Pack up your pets

20 July 2003

NEXT time you and your family head off on holiday, spare a thought for your pets. Did it ever occur that they may be in need of a little rest and relaxation, too? After all, even Fido needs an occasional break from all that sleeping, playing and eating.

Pettravel.com is an online database and booking facility aimed at pet owners who cannot bear to leave behind their beloved pooches, pythons or parakeets.

The site boasts more than 7000 members and features links to 16,000 pet-friendly accommodation providers worldwide, mainly in the Americas and parts of Europe, but also about 50 pet-friendly Australian hotels, motels, resorts and bed-and-breakfasts. "Those people who are really attached to their pets, and lots of people are, would no more think of leaving their pets behind than maybe leaving their child behind," said Jerry Hatfield, the site's animal-crazy creator.

"Especially since September 11, people are more reluctant to break up their family units, whatever that family is. Since that time we've seen a major increase in the number of people travelling with their pets."

Hatfield, 67, said hotels that accepted pets did so for several reasons, mainly financial. Pet owners who went on holiday with their animals tended to stay longer because they were not overly concerned about returning home.

Many hotels listed on the site also rely on the substantial income to be gained from the extra pet fees -- charges for care, grooming and animal foods.

And, claims Hatfield, who never travels out of his native Florida without Ruggles, his beloved, 15-year-old shitzu, "Pet owners are a little bit better class of customer".

"One New York hotel manager told me he would prefer a well-behaved pet staying at his establishment over a child because they don't run up and down the halls and leave marks on the walls," he said.

At his site, visitors will find myriad places to holiday, including a ski-resort in Lake Tahoe, US, that sells lift tickets for dogs and a Californian hotel that offers spas, haircuts and massages for its non-human guests.

"There are lots of hotels that really, really cater to pets, offering everything from a room service menu especially for pets to bedding and pet-walking services," said Hatfield, who started the site four years ago after trying to book a trip for himself and Ruggles.

There were so few establishments willing to house the duo and such a shortage of options that he started pettravel.com to save other pet-lovers the same ordeal.

In addition to pointing travellers towards pet-friendly accommodation, pettravel.com offers exhaustively researched articles and data on the relevant rules for travelling with animals in 105 countries -- everything from the mandatory shots needed to get your pet into Belize to the necessary documentation and quarantine periods in Bulgaria.

There is also information on various pet-friendly trips by boat, car and train, as well as pointers to Puppy Travel, an American travel agency that only handles people who travel with pets.