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| Teresa Cristina Carvalho and her shih tzu, Mel, checked out a room at Animalle Mundo Pet. “We’ll return when Mel is in heat,” she said. |
By Simon Romero, The New York Times, November 12, 2012
BELO HORIZONTE,
Brazil — Heart-shaped ceiling mirror: check. Curtains drawn against the bright
day: check. Red mattress: check.
The establishment that opened here this year has features that
demanding clients naturally expect from a love motel. Brazil, after all, is a
world leader in these short-stay pleasure palaces, which beckon couples for
trysts away from prying eyes with names like Swing, Absinthe and Alibi, and
design motifs like medieval castles or of the American Wild West.
But Belo Horizonte’s newest love motel stands apart from the crowd in
one crucial aspect. It is for dogs.
Animalle Mundo Pet, an eight-story enterprise
in an upscale district in this city of 2.4 million people, introduced its dog
motel alongside aisles featuring items like beef-flavored Dog Beer
(nonalcoholic), a dog spa with a Japanese ofuro soaking tub, and canine apparel
emblazoned with the symbols of the local soccer clubs Atlético Mineiro and
Cruzeiro.
“I adore the romantic feel of this place,” said Andreia Kfoury, 43, a
manager at a technology company who peeked inside the Motel Pet one recent
morning while she and her husband were on a clothes-buying spree for their
Yorkshire terrier, Harley. The couple, who are motorcycle enthusiasts, bought
about $500 worth of imported Harley-Davidson brand items for their dog.
“I’m definitely bringing Harley back here when it’s time for him to
breed,” a smiling Ms. Kfoury said. “He is very macho, and would be a hit in
this place.”
Whether dogs like Harley actually need a romantic curtained-off suite
to breed seems beside the point. Some dog owners simply like the concept of a
love motel for their amorous pets and are willing to pay about $50 for each
session, which Animalle will happily arrange. If it does not work out as
planned, some are prepared to pay even more for artificial insemination,
another of Animalle’s services.
The beehivelike atmosphere at Belo Horizonte’s pet megastore, which
employs a staff of 35 (not counting the veterinarians on call), points not only
to Brazil’s surging pet dog population, now about 36 million, but also to major
changes in Brazilian society after years of economic growth and shifting
demographic patterns. Similar stores thrive in other large Brazilian cities; in
São Paulo, a public hospital for dogs and cats has been opened; and some
plastic surgeons provide Botox injections for dogs.
Since an economic stabilization program was put into effect in the
1990s, per capita income has risen sharply in Brazil, to about $10,700 a year,
according to the World Bank, allowing people to spend more on pets. Families
have gotten smaller, with Brazil’s fertility rate declining to less than 1.9
children per woman, from 2.5 in the 1990s, according to government statistics,
giving pets new importance in many homes. And life expectancy has climbed to
73, from 67, in that time, adding to the years people may turn to pets as
companions.
The emergence of a middle-class Brazil, in particular, has led to a
rapid growth in services for dogs and their enthusiastic owners. In some
niches, Brazil surpasses the United States and other high-income countries: the nation is No. 1 in per capita ownership of
small dogs (weighing 20 pounds or less), with nearly 20 million, according to
Euromonitor, a market research company.
“I was tired of practicing law and saw that the dog market was taking
off,” said Daniela Guimarães Loures, 28, a Dalmatian owner who invested $1
million with her brother to open Animalle in July. Referring to figures
published in Brazilian trade magazines like Pet Business, she said pet shops in
the country generate more than $6 billion in total annual revenue.
To open the dog motel, the siblings leased a former children’s
hospital in Gutierrez, a leafy area of Belo Horizonte. They now offer lodging
for dogs and cats, a pet taxi that picks up and delivers animals, a dog cafe
selling delicacies like beef-flavored muffins, and a store selling specialty
products like Chic Animale, a perfume for dogs that is produced in Porto
Alegre, a city in southern Brazil. It sells for $40 a bottle.
While parts of the establishment cater to owners of cats, fish and
rodents like the Mongolian gerbil, the focus is clearly on dogs. Juliana Lima,
24, a psychology student who works at Animalle grooming and bathing dogs, said
that demand for the dog motel was robust, even though it was not yet clear
whether any of the coupling sessions were set to produce offspring.
“We’ve only been open for a few months,” Ms. Lima said, “and this is a
new thing.”
The dog motel taps into a certain fascination in Brazil with
short-stay accommodations for sexual activities. Brazil’s “motéis” (the
singular in Portuguese is simply “motel”) are similar to American motels in
that many are on roadsides and offer easy — and, some customers hope, anonymous
— access. But in this country, they share certain features, like their
architecture and thematic settings, with Japan’s renowned love hotels.
The dog owners filing into Animalle often cannot resist gawking behind
the blinds of Motel Pet. “The ambience here is lovely,” said Teresa Cristina
Carvalho, who showed her Shih Tzu puppy, named Mel (“Honey”), the
accommodations. “We’ll return when Mel is in heat,” she said, adding that in
the meantime she would buy her puppy a bottle of Dog Beer.
“Mel
gets agitated with so much stimulation, and needs to relax a bit,” Ms. Carvalho
said. “Come to think of it, I need some peace and quiet as well.”
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