If you have a pet that you occasionally need to board at a kennel, then please take two minutes to read this home security blog post.
On June 20, 2014, 20 dogs at a pet boarding facility in Gilbert, AZ. (a suburb of Phoenix) died of heat exhaustion after the air conditioning stopped working in the area of the facility housing the dogs. At the time this home security blog post was written, the incident is still under investigation by the Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff’s Office.
This tragedy may have easily been avoided if the pet-boarding facility had simply installed temperature detector alarms, power detector alarms and/or security camera surveillance in the area where the dogs were kept.
Temperature and power detector alarms notify a 24 hour alarm monitoring center if the power goes out, or if the temperature gets to unacceptable levels. The alarm monitoring center can then take appropriate action to remedy the situation.
Most of you are familiar with video cameras. They observe activity 24 hours a day in a defined area. Pet boarding facility owners could easily view what’s happening at their facility anytime on their smartphone, tablet, laptop or any web enabled device. These facilities could also allow for live steaming of the video to their website (it’s easy and doesn’t cost them any money to do if they have the cameras). That means pet owners could look in on their loved ones at any time, day or night!
Most pet boarding facilities are not staffed with people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Most are closed at night. Most are closed on holidays. That’s why there is such a need for temperature and power deterctor alarms, along with security camera surveillance capabilities, at all pet – boarding facilities.
Next time you need a boarding facility for your pet, use a place that really has pet safety in mind. Ask about temperature and power monitoring services and find out if they have security camera surveillance systems. Your 4-legged loved one will be glad you did.