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I am sorry if I dissappoint those of you who truly believe you are doing the right thing by crating your dog, but I have to say yes to this debate, I do believe it is cruel, and a bit like putting your dog in prison.

You may well reply that your dog happily goes in his/her crate, but of course it is only to please you isn't it?

Your dog may also "happily" retreat to it's cage in order to escape the children, or the other dog or the cat, but it should not have to do this, each dog should have it's own bed, a comfy one too, where it can go and relax in the knowledge that it will be left in peace, not a cage.

He /she does it because that's what you trained him/her to do.

My son says it is like a cave for a dog, but I have never seen a cave with a doorway that shuts behind you when you go in.

My biggest concern is the amount of time that dogs end up spending in their crates, as people happily go off to work and leave them for hours on end in a cage that's often too small to even turn around in. No water to drink either, how sad can it get.

A lot of dogs these days are fed on dry food and really need access to water all day, not just first thing in the morning and then several hours later when you get home from work or whatever.

I am not saying you should give the dog the run of the house especially a puppy who will chew when bored or because of teething. There is a big difference between a barrier to restrict a space and a cage with no space.

I have seen cages set in the house porch way and often wondered what was to gain from the cage, why couldn't the dog just be left in the porch with a little bit of extra freedom and a bowl of water. I don't consider it a particularly good place to leave a dog anyway unless it has been draught proofed, our dogs feel the cold and the draughts just like we do.

You may then say that a cage is a good idea in the car, maybe it is, but I ask myself how I would feel to see my dog crushed in the event of an accident, or trapped because she couldn't get out of her cage. A guard has got to be a better idea, restricted but not trapped, freedom to move and to escape if absolutely necessary.

I feel that any form of cage is unnatural for a dog, and if it's unnatural then it borders on being cruel. Dogs are supposed to be our best friends. Would you shut your best friend in a cage and leave them there while you went out or over night?

Would you want to be shut in a cage that's not much bigger than you, no water, no room to stretch, trapped from all

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