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ffi hopeall of you enjoyedmy lastarticleand
world
to the "international"
# its introduction
ffi of pet sitting.As we all know,pet sitting
As I readthe comments
canbe veryintriguing.
members,it reaffirmed
from our international
my beliefthat we all have a common goal,
and that is to provideexcellencein pet sitting.
SusanneHolmene,ownerof RastaHunden in Kista,Sweden,is fightingan even
biggerfight. Manybenefitsaccompanypet
ownership-reducedstressand bloodprestheSwedsureamongthem. Unfortunately,
ish Padiamentdoesn'tsee these benefits.
"Accordingto the lRS, pet sittingis the
businessin
secondlargestmoonlighting
The View
:u
in
ln2007
for houseway
every
tax
reduction
Sweden.
a
Pets are not viewedthe same
i::'
il
hiring
many
Anyone
and
introduced.
holdserviceswas
country.This is very unfortunate
ut
ta,
lawn
til
this.
mow
the
to
lt
clean,
a companyto babysit,
membersare workinghard change
.:.:: isn'tan adjustmentthatwillhappenovernight, or carefor the elderlyreceiveda 50 percent
reductionin the tax from the government.
however-many are startingfrom scratch.
it
Pet-sittingand dog-walkingbusinesses
u
*:
Clara Matos Så, owner of Pet-Sittingin were excludedeventhoughtheseservices
ll
$l
Penalva,Portugal,reflectedon the problem were orovidedto householdsas well."
*
in her own country."Pets are legallytreated
This Susannehas been workingto changethis
as if theyare thingsin our Constitution.
Shehascontactedevery
meansthatthe ownersare freeto do whatever foroverfouryears.
padiament,
pets,
including
the minwithout memberof her
they want to do with their own
enterprise.
isteroffinanceandtheministerof
beingpunished!"
In 2010,the ministerof financeannounced
"lrishpeopleare very muchdog people,"said that dog walkingand pet sittingwouldnow
This decisionwas
ownerof MaowCare qualifyfor the reduction.
Alice Chau-Ginguen6,
"Whenever
people
that shortlived,though,as it was overturnedby
ltell
in Dublin,lreland.
I am a cat sitter,moreoftenthan not they will threeothermembersof parliament.
say'l don'tlikecats.'
. Susanneis not givingup.
"lrelandis very much behindon the animal
welfarefront comparedto other countriesin On a muchmorepositivenote,Anna Good'
the EuropeanUnion.Our animalwelfarelaw lad, ownerof ExeterPet Sittersin Exeter,
is dated (1911).lrish peoplestill generally Great Britain,said, "We are increasingly
see animalsmorelikefarmhandsthanfamily mad aboutour oets and the standardsfor
theircare are constantlyrising.
membersor companions."
lll
å:l
'i
: .,--
--
I
I
"ln our countrypets are viewed
likefamilymembers,
at leastin the
mi dd leto up p e rincomeareas,"
saidLeighDeWet,ownerof Home
Sittersin Brackenfell,
SouthAfrica.
"Petsare well caredfor and loved.
We seldomcomeacrossa pet in
badcondition."
Alice reiteratedthis sentiment."The International
membersexperipet-sittingindustryis growing, as encethe challengecompetition
'åiL:åffs'
thereare moreand morepeoplewho bringsabout as well.Amanda
have pets, especiallythe younger can attest to excellentservice Dgeneration. They care about their helpinga companystand out - Australia
pets a great deal. As people move from the competition.
E..ffill.r
arounda lot for work, they can't al---d.il
waysrelyon friendsandfamilysince "We do not see much serious I.!tBråzil
they may not live in the same city." competitionat all," she said. Esru
Up,Up andAway!
"All of the veterinaryclinics, K*
Ac c or d in gto our 2011 S tateof The recessionhas affectedAlice's kennelsand some pet shops
the IndustrySurvey,the pet-sitting business.In the lastfew monthsshe recommendus. We have been
Bahamas
industrycontinues
to growdespite lost two good customersas they left in businesssince 2007 and
thecurrent
economic
climate.
When lreland in search of new careers. have a very good reputation.
comparingthe averagesalaryin With this being said, her business We will alwaysbe firstand with
2007to 2010,it rose by $11,298. continuesto be stable and grows that comes a comfortablelead
Canada
The averagenumberof pet-sitting each year.
over any new businessthat
assignments
also increasedfrom
i'.\
may startup."
2,169in2007
to2,606in2010.This As you can see,the pet-sittingindusrepresents
a 20 percentincrease! try grows at differentrates in different Some areas have more comcountries.For some,it takestimefor petitionthan others, however.
