Continental caters for all passengers, great and small

Continental Airlines has introduced the country's first airport pet kennels at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, KPRC Local 2 reports.

The 1,100 square-foot facility is open 24 hours a day throughout the year and caters for all types of pet, from common household animals like dogs and cats to slightly more unusual breeds, such as ferrets.

The unique provision has separate areas for the different kinds of animals it houses, including exercise runs, grooming areas and secure shelters.

"This is a great facility while they're making their connection," Continental's pet product development manager, Lisa Schoppa, told the television station, "be it four hours, five hours, six hours; they can spend their layover time here in the kennel".

Schoppa listed some of the more obscure guests they have catered for: "We've had chinchillas. We've had birds, lab mice, anything that might come through and need to be handled in air conditioned protection," she said.

The airline claims it transported 86,000 animals in 2005, 70,000 of which went via Houston. The carrier expects that figure to rise to more than 100,000 for this year.

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