Animal Habitat/Kennel

This chapter is concerned with the temporarily animal habitats known as kennels. More specifically it examines in detail the three major components (planning, construction, and operation) that determine their success and their value for all the stakeholders involved (in order of significance: animals, animal owners, and kennel owner). In terms of kennel planning, a relatively complex process, the chapter presents the three determining dimensions (location of the facility, its size, and administrative/planning rules and regulations), which include several factors that should be decided upon before any facility is established. The ultimate control and practical confirmation of a kennel’s planning is its construction and in particular its design and the building materials that are presented in detail. As for the operation of a kennel, which is multi-layered and multi-factored: first, it requires all involved in its operation to work together harmoniously and mainly there is a series of important activities that the kennel owner has to provide and which include: keeping the kennel clean (the most basic feature of a kennel), animal inspection (to prevent health and safety problems), animal feeding (requiring a good knowledge of the nutritional needs of the animals), animal hygiene (responsibility for the health and the proper treatment of the animals), and the identification of animal health problems (recognizing and first respond to diseases, disorders, accidents, etc.).