The Ark at JFK, an airport terminal being built at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, will provide first class service for traveling animals, including 24-hour medical care.
Construction of the $48 million, 178,000-square-foot terminal, which will include a swimming pool and suites with flat-screen televisions, is already underway,
reported CNN.
The terminal's developer, Racebrook Capital, calls the facility the "world's only privately owned animal terminal and USDA-approved, full-service, 24-hour, airport quarantine facility for import and export of horses, pets, birds and livestock."
"The animal terminal will set new international airport standards for comprehensive veterinary, kenneling and quarantine services," said Ark founder and Racebrook chairman John J. Cuticelli Jr.
The airport now welcomes most of the animals coming to the United States through the 10,000-foot Vetport, built in the 1950s,
according to The New York Times. There also are animal facilities near airports in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and San Juan.
Lachlan Oldaker, an equine specialist and a member of the Ark's architectural team, said the new facility will be state-of-the-art and "an enormous leap forward" in animal travel.
"The design allows planes to taxi directly to the building, so horses can be transported in a seamless fashion that reduces stress," said Oldaker.
The Ark will be split into an air cargo wing, a central administrative center with an anytime veterinary hospital and the main animal handling area, including a pet boarding facility,
reported the Horse Collaborative.com.
"(By) aligning the needs of quarantine with kenneling and elevating the experience for animals and their owners, our design team sought to create a comfortable, healthy environment for them all," said equine architect Cliff Bollmann.
Some on social media appeared excited about the Ark at JFK.
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