From dressing their dogs in matching outfits to pushing them around in a stroller, New Yorkers are notorious for spoiling their four-legged friends.
But a new level of intensive pet devotion is popping up all over Manhattan: Businesses now allow pet lovers to keep an eye on their dogs even when they’re miles from home via high-def doggy cams.
“Many of our customers view their dogs as members of the family,” said Mitch Marrow, founder and CEO of The Spot Experience, a pet boarding and grooming facility with locations throughout Manhattan. “They appreciate the ability to use our webcam technology to check in and verify their dog’s happiness and safety while on summer vacation.”
A dog owner himself, Marrow decided to install doggy cams at his boarding facilities after experiencing less than adequate doggy surveillance elsewhere.
“All these people claimed to have these webcams and it was sort of like false advertising because you couldn’t see anything,” explained Marrow who has a St. Bernard and a bullmastiff. “I said if we’re going to provide webcams lets do it in a real way.”
Members of The Spot Experience can log in online and click between 16 different high resolution cameras positioned around their four pet boarding locations.
“The biggest advantage is transparency they provide,” said Marrow. “We have them set up in a way that isn’t misleading. There’s no hiding.”
For the more low-tech pet owner, there’s still always good old-fashioned spying.
“I know people who literally hide inside their bedrooms to spy on their dog-walkers,” said Scott Shatzer, who owns Your Spoiled Pets on Grand Street in Brooklyn. “A bunch of my clients have done it and it’s just a way to make sure that whoever you’re hiring is doing what you hired them to do.”
