When you board your pet at an ABKA accredited boarding kennel, you know that you are dealing with a pet care facility that complies with all of the "Standards of Excellence" required by the ABKA Voluntary Facilities Accreditation (VFA) Program. This is the only pet industry program which enables participating boarding kennels to demonstrate their commitment to exceptional pet care.

The VFA Program is administered by the American Boarding Kennels Association (ABKA), the international trade association for the owners and operators of commercial boarding kennels, and offers you, the pet owner, the comfort of knowing that the accredited facility you are using has earned the ABKA "stamp of approval" by successfully completing this comprehensive program.

Boarding kennels that participate in the VFA Program must submit detailed information on their animal care procedures and business policies to ABKA. They must also open their facility to an on-site inspection by trained VFA evaluators, to verify compliance with the standards of excellence that the program specifies.

The program standards include over 200 detailed requirements for boarding kennels that were developed by ABKA over a five-year period. These standards reflect the views of kennel operators, veterinarians, pet owners, and humane organizations and thus represent the current "state of the art" in animal care and management.

What are the Procedures Involved
in the VFA Program?

Boarding kennels which enroll in the program must first submit extensive and detailed documentation showing that their business procedures and policies conform to the requirements of the VFA Program. When the VFA Committee has verified that all of the preliminary materials meet the program requirements, the applicant may then request an on-site evaluation of their facility.

The on-site evaluation is conducted by a VFA-trained kennel operator. When the evaluation has been successfully completed, and is in compliance with the program standards, a "Certificate of Accreditation" is issued to the applicant. But the process does not stop here! The program standards are continuously updated and the kennel must repeat the entire process every five years in order to maintain accreditation.

When you see the VFA Accreditation Ribbon in your boarding kennel's office, you can be assured that you are entrusting your beloved pet to the care of a dedicated leader in the boarding kennel industry... A boarding kennel which meets all of the industry standards for pet care.

How Can a Pet Owner Learn More
About the Accreditation Program?

Pet owners who would like to learn more about the VFA Program are encouraged to contact the headquarters of the ABKA for information about obtaining a full copy of the Accreditation Standards.