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Living in a country where crating a dog is illegal, except during transportation, under animal welfare legislation, I have not previously needed to consider this issue. I am appalled that the majority of articles and votes claim crating a dog is not cruel. I find it very hard to believe that so many people can think imprisoning a dog in solitary, in a very small cage where they can't even pace, could be anything but cruel. Similar containments were used in the harshest human prisons of the past, as the worst possible, non-corporeal punishment of prisoners; doing so these days would severely compromise the prisoner's human rights.

Using a crate with a fixed open cage door instead of a doghouse is not a problem. But the only time the crate door should be closed is when the crate is being transported. Even then, crating is still cruel, but it is a necessary cruelty for the safety of the dog, and possibly that of the transportation staff in the vicinity. As soon as the crate arrives at its destination, the door should be opened and the dog freed from the crate. This should be doable, because all necessary arrangements for receiving the dog should have been taken care of prior to his or her arrival.

At no other time should a crate door be closed. If you move so frequently that you feel it necessary to train your dog to become habituated to a crate to ease the dog's anxieties when being transported, then quite simply, if you care for dogs at all, you shouldn't own one. Your lifestyle is clearly unsuited to dog ownership, either give up your dog(s) or change your lifestyle to a dog-friendly one. Anything else is just selfish. If you have a spouse and children as well, very seriously consider changing your lifestyle, or occupation if that triggers the moves. The nomadic lifestyle is only appropriate for children, and dogs for that matter, if the nomadic group is large, not just a nuclear family.

If you are using a crate to contain your dog while you are at work, presumably you do not have a fenced backyard or are unable to give him or her the freedom of your abode during your absence. Sadly, if you do not have dog-friendly accommodations, you should not have a dog. Imprisoning them while you work is not an ethical solution; anyone who does that has no right to call themselves a dog-lover. In New Zealand, doing so would be illegal, contravening the Animal Welfare Act 1999, and could cost the transgressor up to $25,000 in fines and/or a maximum of six months imprisonment.

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