When you’re going away and need someone to care for your pet or animal, it’s very easy to think, “I’m sure someone will be happy to help.”
A quick post on Facebook or a message to friends can produce plenty of offers. Some may come from professional pet and animal carers, while others come from well-meaning people who simply love animals and are happy to lend a hand.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to help. But perhaps we should all stop and think for a moment before making an arrangement that involves someone taking responsibility for another person’s animal.
Would you be this casual about your children?
Imagine you were going away and needed someone to look after your children.
Would you put a post on Facebook asking if anyone could take care of them, and then accept the first offer from somebody you knew little or nothing about?
Almost certainly not.
You’d want to know who they were. You’d want to know whether they were trustworthy and suitable. You’d want to know what experience they had and what arrangements they had in place if something went wrong.
I’m not suggesting that your pet is the same as a child. But for millions of people, their pets and animals are much-loved members of the family.
So why can we sometimes be much more casual about deciding who will look after pets?
Good intentions aren’t enough
The person offering to help may genuinely have the best intentions.
They may love animals. They may have kept pets themselves for years. They may have looked after a friend’s cat, rabbit or guinea pig before and think, “How difficult can it be?”
But loving animals isn’t necessarily the same as being prepared to take responsibility for someone else’s animal.
What happens if an animal escapes?
What happens if it becomes ill or injured?
What happens if medication needs to be given and something goes wrong?
What happens if an animal causes an accident or injures another person or animal?
What happens if property is damaged?
What happens if the animal dies unexpectedly while in their care?
These aren’t things that most people think about when they casually agree to feed someone’s cat, look after a rabbit, check on some birds, care for a dog or take responsibility for any other animal while its owner is away.
The risks aren’t only for the owner
There’s another side to this that is often overlooked.
The person agreeing to provide the care may also be taking on responsibilities they haven’t really considered.
If something seriously goes wrong, being able to say “I was only trying to help” may not make the consequences disappear.
Depending on the circumstances, there could potentially be financial, legal or insurance implications.
Likewise, the animal’s owner may assume that everything will be fine simply because someone has agreed to help.
Neither party may have considered what happens if things don’t go according to plan.
And that’s the problem.
Good intentions don’t remove responsibility.
Professional doesn’t automatically mean perfect
Of course, using a professional pet or animal carer doesn’t guarantee that nothing will ever go wrong.
We professionals are human too.
But a genuine professional understands that caring for somebody else’s animal is a responsibility. We have considered things such as appropriate insurance, emergency procedures, terms and conditions and what happens if an unexpected situation arises.
As professional we will discuss the animal’s individual needs with the owner before agreeing to provide care.
That’s very different from simply saying, “Yes, I’ll look after them.”
Think before you hand over responsibility
For owners, the message is simple.
Before handing responsibility for your animal to somebody else, take a little time to find out who you’re trusting.
Ask questions.
Check their experience.
Find out what arrangements they have in place if something goes wrong.
And don’t be afraid to walk away if you aren’t comfortable.
For people offering to care for somebody else’s animal, the message is equally important.
Before saying yes, think carefully about what you’re actually agreeing to.
You may be doing somebody a wonderful favour. But you are also accepting responsibility for a living animal that somebody else loves.
Your animal deserves a little more thought
Most people wouldn’t be cavalier about choosing somebody to care for their children.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be cavalier about choosing somebody to care for our animals either.
And if you’re the person offering to help, don’t assume that because you mean well, there can’t be consequences if something goes wrong.
Before making the arrangement, stop and think.
Who are you trusting?
What responsibility are you accepting?
And, most importantly, is the animal going to be in safe and capable hands?
Because good intentions are a great starting point.
But when another person’s animal is depending on you, they shouldn’t be the only thing you rely on.
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