Leaving a pet for the summer is a hard task as many students cannot wholeheartedly trust someone with their pet’s life. Sophomore environmental science major Anna Rego has had multiple unpleasant experiences leaving pets with the wrong people. She has lost two close companions over the years due to trusting her friends with responsibilities they couldn’t handle.
Despite that most student pet owners would love to try and bring their pets along with them on all their summer festivities, that’s often not an option. Like Rego, many must look past their friends and find a pet sitter elsewhere.
When looking for a pet sitter on Craigslist or Yelp, be wary of the Internet persona they may exhibit. One may seem nice in their ad, but who knows what they are actually like. You would never want to put your pets in the hands of someone who could ultimately end up neglecting or even abusing them. Animal abuse is something that should be taken very seriously, but to some it can be seen as almost a joke.
Sydnie Jones, a junior accounting major, has grown up in a household full of animals that her and her family rescued. “One time we rescued a dog from a family where the young kids didn’t even know they were hurting her. They would pick her up by her tail and legs because they thought hearing her yelp was funny,” Jones said. She is not willing to put her dog under the care of just anyone. Because her summer is full of accounting leadership programs she has no choice but to fly her dog back home to live with someone she can trust: her mom.
Although Jones’ mom is willing to look after her pet, many people don’t have that luxury, but obviously still want someone they can trust. Some students take to Facebook in hope that one of their friends reply with an open heart, although what some friends often don’t realize is how much of a commitment pet sitting is.
Many college students grew up helping take care of their family’s pets, but never had sole responsibility. That sense of false confidence can often lead to problems, which can cause tension in the friendship.
“In the past couple of years I have trusted different friends with two of my pets, a bird and a fish, and they both died,” Rego said. “Both times were awkward situations and I haven’t trusted a friend with any pets since.” Instead of having to scope out the crazies on craigslist or trusting a friend who might not exactly know what they’re doing, finding pet care providers can be easy with websites like www.sittercity.com or www.care.com.
Upon visiting one of these sites and typing in a zip code for the Eugene or Springfield area you will see countless profiles for people, many of which are UO students, that are more than willing to look after a wide array of animals. The profiles will often have an excerpt about how many animals the person has owned, how much paid experience they have had, exactly what services they provide, etc.
These sites are the easiest way you can make sure that the person you are about to entrust with your pet’s life is actually qualified for the job. They may charge a little more than your friend would, but they also may know a little more about the job. When it all comes down to it you just want your pet to be safe and paying the extra dollar might be the only way to solidify that.