Leave your pets with creches while travelling

Just a few years ago, leaving your pet pooch at a crèche meant returning home to find him infested with ticks and in bad health. But with pet lovers keen to give their furry companions the best of everything, even the crèches have risen to meet their expectations.
Rupali Bhatnagar, a teacher at a private school in Lucknow , is happy to find a place of her choice for her two labs.“I keep travelling to Delhi quite often and I have nine dogs, two labs and seven street dogs. While the street dogs can take care of themselves while I am away , the labs need extra care. However, in the past, I have had a few bitter experiences when I left my dogs at a crèche in Gomti Nagar some six-seven years back, when crèches were not professionally run. When I came back, my dogs used to be sad, depressed and sometimes injured too,“ says Rupali, adding, “But now the scene has completely changed. Crèches have become more caring and loving towards the pets they keep. They know the nittygrities of the business now.“
Agrees Alop Ghosh, a government employee and a dog lover, who also had a not-so-pleasant experience when he first left his dog at a crèche in the city some eight years ago. “Pet crèches have existed in Lucknow for a long time, but they were not as professional as they are now. Even now, though the number of such crèches is not too many , the trend is slowly catching up. There are some trustworthy animal lovers here, who take care of our dogs in return for a sizeable amount of money .
Cyrus, who runs a crèche for animals in Gomti Nagar for the past nine years, has seen the number of pets coming to him during summer and winter breaks double in the last two years.
“In fact, our crèche is full right now,“ he says. So what does he attribute the sudden surge in demand for pet creches?
“There has always been a demand for good crèches in Lucknow, just like in the metros, but it is only now that people have begun to see it is a good money-making opportunity .Also, people have now started spending money on their pet's care. A lot of people leave their pets with me even for short term travels on weekends,“ says Cyrus, who gets a complete checkup done from a vet before taking in any pets.
Vivek Sharma, who has been running one of the oldest pet care centres in the city at Sultanpur Road, says there's a perceptible shift in the way Lucknowites are caring for their pets now. “Just a couple of years back, people would leave their pets with relatives or dog trainers while travelling. There were several cases of depression among dogs in such situations. Why would someone take care of someone else's pet with the same love and affection that the owner feels? However, when you are paying a handsome amount to professionals to keep their pets, they take utmost care,“ says Sharma, who charges `650 per day for an AC.
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