A number of these temporary pet boarding places are even equipped with various facilities that have previously only been enjoyed by humans, including swimming pools and salons.
Yuliana Monica Petronela, operations manager of Dogs Ministry, said the booming pet hotel business is due to the increasing number of people in Indonesia who consider dogs or cats as part of the family.
“What I found in my customers, they consider their dog as part of their family, either their child or their sibling. So, really loved.”
It is not surprising, said the woman who is familiarly called Monica, that the pet hotel she manages is never empty of visitors.
“Last Eid 2024, our hotel fulleven to the point of over capacity. We service around 250 dogs.”
Mimi Savitri, a cat enthusiast who currently serves as a lecturer at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, confirmed that many Indonesians now consider pets as part of the family.
He even said that this is becoming a new trend, following the increasing news about pets on social media, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pet owners, according to Mimi, do not hesitate to spend hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of rupiah for the welfare of their dogs or cats. They no longer just fulfill the needs of food and drink for their animals, but also the physical and mental well-being of the furry animals.
“Because there is a strong bond between the owners and the pets.”
Mimi herself admitted that because of her closeness to her cat, this mother whose children are now adults calls her cat named Cika Cah Cilik.
The cost of boarding a pet at Dogs Ministry is not cheap. There are 3 types of rooms offered by the hotel in the Pluit area — superior, deluxe and suite, with prices ranging from Rp. 150,000 to Rp. 600,000 per night, depending on the type of dog and the facilities desired.
“That normal rate Yeah. If peak season different again. There is also holiday rate.”
This means that the price can be doubled, even though it does not include food for pets staying at the hotel. According to Monica, because of the different food demands of their clients, pet owners are required to bring their own food.
According to Monica, the price set is equivalent to the facilities provided. The hotel, which has been open since early 2020, is equipped with CCTV, air-conditioned rooms, a team of nurses (handlers) who are on standby 24 hours a day, a playground, a salon or grooming studio, and even a swimming pool.
Not only that, the hotel provides pets with the opportunity to play or socialize with each other twice a day, on-call vet facilities and regular reports to pet owners in the form of videos.
Due to the high interest in pet accommodation, Dogs Ministry is planning to open a new branch in the Jabodetabek area in the near future. For the location in Pluit, Dogs Ministry has a little over 100 rooms. However, the hotel also has more than 100 cages made of iron bars, which are also very popular at the moment. peak season.
Doctor Fadjar Ibnu Thufail, an anthropologist who has studied the relationship between humans and animals, said that in Indonesia, in general, the relationship between animals and humans has not yet reached the stage where humans consider animals as family members. However, the trend is starting to appear in the upper middle class, who are economically sufficient.
“The context is a bit different in some countries. In Indonesia, it’s actually more of a status symbol.”
The head of the regional research center of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Organization, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), said that pet owners in Indonesia are generally considered as people who have money. The pets owned are generally purebreds that are expensive and often entered in competitions. As a result, the cost of care is expensive and cannot be careless.
The owner of 33 cats explained that the relationship between humans and animals in Indonesia is different from that in Japan and the United States.
“In Japan, animals, especially cats and small dogs, are considered more as part of the family. Because people there generally live alone or are individualists. This is the same as in America, where animals are considered as companions or family members.”
However, Fadjar further said, the treatment of Indonesians in general towards pets in the future is not impossible to imitate what happens in Japan or America. Moreover, he said, more and more people care about animals and the trend of having pets is increasingly prominent in Indonesia.
Fadjar even saw that Indonesians, the majority of whom are Muslim, kept not only cats but also dogs — animals that have often been avoided because according to Islamic teachings they are considered unclean.
The fact that many Muslims keep dogs was confirmed by Monica from the Dogs Ministry, which generally only takes in dogs.
“We open for anyone. There are even many Muslim customers who regularly come to Dogs Ministry to play and leave their dogs.”
Dogs Ministry isn’t the only luxury pet hotel in the Greater Jakarta area. In Jakarta, there’s also Woof Avenue in Gading Serpong, which offers accommodation with a variety of play facilities, including a swimming pool.
In addition to receiving regular traditional care, pets there can try saunas, aromatherapy and be given oxygen capsules. Woof Avenue has 12 medium-sized cages and eight large cages, each priced at Rp 200,000 and Rp 250,000 per night.
For those who want their pets to roam freely in a safe environment, Dog Daycare Jakarta can be an option. In this hotel, there are no rooms or cages so dogs are encouraged to learn to socialize with other furry friends. Dogs who are left there can have fun in the grass-free playground, so owners can be sure that their dogs will not come home with fleas.
For nutrition, Dog Daycare Jakarta provides premium dry food or special homemade recipes. By mixing Oxyfresh Oral Hygiene with animal drinks, this daycare strives to ensure the health of the dog's mouth and teeth. Fish oil is also included in their diet to ensure the coat remains soft, shiny and healthy.
In the city of Bogor, which is a buffer zone for Jakarta, there is now Rumah Terraria. This hotel claims itself as an integrated dog entertainment venue. This hotel has a large field, a boarding capacity for 250 dogs, a swimming pool, a cafe, and a training area that provides comfort for pets.
For those living in the South Tangerang area, there is Joglo Dog Villa. This boarding place welcomes pets with open arms in its 2,000 square meter space. Like Dog Daycare Jakarta, Joglo Dog Villa allows dogs to roam freely and interact with their caregivers.
Joglo Dog Villa has three buildings in its complex that can accommodate around 30 dogs. The dog shelter is equipped with air conditioning, food, a large playground for dogs, and even shuttle transportation for an additional fee. Small dogs, usually will be charged Rp 85,000 per night, while larger dogs will be charged Rp 95,000 per night.
Monica herself admitted that the pet hotel business competition is increasing in Jabodetabek. However, she said, price is not the main consideration for consumers. Consumers take into account the cleanliness of the hotel and the skills of its handlers.
“The first thing is cleanliness. Because “If it's not clean, many things can happen, such as bacteria and viruses. Even though the dogs that are left have been required to be vaccinated, if it's not clean and smells, customers definitely won't want to leave their animals or come back again.”
Based on the results of a survey by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AMVA) released in June 2024, pet boarding is a lucrative business. Every year, pet owners around the world spend around 20 billion dollars on the accommodation needs of their furry friends.
In the United States, according to the AMVA, there are about 80 million pet dogs and 60 million pet cats. Americans spend about $140 billion each year on pet supplies, and about $6 billion of that is on boarding services.
The cost of boarding per night in the US is many times higher than in Indonesia. AMVA estimates that regular boarding places charge an average of Rp650 thousand per night, while luxury ones are around twice that, around Rp1-1.5 million per night. For your information, there is a pet hotel in the US that offers rooms for more than Rp3 million per night.
AMVA said the pet-sitting business in the US is not yet fully developed. Economists quoted by AMVA said the size of the business will more than double in the next 10 years worldwide, with the US leading the way with about 58% of the market.
Pet boarding places in the US usually only accommodate cats and dogs. However, some also accept other pets such as rabbits, or exotic animals, such as snakes and turtles. (ab/uh)
