In Norway, dog ‘locker’ keeps pets safe while owners shop for groceries

In Norway, pet “lockers” outside a grocery store now offer dog owners a way to keep their canine companions safe and dry while they get their shopping done.

According to In Defense of Animals, approximately 5 million family pets go missing each year. No wonder, then, that a pet “locker” has popped up outside a Norwegian grocery store, offering dog owners a way to keep their canine companions safe and dry while they get their shopping done. Spotted by Swedish designer Henrick Eriksson recently outside an Oslo grocery store, the Hundehiet (translated roughly from Norwegian as “dog burrow”) gives consumers a safe, lockable place in which to keep their dog while they shop. Pricing, according to Eriksson, is NOK 10. How the Hundehiet units are kept clean and disease-free isn’t entirely clear, and a search for other details about the shelters — including who operates them or how they’re kept cool in summertime, for example — was fruitless. Nonetheless, it’s an intriguing premise, particularly as pet theft becomes an increasingly common problem. One for inspiration! Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann