10 things to know and love about Pets
At Accent Inns we love animals, we really do! Staff love to meet and greet guests’ furry, and sometimes not so furry, companions and show them to our designated pet-friendly rooms where pets and their owners can relax together. Heck we even donate a percentage to BC SPCA every time you’re pet stays with you!
In North America, there’s no doubt we love our pets. In the U.S. pet owners spend almost $60 billion a year on their animals and in Canada the figure is close to $7 billion.
Here are ten facts about animals that are sure to surprise you.
- Not surprisingly the first domesticated ‘dogs’ were actually wolves that had the aggression bred out of them. All that happened some 15,000 years ago in East Asia. But did you know dogs were domesticated before sheep, cattle, pigs and horses. Perhaps we humans needed companionship more than easy food?
- The oldest known breed of dog is thought to be the Saluki, once considered to be a gift from Allah. They are the supermodels of the dog world, tall, skinny and attractive. They date back to 329 B.C. and were kept by Royal families as pets.
Saluki Breed
- Like big dog breeds? If so, you’ll love Zeus, the tallest dog in the world, a Great Dane standing 3’ 8” tall (111.7 cm). For those of you who really wanted a horse.
- If you prefer something more, well, purse sized, Brandy’s the dog for you; a Chihuahua she measures just 6-inches from nose to the tip of her tail, she is the world’s smallest dog. Paris Hilton would love her!
- If you’re more of a cat person and nothing is too good for your kitty, then you might have something in common with a British guy, Ben Rea who left his cat Blackie over $12m via three cat charities so he would be well looked after. Accent Inns of course will ensure your cat is well-cared for during your stay for substantially less than that!
- The most paid for a cat was $24,000 (a Californian Spangled Cat). It appeared in the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book of 1986. Obviously cat-alogue work pays well!
- If you’re wondering how long your best friend might live, the oldest living cat was approaching 27-years old in October, 2014. Her name is Tiffany and she lives in California. However she has a contender from Britain called Tuppence, who her owner claims is one-year older. Apparently Tuppence has been run over an amazing 25 times – that’s almost three times her allotted nine lives!
- If you’ve ever flown with your pet (and we see lots at our Vancouver airport location) you will know that it takes; planning, foresight, and sedation especially if your cat is not a good traveller. Smarty who regularly flew between Egypt and Cyprus clocked up 92 flights before she died. One wonders who got all the frequent flyer points?
If you’re dog has ever run off and disappeared you’ll understand how upset the owner was when his labrador-boxer cross disappeared while he was working on a farm in Western Australia. It all worked out though when the dog turned up at the guy’s old house more than a year later after travelling over 3,000 kilometres across Australia! So, if your dog goes missing call the last Accent Inns you stayed at – your dog might have felt so at home she decided to pay us another visit.- Last but not least, for those of you who might like to travel with a different type of pet like Medusa, please be aware that we’re happy to welcome dogs, cats and birds- in- cages but we respectfully limit it to those. Medusa is a python, to be precise a reticulated python and she is the longest snake in the world at a couple inches over 25-feet and weighs a staggering 350lbs. To give you some idea of how big she is, it took 15 men to hold her at full length so she could be measured for the Guinness Book of Records. If you do decide to buy a python, consider how you plan to feed one – Medusa can eat an entire deer in one sitting!
Show us how much you love your pet this Valentine’s Day and enter our “I love my pet photo contest”. Contest closes February 13, 2015
Mike Wicks
Douglas, YAM and Salt Magazines