Pet set: Take a bow

Framed pictures adorn the walls of the rooms – single and double – while an air-conditioner keeps things cool. There’s even a coffee table by the bedside.

In addition, there’s room service, even house-keeping and that includes a daily laundry routine.

The ‘guests’ can check in for a day or, in some cases, even half a year.

Yes, the place may appear very much like a hotel, but there’s a difference – the ‘guests’ in question are canines and other pets!

Camp Bow Wow and Camp Meow, Dubai’s first pet boarding facility doesn’t cage animals, claims Emma Cresswell, a British expat who runs the kennel-cum-cattery from her five-bedroom villa in Mirdiff.

Emma, 29, has been looking after the pets for over a year.

“The idea came to me when I once put my dogs in a caged kennel facility. When I came back from vacation, they were all in a very distressed state. So I thought why not start a facility, where I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable leaving my pets. So that was the inspiration behind it,” said Emma, who refers to herself as the pack-leader.

Emma’s facility also doubles up as an animal therapy centre.

She uses therapeutic powers of pets to improve physical, emotional and cognitive functioning of people with disabilities and special needs through a concept called Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT).

“It has been around in the West for a long time. Back home we’d take dogs and cats to hospitals and special-needs facilities and get people to engage physically with them. You can show them the tricks these animals know or they can stroke the pets, or even brush them. These activities soothe and improve their coordination skills,” said Emma who used to teach human anatomy and physiology and is a qualified veterinary technician.

In order to ‘join’ the two ‘camps’, pet owners need to go though a screening process. “Since we don’t cage pets, we meet the animal and ask their owners to first fill out a form. The form is a way to gather information about their pets’ daily routine and making sure the pets have been neutered or spayed. A sleepover is then organised to see their compatibility with other pack members.”

Once the conditions are met, a pet can check in at the facility. “Since we don’t cage animals, the facility only takes small- to medium-size dogs,” Emma warns. The numbers too are controlled.

At any given point there are no more than10 dogs and a few cats at the facility. This does not include Emma’s own menagerie of four Chihuahuas and two cats.

Emma is passionate about what she does and wants to go big. To that effect she has been trying to engage various institutes and authorities to help her set up a large charity-based facility.

“The idea requires a bit of persuasion. The basis of this plan requires a plot of land on which to develop the various community projects that I have in mind. There could be a kennel, a separate building for AAT, may be even a swimming pool, where people under treatment could swim with pets. Hydro-therapy is really good for them.”

She doesn’t know how long or winding the road ahead is. But she hopes to one day land a piece of land in Al Khawaneej, where she dreams to set up the facility.

Emma's world

• Emma studied Islam in the UK and converted eight years ago when she arrived in Dubai.
• Her Arabic name is Eman. She prays as often as she can, and fasts during Ramadan.
• She wears an abaya, except when she is with the dogs. “I find out here, unfortunately, that people stereotype, and when they see me wearing an abaya, while I’m with the dogs, they think I would beat the dogs. I want to make people aware that Muslims are friendly towards animals.”

Contact:  info@campbowwow.ae

Website: www.campbowwow.ae