Should Pet Sitters Get Background Checks?

March 9, 2015

When you send your children to school, all the people they come in contact with- educators, teachers’ aides and support staff have had through background checks. Everything has been done to ensure the safety of your child.

Your animal friend is a special part of your family, and deserves to be treated with excellent care as well. They count on you to provide them with safe handling and healthy environments.

What Does a Background Check Show?

Background checks can be performed by many different sources, and show a lot of valuable information. Depending on the depth of the search, the following information can be provided:

  • Criminal History
  • Employment History
  • Education History
  • Credit History
  • Moving Violations
  • Drug Testing
  • Sex Offender Registry
  • Identity verification (Date of Birth, SIN, Addresses)
  • and more...

While a portion of a background check is not significant in the selection of a responsible dog walker, there are some items you would want to know: criminal history, drug testing history, placement on the sex offender registry. Driving violations are important if the individual will be picking up your pet. You need to know as well that your pet will arrive at the veterinarian safely.

How Does a Background Check Protect Me and My Pet?

Having a background check is one way of ensuring that the individual you are hiring can be trusted. A background check would give you peace of mind if you are considering having the sitter stay at your home. Knowing that the individual has never had charges of breaking and entering or theft, will give you confidence that you have hired a person with integrity. It is always a good idea to do a thorough interviewto get a sense of the individuals background and personality as well, which can help you in your final decision.