Animal Aunts may come from any walk of life and be aged from 21 to over 80, what they all have in common are integrity, honesty, a love of animals, and the knowledge / experience to care for them. Many Aunts work virtually full time with animals both through Animal Aunts and for their own clients - they are in fact professional house and animal sitters. Because 75% of the fee goes directly to the Animal Aunt they are able to make a living (albeit modest), and do the job they love.
Animal Aunts are self-employed and as such we are not under any obligation to offer them work, and they are not under any obligation to accept a job offered - this means that we are confident in any Aunt who comes to you, and that they are keen to care for your house and animals.
Approximately 30
people a week enquire about becoming a petsitter (Animal Aunt) for us in spite of the fact that we
have never advertised for staff. We actually take on 3-4 of these each week.
After an initial conversation to determine if they are likely to be suitable we
send a registration form to them to get full details of their background,
experience with animals, and four referees names for us to write to. We write to
each of the referees not only asking them to confirm the honesty / integrity /
skills of the applicant, but also for anything that may make the person
unsuitable (drink, drugs, severe financial problems, previous behaviour etc.)
We do no
t use
any person until we have received all four references. Approximately 4 people
per week are selected to come to our office for a three hour interview /
briefing. During this we explain carefully exactly what house and animal sitting
involves, and what we and the clients expect of them. A lot of the briefing is
devoted to passing on our experience so that they not only avoid mistakes, but
positively thrill and delight their clients. We also find out from each
candidate in detail their knowledge and experience of each type of animal, and
any preferences / dislikes they may have (i.e. like large dogs, allergic to
cats, top class rider with experience in dressage etc.). All this information is
logged on our database so that if the candidate is accepted as an Animal Aunt we
are able to match the client's requirements exactly with the skills of an Aunt.
In the rare event of an Aunt's work not being up to standard we will no longer
offer them work. From January 2003 new applicants
have had to provide a
Police check .
The daily rate depends on the animals that are involved in the job - ring us on 01730 821529 with details and we will give you an immediate quote. Animal Aunts take 25% (+V.A.T.) of the quoted fee as an agency fee which is payable in advance to confirm your booking (we can now take credit card payment by phone). The remaining 75% is payable directly to your Animal Aunt on your return. The Aunt will give you an invoice for this plus any other costs.
Other costs:
You also pay the Animal Aunt travel expenses (40p / mile or public transport costs). Because we have so many active Aunts we can normally get someone from close by and hence keep these to a minimum. Please discuss the amount when your Animal Aunt contacts you and agree on a mutually agreeable amount. If your requirements are very specialised or your booking last minute at a busy time it may be necessary for your Aunt to come a long distance - we would ask you to pay travel expenses in full - remember Animal Aunts do not earn a large income.
Please leave approximately £7 / day for the Aunt's food - they will keep an account of the money used and return any change. Where a couple are caring for your home you only need provide food for one of them.
If an Aunt is required to stay on the property 24 hours per day, then Clients will need to pay an additional £20 per day (4 hours @ £5/hour) directly to the Aunt in lieu of time off.
If there is someone else living in the property during the Aunt's contract there will be an additional daily fee payable directly to the Aunt. (see condition 10 in Terms & Conditions)
Animal Aunts cannot care for children or for adults where any nursing is required.
Many Aunts have talents and abilities in a wide variety of fields and many are willing to undertake extra tasks for their Clients. Please remember when asking your Aunt to do extra tasks during your absence, that they must be paid accordingly. Please make sure the Aunt is happy to do what you require (if they do not wish to or feel they do not have the required skills please respect this) and come to an arrangement with your aunt at the beginning of the booking.
Clients should have normal house and contents insurance in force. Any valuables should also be insured against accidental damage. Please see the Terms & Conditions - particularly condition c. for the Aunt.
We have arranged a group policy that Animal Aunts can purchase through us. This policy covers them for up to £2,000,000 against their negligence, and we do not offer them work unless they take out this policy. The Animal Aunt is not liable for breakdown / damage due to normal wear and tear.
Some household insurance policies become void if the householder is away for more than a specified number of days continuously. Please check your policy if going away for a lengthy period, and check that having a housesitter will enable you to remain fully covered.
In spite of the care we take to match your requirements to a suitable Animal Aunt, if for any reason you are unhappy, even at very short notice please ring us and we will find someone else. We want you to go away 100% confident in the person caring for your home and animals.
Before you leave your Animal Aunt will go through the checklist with you - please fill in emergency numbers for vet / plumber / electrician / burglar alarm(+ codes etc.) and family / friend. Whatever the emergency the Animal Aunt will deal with it quickly and professionally and let you or the emergency contact know ASAP.
Occasionally due to sickness, family emergency, injury etc. an Animal Aunt may have to leave a job. The Aunt can contact Animal Aunts at any time 24hrs per day - we will immediately get another Animal Aunt to take over. Your home and animals will not be left unattended, and we will inform you or your emergency contact ASAP.
Please try to inform the Animal Aunt as soon as possible so that if they have another assignment to go on to we can arrange temporary cover for you. We will not leave your home and animals unattended.
We can usually find someone even at very short notice.
Animal Aunts only hold your information for core business purposes and never pass this information on to any third party. You have the right under the Data Protection Act to have a copy of any information held on you. We protect our computer systems from unauthorised access using up to date firewall technology.
Please ring us on 01730 821529
Smugglers Cottage, Green Lane, Rogate, Petersfield, Hampshire, GU31 5DA
