Security Business Going to the Dogs
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MIAMI — Crime-plagued businesses in South Florida are increasingly hiring security guards whose bite is worse than their bark.
Agencies that rent Dobermans, Rottweilers and German shepherds as four-legged alternatives to “rent-a-cop” services are taking off, kennels and the dog rental services say.
Employing a security guard costs from $3,000 to $4,000 a month, but leasing a security dog is just $450 to $800 monthly, says Mary Guzman, who owns Metro-Dade K-9 with her husband, Tony.
“And the guard dog is more reliable--it isn’t going to slip off and visit its girlfriend,” Tony Guzman says.
The dog-leasing services are particularly popular at construction sites, where there’s no sense spending money on elaborate permanent security systems to keep out vandals and robbers who pilfer construction supplies.
Best of all, no health insurance premiums. “If the dog gets shot or sick, we replace it,” says Tony Guzman.
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