Improvements Solid Pine Pet Crate Review

Due to a variety of reasons (including sheer laziness), I don't own a pet but I am crazy about animals nonetheless and probably know most of the dogs and cats in this area by name.  Some of my best friends own pets and I have taken an affectionate interest in these little four-footed people.  My Christmas list includes recipients who are covered with fur and so I have fallen into the habit of checking out what human beings are producing to enhance the lives of their animal friends.  So it was that I staggered onto a line of upscale (VERY expensive) solid pine pet accessories in the Improvements catalog.  What beautiful home would be complete without a Folding Pet Gate ($149.99), a Pet Toy Box ($99.99), Pet Steps for your pet to use whilst sneaking into your bed in the middle of the night ($109.99), and Elevated Dog Feeders ($119.99 and $159.99).   Some of this stuff would have looked nice even in a home without a pet but the crowning touch to all this appeared to be the Solid Pine Pet Crate which comes in two sizes (Medium - $199.99 and Large - $259.99). 

Handcrafted with a warm chestnut finish, this pet crate is designed to allow "Rover to use it as an interior dog house."  Such a device would also be suitable for cats or to keep a litter box out of the way.  I have noticed that some of my friends' pets seem to enjoy having a little corner of their own (as represented by a crate) and the feeling of security such a private little place tends to foster and often will voluntarily enter such a space on their own at bedtime.  Cats especially like hiding away here or there and so at first I was fetched with this idea.  However, I have some serious misgivings about the safety of this product.  This Solid Pine Pet Crate has been designed to "blend beautifully into your decor" and is really a pet crate which has been designed to "double as a very stylish End Table."  To look at this, you might not even realize a pet is locked in there.

That's what bothers me.

It sounds goofy, I know, but I think that a pet who was locked into this crate might be in danger of being overlooked or temporarily forgotten by temporary caretakers or even by a sick, stressed out, or otherwise distracted owner.  Nobody would mean for that to happen but under unusual circumstances parents have even accidentally left kids locked in cars, much less a pet who may be asleep in a crate which looks like an end table.  Let us consider the worst scenario -- that a fire might break out while the pet's owner is away.

If responding fire personnel know there is a pet in a burning home, they will try to rescue it but a rescue person rushing in is going to be looking either for the animal itself or a pet crate which looks like a pet crate.  Barring that, he or she will waste precious minutes looking under beds, through closets, etc. and probably will never think of checking out the fancy end tables in the living room for a pet which may be too overcome by either fear or smoke to cry out for help.

If you have been good enough to adopt a pet, you have probably compromised the odds that photos of your living room will ever appear in "Better Homes & Gardens".  You have opted for the more important things in life, which now include your pet who might be safer in a pet crate which looks like a pet crate.  I have attached a picture of another crate from "Improvements" which is also attractive (and just as expensive).  In this pet crate which looks like a pet crate, the beloved animal is clearily visible.  The crate has top and side doors, plus a front which can slide up and remain open like a garage door so a pet can enter or leave voluntarily.  It also is equipped with wheels and a handle to facilitate the removal to safety of a fearful, agitated animal from the scene of possible danger.

MY VIEWPOINT:

In spite of my misgivings about the Solid Pine Pet Crate, I still have given it three stars because it really is a beautiful piece of furniture and has great storage potential ... and gol' darn it, I still think that a pet would enjoy something like this under certain conditions.  It is the idea of the animal being locked into something that looks like an end table that bothers me.  I would feel a little differently about this if the pet could enter or leave voluntarily or if there was an engraved metal plate in a conspicuous place on the top which warned "Pet may be inside."

For further details about this and other products, visit ImprovementsCatalog.com.