JFK will open an all animal travel terminal called The Ark. This $48 million complex includes climate-controlled stalls with showers, hotel rooms with flat screen TV’s and even a mating space for penguins! Sounds plush, huh? It is designed to provide comfort and safety for the 70,000 animals who travel in and out of JFK each year, ranging from dogs and cats to horses, cows and even reptiles. The space occupies 178,000 square feet and is set to open next year.
An artist’s rendering of The Ark at JFK airport
“A lot of our design making is in collaboration with veterinarians and consultants to help minimize the amount of stress placed on the animal,” said Cliff Bollmann, one of the architects designing the state of the art space. And for dog owners, that means their pampered pooches will be treated to a pawdicures, a bone-shaped splash pool and even massage-therapy. All the while, pup parents can check in on their fur babies via webcam. But all of these luxuries come with a hefty price. An overnight for a dog will run $100, while transporting a horse can run up to $10,000.
In addition, there will also be a 24 hour clinic run by Cornell University’s veterinary college. And the design of the facility allows for planes to taxi directly to this terminal, therefore, reducing stress for animals like horses who often have to be shuttled to a second location to be held for boarding and exiting aircrafts.
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