Looking After Other Peoples animals

witchofwestwick

My husband and I are desperatly trying to reduce our mortgage. I've been reading this forum for a while now and have put into place also sorts of wonderful ideas. I am also now swagbucking, selling on EB and doing anything else I an think of to raise extra cash.


In January of this year we had to have our dog of 15 years put to sleep. We were devastated by this and are not in a position at the moment to get another.


Last week we were asked by work collegue if we could look after her dog whilst she was on holiday. She had to change her flight and her usual dog sitter could no longer do it.


Anyway we did and loved every minute of it.


This made me think other people must surly need there animals looked after on occasion and I feel that this is something we could do and earn a reasonable amount from and love every minute of it.


My question is I know we would have to pay tax and that is no problem I know how to sort that. But do we need to get permission to do this from anyone and do we need to insure ourselves? Where would I go to for the insurance as this surly would be different insurance to normal pet insurance. Would this be expensive?


I also wondered if anyone else on the forum did this and what is the best way to advertise?


Sorry for so many questions but it would be great to hear what you all think.

flicks

One of my nieces has just started doing this and so far seems to be making a bit of a go of it. Early days though.


Yes, you are correct that you would need to register as self employed for tax purposes although whether you initially make enough money to pay tax is another thing. You are also correct about insurance.


I can't imagine you would need to tell anybody else unless you are looking after the animals in your own home in which case I would imagine this may open up a can of worms regarding business use of your home but this is something I won't pretend to understand.


She just started out by advertising her business on Facebook and it's all been word of mouth since then.


Regarding the insurance side just google pet business insurance for starters and it will give you a bit of info about what you may need and you can apply for a quote online.

Dave_the_Ginger_Cat

If you google 'become a pet sitter' that will bring you loads of useful sites (and half a dozen dodgy ones) including insurance, general advice, and stories of folk who've done it


Great idea, and you'll do something you love that way.

We lost one of our cats this year and are currently fostering a naughty teenage mum and her litter of 4 (who are currently 12 days old), which is unpaid but enormously rewarding

the_matrix

I wish you good fortune.

Go for it girl.

He who dares wins.