After seeing on the news earlier today that the body of the missing realtor, Beverly Carter, in Arkansas had been found in a shallow grave it hit home that it could have just as easily been a pet sitter. Pet sitting is a career mainly consisting of women, many of whom are sole proprietors. It would be very simple for someone to lure one of us to their home or some other address under the guise of needing pet sitting services.
That is exactly why whenever we meet with a new client we always I always bring an employee with me so there are two of us.
Not only does this practice protect us, it’s also a benefit to you. By meeting with two people we have two team members who are familiar with your pets and the routine. If the primary pet sitter gets sick or is in a car accident there is someone else ready and prepared to step in.
I also do a reverse lookup of the phone number provided to see if it matches the name of the person we’re scheduled to meet. I check the address on Google Maps.
I’ve heard of other pet sitters that call their friend or significant other when they arrive at their destination so someone knows where they are and then they call them again when the interview is over and they are safely on their way. If they don’t check in within their agreed amount of time their person knows to start looking for them.
It’s sad that we have to take these precautions but the world is a much different place than it used to be. My heartfelt condolences go out to Ms. Carter’s family.
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