This company would train pets to be docile and sweet. People could come and try owning an animal on a limited basis. Basically, I see two applications. The first, and less used, would be for people considering getting a pet to do a "test-run" to see how they like it. The more common use would be a daily or hourly rental used to walk a pet through a park as a guise to meeting members of the opposite sex. Caveat: not to be used in conjunction with sheep prostitution.
-- ofersh, Jul 31 2000

Companion Dispenser http://www.halfbake...mpanion_20dispenser
[eagle, Jul 31 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Goin' Dot Com - the musical (SF, Summer 2005) http://www.goindotcom.com/plot.htm
The plot of this musical chronicles the rise and fall of a fictitious puppy rental startup. [jutta, Jan 18 2006]

Follow the Companion Dispenser link to a large rant-filled set of annotations to a similar idea. Most of the "You bastard!" rants were mine.

I've since become much more civilized.

Just one new exagerated emotion filled rant:

<rant>As a band (whose name I can't remember) once wrote: "We'll make great pets!"

Imagine human beings encountering an advanced alien civilization that gathers up us humans, domesticates us, and them makes us into pets. After a while we'd become quite happy. They'd meet our basic needs: finding a mate, preparing a steak, giving us a decent toilet, etc. Not a bad deal, really -- considering how stupid we are compared to our new masters. Slaves? Yes -- but well cared for ones. We're kinda like retarded children who need taking care of.

But then our new masters hire us out to make a quick buck. No longer do we get taken care of by masters who love us -- but by strangers who feed us only because their contract says they have to. No love, no long-term parent/child type relationship.

Poor little human puppy!</rant>

Thank you.
-- eagle, Aug 01 2000


Sounds a bit like my good old RENT-A-CAT idea. Ideal for people who have mice in their (old) house. Without a cat is nearly impossible to get rid of them. But where to rent a cat that is trained to catch mice?

ReindeR
-- rrr, Aug 01 2000


The band is Perry Farrell's misguided Pornos for Pyros.
-- ofersh, Aug 01 2000


Fully baked. They already have dog rental in Japan. It must be true, I saw it on TV.
-- brouhaha, Aug 02 2000


Japan has had this for years.
-- djang363, Feb 01 2003


HIRE-A-HAMSTER
-- benfrost, Jan 19 2006


A building I used to work in now has a rat infestation. Renting a clowder of cats to eat the rats seems like an idea, in the manner of renting a herd of goats to clear a field of brambles. What could go wrong?
-- sninctown, Feb 09 2025


Service available to all private-island owning billionaires and/or arch-villains:
WE LEASE THE KRACKEN!
-- Loris, Feb 09 2025


Don't worry, you can rent a pack of dogs to drive away the cats.
-- Voice, Feb 10 2025


I've seen what I thought were rent-a-pet places where you bring your kids to pay to play with the cats but looking it up looks like it was an adoption thing.
-- doctorremulac3, Feb 11 2025



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