to your local town hall on a Wednesday evening and see if he can become the biggest “loser.” It might just save his life.

Get a glimpse of doggie day-care in the below video:

Photo credit: Sandy the dog before and after photo, PDSA

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