Are there animal welfare and safety rules Pet Sitters need to abide by?
Yes. We uphold the 5 domains of animal welfare. The Five Domains model is a framework used to assess animal welfare by evaluating four physical/functional factors:
- Nutrition
- Environment
- Health
- Behaviour
- Mental State
It focuses on minimizing negative experiences and actively promoting positive mental experiences, aiming for a life worth living.
When a pet is booked with you, you have a duty of care. Duty of care places a legal obligation on those in charge of animals to provide for an animal's needs in an appropriate way. The Animal Care and Protection Act 2001 includes a specific offence for people who fail to meet their duty of care obligations towards the animals in their charge. The maximum penalty for an individual convicted of a breach of duty of care is $36,570 or 1 year imprisonment.
For example;
- Never leave a dog in a car.
- Never walk a dog unleashed.
- Never leave a pet unattended tied up outside a shop.
- Prevent heatstroke by only walking dogs in the cool of the morning or late afternoon and hydrating them throughout the walk with clean water.
- Know which dogs in your care are Brachycephalic and have severe breathing difficulties, exercise intolerance, and heat sensitivity and walk them slower for shorter distances.
- Never take a female dog on heat out in public.
- Never take a guest pet to an off leash dog park as these parks are unpredictable and are well known for fights breaking out.
- Never drive or ride with a dog on your lap
- Never leave a dog outside in the hot sun with no shade or water
- Never leave a dog harness on longer than the journey its being used for
- Always use positive reinforcement through reward and never hit, choke, drag, torment, deafen or shock a dog to discipline them. Using citronella or ultrasonic bark collars are also not condoned.
- Always attend to minor medical issues promptly to prevent them becoming large issues. Seek prompt Vet attention for disease or injury.
- Feed a pet a balanced meal at least once a day. Ensure they always have a full bowl of water available.
- Don't force pets to endure fireworks and loud carnivals if it makes them terrified.
- Don't place pets in cages too small for them - EVEN if you are asked to by their Owner. Just say no. You have our full support.
- Always have a Meet & Greet as early as possible to ensure its escape proof and hazard free.
- Never leave two or more rescue dogs unsupervised together, particularly if they are newly acquainted. Create separate with barriers if you need to.
Sitters found to breach these values could be
prosecuted.