Dog kennels face soaring demands from holiday-makers

Sarah Dickinson Dougal the dog on a pile of yellow leavesSarah Dickinson
Sarah Dickinson said she had struggled to find a kennel for her cockapoo Dougal

Dog owners are having to change their holiday plans due to a shortage of kennels, it is claimed.

More than 3.2 million pets were bought during lockdown, but at the same time a number of kennels closed.

Since travel restrictions lifted, dog owners said they were struggling to find spaces in the kennels that remain.

Kennel owners Steve and Holly Osbourne from Wiltshire said they were turning away as many as 10 to 15 dogs per day due to a lack of space.

It is a complete about-turn for Mr Osbourne who found lockdown difficult.

"We had no income coming in during Covid, we had to dip into our savings, and I took a second job as a delivery driver," he said.

Their kennel is now fully-booked until October.

'Crisis point'

Sarah Dickinson from South Marston, Wiltshire, said she found it difficult to find a kennel space for a weekend.

"I was supposed to go home to Ireland to see my family, we phoned our regular kennels, but they can't keep up with the amount of dogs they have," she said.

"This year people are booking kennels way in advance, so people like me who want a night or a weekend away at short notice are struggling."

Dog with a football
Kennel places are at a premium for football-mad dogs like Jasper

Lynne Hoyle, from Happy Dogs Kennels in Brinkworth said she was sympathetic about the plight of dog owners.

"When Covid came along we were out of business.

"Nobody was going on holiday, nobody was going to work, so kennel-owners left the business and went to find other jobs," she said.

"It really is a crisis point at the moment, and there's no quick fix."

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