A place for your pet when you are busy, foster parent included

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: ‘Man never saves a dog; it’s the dog that saves man’ is a popular saying in animal friendly communities. When the world stayed invested with anxiety and depression, it was these little bundles of joy that made most people feel wanted and cared. Dogs have a history of being loyal to humans, something that is still untouched and resides within deeper bonds.

Speaking to Malessa Thomas, from a WoofPack which is a company that provides pet boarding, home sitting, dog walking and training services with side courses for humans to understand their pets better and courses that have helped many lonely work from home pet enthusiasts. ”Working for a multinational is stressful and I couldn’t afford to have pets of my own, so the idea of pet boarding sprinted through my mind and with the help of a close knit friend circle, we decided to offer pet parents with safer and a more diverse behavioural approach in terms of boarding and training.” The concept of pet boarding took a major spike during the course of the pandemic, many took to rescuing and adopting feral animals, which resulted in a boost of the number of pets adopted and now within every 2.5 homes, there lives a squishy pet. Anuja Gosh, a working professional that does home sitting as a side hustle said, “I provide home sitting services and before I take any bookings, I visit the pet and the parent. I purely do it for the love of dogs and cats. I usually start the boarding process by living with the client and caring for them. I am also familiar with their schedule and their diet.”She adds,” I have built trust with my clients and their caregivers over time and require a two week notice prior to any sitting requirements.” She also said that it is important for pet sitters to get vaccinated for rabies and pet parents should be upfront about their pets vaccination and neutering as this helps to maintain transparency and safety for both parties. However, this becomes integral when there are more than two pets. As per Malessa, there are no government designed rules to boarding or pet sitting, the kennel business is flourishing but it has also opened doors to many illegal and insensitive treatment of boarding pets. Many kennels in Bengaluru have been subject to unethical forms of breeding for monetary gains and regardless of adoption options many still resort to buying ‘exotic’ breeds at the cost of the animals' health. Veterinary experts say that every high breed dog is high maintenance and people who get these dogs have no real attachment and so their pets are prone to genetic disorders which lead them to their graves. The charges for pet sitting, boarding and home setting are comparatively higher than kennels. Malessa says that people attend training programs in Animal behaviour, pet care and training and a one day training program is also given to individuals considering the pet sitting culture. Pet boarding is a sophisticated channel where boarders take ample time to bond with pets and their parents and with a mutual understanding, this way notice their behaviours and look for new ones if any. The flamboyant nature of Indie dogs has also given animal behaviour enthusiasts a new test of knowledge and many have shocked pet parents and foster parents with their abilities and loving nature. This deeper stealth of understanding was made possible when the pet sitting concept started shaping in Bengaluru. This is a new way for many foster parents to bond with many animals and it also pays decently. Malessa said that there is no gatekeeping and that the unhealthy kennel system might sober down. Many big companies in the pet industry also provide these services and all individuals are highly skilled and trained to address the issues of the pet and the pet parent. She also said that first timers are usually paranoid about the safety of their pets or homes in the case of home setting, to such parents we provide highly experienced sitters. She also stressed on the protocol which is "strictly followed without failure or they are blacklisted".