Does Mad Paws Police Check every Pet Sitter and Dog Walker?
No. Mad Paws use the ambiguous term, 'vetting' or 'vetted'.
Let's go to google and type in the words 'define vetting' and you will see that "Vetting is the process of performing a background check on someone before offering them employment."
However on the left hand side of the page it says to vet means to "make careful and critical examination of (something)."
Mad Paws' platform only checks that someone has a valid email address and valid mobile phone number. The line they use "...only one in four are accepted to become Mad Paws Pet Sitters." is borrowed from US pet sitting website, Rover, which we have not reviewed in this article.
Next, go to just about any pet sitter listing on Mad Paws. Like this one for example: https://www.madpaws.com.au/petsitter/bondi-nsw/anne-m-i-loves-small-dogs-and-i-am-based-in-bondi
Scroll all the way down to the bottom. It displays only Mobile verified and Email verified, no other form of Photo Identity is listed and there is No Police Background Check:
As per the above screenshot, this Sitter has no Professional Certifications or Qualifications either. Only checking a person's Mobile and Email is not "thorough vetting".
Mad Paws even say they only 'highly recommend' Pet Sitters get a Police check, but they don't make it mandatory. As per this helpdesk article, this screenshot was taken 1st Dec 2022: https://help.madpaws.com.au/hc/en-us/articles/4414322606745-How-does-Mad-Paws-verify-their-Pet-Sitters-
If you want a reputable Australian-founded platform that does actually Police check every single Sitter, then join PetCloud today.