PROVO, Utah - (ABC 4 News) - Jenna Miller loves puppies so much, she came up with a business to help abandoned puppies find permanent homes.
"I hear about the overpopulation problem here in Utah with dogs and puppies, and you can't have dogs in most BYU housing. You're not allowed to have them live there, so I thought we could solve two problems at once," explained Jenna.
In between her classes, Jenna rents puppies.
"They set up a reservation and they rent it for an hour or two," Jenna explains.
On Monday, Mckenzie Fairclough's husband surprised her with Charlie.
"It's my birthday and I've wanted a puppy for a while, but we live in a place where we can't have one, so my husband rented one for me," Mckenzie said.
Carl Arky with the Humane Society of Utah has some concerns.
"It's the whole concept of renting puppies out, at a time when they need consistency and stability in their lives -- we're philosophically opposed to that," Carl said.
But Jenna said her business is here to help the puppies find good homes, and believes social puppies are healthier puppies.
"Sometimes at first they're really shy, and won't look at anyone. After they're rented out a few times, they'll lick anyone in the face, and go jump on them," Jenna explains.
But Carl feels differently: "We're a non profit organization that are concerned about putting animals in homes for the rest of their lives, whereas what you're talking about is a for-profit company that's basically concerned about putting animals into the homes for profit, for an hour."
While the puppies aren't being rented out, Jenna said the dogs live on a family farm in Orem, and it's never too long before they have a permanent home.
"We've had 100% success with adopting them by the time they're 12 weeks old," Jenna said.
You can rent puppies from Jenna for 15 dollars for an hour, or 25 dollars for two. If the renter decides to keep their new friend, the rent money goes towards the total adoption cost.
Puppies For Rent: 801-251-6022