"WhenI startedmybusiness
in2004, the businessto growandforthe pet- Clara has lots of competition,
the industrywas startingto grow.lt owningpublicto realizethe valuable especiallyin Lisbon, PortuGreatBritain
grownat a rapidrate servicesour membersoffer.
has definitely
gal's capital, and Susanne
overthelastsevenyears,"
saidKarin
facesher shareof threats,too.
Howland,ownerof PetsStayHome- "We had a slow start four years "There are so many persons
PetSitting
PlusinWinnipeg,
Canada. ago but now peoplehave heard of moonlightingin the industry r- Greee
this industry and have started to that they are almostputtingus
Am an d a An d e rson, owner of use it more frequently,as we now out of businessin somecities."
HomelyPetz-Dubai/Abu
Dhabiin have legitimatecompanieswho are she said.
the UnitedArab Emirates,
added protectedby insurancepolicies," t
1'9laq
"Pet-sitting
thefollowing:
is a grow- 'I Susannesaid.
Leigh isn't worried about
ingindustryinourcountry;howevel
competitionin South Africa.
we areconstantly
battling
illegalpet In Portugal,the localsare just be- "Competitionalways exists,
sittersandone-manbands."
ginning to realizethat pet-sitting mainlyaroundprice,but price
South Korea
servicesexist.Clara said, "l would alonecannotcompeteagainst
"Mybusiness
hasgrownaboveand liketo believethe pet-sittingindustry competency, experience, zztrNr-a
beyondovertheyearsandI believe is growing,but the truth is that the professionalism
and the desire
New Zealand
thereare severalcompanies
in the majorityof people who have pets to succeed.
maincities,"saidWendyMackay, are not yet aware of the kinds of
ownerof Pet SittersNZ in Stoke. servicesI offer."
"There are many pet sitters in
-EENewZealand.
SouthAfrica but few are orgaPoftugal
It's a Dog Eat Dog Worldnized and professional.Most
"ln my country,
we haveproventhat Figuratively, of Course
operate through the holidays
the needexistsandwe are stretch- Competitionis keen in the pet-sitting and then disappear.They exSweden
ingthisnichewideopen,"Leighsaid. industry.Providingexcellentservice ist as one-manshows. There
"Ourbusiness
isgrowing
weeklywith givesyourcompanyrecognition
and are, however, a few GREAT
newclientscomingonboardthrough an edgeoverthecompetition.lt also pet sitterswho havea genuine
repeatand referralbusiness.From givesthe pefsittingindustrya good desire to steward client's pets ;
......:
Singapore
August2010we expanded
by 60 name,whichplaysa hugerole in its and homes with a long-term L]clientsin lessthanfourmonths." continuedgrowth.
viewof the business.I haveno reh
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tr
l*l
I
#
NIZ
Zili--<
IE
tt
(r)
\-at-
E
H
n
;,!
rI
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w
--
SouthAfrica
lr**tinu*di
ldslv*.nb*rl'J***mi:*r
2*l 1 3l
M E M O Sicontin**cl)
/tm,44*1pnSwia,r
doubtthatto be a petsitterone must
love pets and the work. To market
oneself as a pet sitter is where the
challengeis."
And the Award Goes To:..
One of the questionsI asked contributorsto this articlewas to share
a funnystory.Theywere all greatbut
Leigh'stook firstplace.
the homeand headedfor the main
bedroomto turn off the alarm.The
house seemed cluttered,which
was not like my clientsat all. The
house was still dark, so I turned
the alarm off as the panelwas lit,
and then turned the liEhtson. To
my surprisetherewere my clients,
in bed and fast asleep.I got such
a fright and surpriseat the same
time and turned the light off as
quicklyas possible. Suddenlya
voicefrom underthe coverssaid,
'Who'sthere,'to which I replied,
'Santa.Go backto sleep.'
"On Christmasmorning I arrived
to feed pets at a home in our community,"Leighsaid."l had the keys
and set out earlyas we had a busy
morningahead.As usual I entered
"l left in a hur,ry,checked my diary
and discoveredthat I was a day
early.My clientsnevermentioned
this to me and I never mentioned
thatSantawas there.All waswell!"
Karen added, "We are always busy
with new and repeat clients,so if
we don'tsee it."
thereis competition
There's no better way to end
an article this time of year
than with a story about Santa.
From all of us at PSl, we wish
you happy holidays. Don't
forget to take time to enjoY
the season! K
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