How to Own a Pet in London?

Making fun of my inability to understand the English humor, my friend said he would take me to the only kind of comedy club I would enjoy one of these days. My detestation towards comedy nights was not secret, however I was intrigued to find out what he meant.

Despite my strong resistance, he decided to drag me to Camden Comedy Club, the 21^st of January. The event was free, you just had to turn up there at 7:45 pm “at least I wouldn’t spend my money on this comedy thingy”, I thought. The show started half an hour after this, and made me explain his overall persistence to take me there.

Natural Born Storytellers were about to narrate all about their favorite pet-related stories. My friend knew I’ve been dying to adopt a dog, since I moved to London. Although my often escapes to other countries along with my fear that a puppy would ruin the fluffy beige carpet that covers more than half of my flat, made it impossible. How easy is it though to own a pet, while living in London?

As you’ve probably realized by now, I’m not an expert on comedy, but Storyteller Bruce Cochrane with his story about Arrow, his redhead Hungarian Vizsla, was the best out of all of them, in my opinion. The two besties met in Cyprus, while Bruce was serving in the military and were inseparable since then. Afterwards, they moved together to Northern Ireland, where Arrow would never fail to make a fool of his boss by annoying the neighbors all the time. He continued by making some jokes about his home place, Tottenham, that I found a bit unsuccessful to be honest, but the puppy story was touching enough to make me forget about it.

The duo then moved to England where Arrow stole once a sandwich from a random lady; he sounds to me like a great supporter of the « sharing is caring » philosophy. The redhead, one-foot tall hyperactive puppy was Bruce’s constant companion for years, he never asked for more than his love and of course his full attention.

Another attention-seeker responds to the name Fuerte Ventura. And I’m not talking about the exotic Canary Island, but about the insta-famous black Shepherd Belgian/ Australian kelpie, with the 300 followers !

Fuerte Ventura, the insta-famous black Shepherd Belgian/ Australian kelpie with the 300 followers

After some research, I realized that many landlords don’t allow pets; so finding an apartment can often be a challenge. Landlords that allow pets can often ask for a higher rent. Fuerte’s owner, 24 year old, masters student Daphne, struggled a lot before she found the most appropriate place for the two of them. After 6 months without any results in her flat-search, she decided to put an ad on the internet stating that she would offer to give a double deposit since she owns a pet, just to reassure the owners that any damage to the flat will be fully covered. Therefore, although she rented the flat at the price advertised, her landlord gladly accepted the double deposit.

“Start to look as soon as possible you decide you want to move in with your pet”, she advised. Agencies and private landlords tend to be more understanding when having face-to-face contact, try to organize a meeting with the three of you, so that those puppy eyes mesmerize your prospective landlord.

Although having a pet is indeed a big commitment, not everyone finds it that restricting. “After adopting my dog, I have a stricter schedule in which I have to incorporate and balance both my work and my dog’s needs (walks, play-time etc)”. Daphne believes that a pet can actually be helpful with one’s schedule.

In case you’re a cat person though, Catnips has the solution for you, offering a range of services from cat sitting to cat behavior-consultation and grooming for your kitten.

“My passion for cats and my desire to change my career path led me to the idea of setting up a business whereby I can help other cat owners. There was definitely a need for mobile cat grooming in my area as well as an exclusive cat sitting service”, explains Anita, the cat-lover and owner of Catnips.

People working all day and wishing to go out at nights too, should seriously reconsider getting a pet since the poor animal does not deserve to be left alone all day. As long as I don’t own one yet, I can babysit anytime though!

By Yorva Tsiakara