That’s true. I had two bad sits that I would have liked to leave if it wasn’t for the animals.
Not a sit I’d do, but mainly because it looks like too much work. The fact the dogs are rescued street dogs who’ve been given a home rather than pets doesn’t bother me, the utilities wouldn’t bother me. The HO’s response to the one sitter who didn’t give a 5-star is the actual biggest red flag for me.
@LiamSits
I’m currently sitting for an elderly cat in the most amazing townhouse on the borders of central London. The home is probably worth high 7 or low 8 million pounds. The home owner stated that while this property has all sorts of security she preferred someone to be living here while she was away.
It’s no different to property guardians that many vacant commercial or high value property developers use to secure the property while they go through planning etc.
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This is true @pietkuip. I was watching a report on major issues in New York State in the US where I believe if you prove you’ve been squatting in someone’s home for 30 days then the rightful owner can only remove you with a court order that takes months to get and can rack up some legal bill!! They even showed a property owner getting arrested for harassing the squatter!
Yeah of course security is one of the many services HO are receiving from a sitter but I’m certainly not interested in providing a free security service either exclusively or as the primary purpose of my sit.
And there would be nothing to stop a rogue sitter from doing just this also.
It happened with a guest of a leading property rental company in LA. The guest ended up staying in a Hollywood hill mansion rent free for years!
@LiamSits
You sound well travelled and possessing a lot of life experience. You are probably aware that in some countries (and to some people) a pet is not really a pet: a dog is a guard or a hunting dog always left outside with little interaction from its owner; a cat could be a barn cat always living outdoors.
Or they could have simply been rescued from the streets, so are not really used to the human touch and attention.
It’s an alien way of dealing with cats and dogs to me, but I cannot bring myself to judge their way of looking at things since it’s cultural.
Edited to add this link
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There aren’t rules about that. And like with all sits, skip the ones that don’t match your needs or preferences and maybe someone else will be perfectly fine with them. If not, the hosts won’t get sitters and will have to figure out an alternative.
There will invariably be people with different choices and ways of living, including ways you might not approve of or such, but that’s irrelevant to them.
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Except the sitters are quite obviously expats.
The overwhelming majority of sitters and HOs on this platform are either ‘western’ or from what could be termed the developed world.
I would never apply for a sit when I don’t agree with the way a pet is cared for by a HO.
I never apply for sits where dogs are crated, where dogs are left indoors alone for the whole day, where dogs are not walked regularly (unless they have a huge yard/property with lots of stimulation). I never apply for sits where the pets are not allowed on the furniture or given free range of the house.
And yes I’m free to judge people on how they treat their pets and animals in general. Curtural or not.
There’s currently an ongoing back to back sit with an absent HO in Taiwan in which the HO explains clearly the reason for her long absence and the need for good sitters for her beloved pets. She offers use of her car and doesn’t ask for contributions to utilities.
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There’s an El Paso sit for like 15 months, HO is being deployed.
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Believing that all people in all the countries in the “developed” world have the same views on how to keep pets doesn’t seem very realistic. It’s the equivalent of saying that people in Spain, Norway and Australia have all the same mentality and habits in regards to this. Coming from a European country myself, I can attest that this is not true.
As you have already repeated many, many times in your posts, you have your specific criteria in choosing your sits, as we all do after all. Most sitters don’t even consider sits that don’t align with their values, but the beauty of this exchange is that everyone’s values are different.
Some of us might find that crating a dog overnight is normal, others prefer not to have their fluffy, shedding dog on their couch and that’s fine too. Others might have read and learned that giving dogs free rein of the house is not a good idea. I personally don’t believe it’s a huge stress for the dog anyway.
I said I cannot bring myself to judge, I don’t mean to say that nobody should judge these people.
I invite you to look at this forum as a group of fine people who share the same interest. Nobody believes they are special, smarter, or better than the others. We are all trying to support and learn from each other, and vent when some situations are difficult. We don’t attack each other because we have different opinions
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That’s fine (I guess - I haven’t seen the listing) if everything is explained upfront in their listing and in their profile!
Of course it’s not. And it’s certainly not my belief so I wonder why you’re bringing this up?