Retail Store : Ed's Pet Motel and Grooming Parlor

In The News!... Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

Winter Haven News Chief, 2000

By WILLIAM BYGRAVE News Chief

WINTER HAVEN –One of Winter Haven's better-known "hoteliers" hosted a counterpart from South Africa on Friday. Ed Snead, owner of Ed's Pet Motel on Avenue T, N. W., acted as host to Don Pugh, chairman of the Pet Boarding Association of South Africa when he dropped in for a brief visit while on a week's tour of U. S. boarding facilities.

Before Pugh and his son, Andrew, came to Central Florida on Tuesday, they began their tour in New England, stopping at kennels in Stamford, Conn., Oxford, Mass. and New fields, N. H.

In Florida, they visited kennels in Daytona Beach and Kissimmee. Ed's Pet Motel was the last stop before Pugh returns home on Sunday.

Was he saving the best for last?

Pugh laughed, "Well, that's the way it was organized by the American Boarding Kennels Association."

One thing that struck Pugh on his whirlwind tour was that the American way of running a kennel was different from those of his native country. "Yours are indoors and ours are more outdoors than in doors," he said. In South Africa, the animals sleep indoors and those kennels are generally bigger, he added. That's because South Africans generally don't take their pets on vacation.

"But we have a situation in South Africa where there's a growing tendency for owners of large pets to leave them at home to protect property. There's a high incidence of burglary." Pugh explained. He said large pets are good house sitters, adding "on the average, in cities people have two animals. Get out in to the rural areas, and it's five to seven pets per household."

Snead was asked by ABKA officials if he would be willing to help host Pugh's American tour. He told them he would be honored to do it, especially since Pugh is definitely someone who has traveled the farthest distance to see Snead's facility. "Mr. Pugh was only making a few stops, and that's why we were so enthused," Snead said.

Snead has been in business since 1971. "I was in a place downtown Avenue A. I stayed there for five year's,'' Snead said. Then he built his current "motel" on Avenue T. He has a capacity for 80 animals at one time and usually boards 30 to 40 each week. Customers come from as far away as Kissimmee, Plant City, Wauchula and Sebring. I worked for a local vet for 16 years at Myers Animal Hospital, where I started grooming dogs. I fell in Iove with it," Snead said. "I just love to work with animals. Sometimes they are much better than humans to deal with."

ln addition to Snead, there are four employees at Ed's Pet Motel.

In The News!... Page 1 Page 2 Page 3