What is it like to provide door-to-door service for 20 pet cats a day?
Yang Xiaomeng, a post-90s Beijing girl, said: "Sour and happy."
Before and after the Spring Festival holiday this year, Yang Xiaomeng was very busy: after waking up in the morning, she started running around in various communities in Chaoyang District, Beijing, climbing countless floors, shoveling feces and feeding the pet cats left at home alone. Even fed 20 cats a day.
Even if you go to get off work after the holiday, continue to provide services for pets who are still behind after work.
In recent years, with the expansion of the scale of family pets, consumers have put forward more demands for segmented services in the pet industry, and pet home feeding services have emerged.
Because of their simple job content and strong demand during holidays, many young people have taken up part-time jobs for door-to-door feeding, and they are also called "pet specialists".
As for why they do this job, the reason given by many young people is very simple, "like pets, willing to take care of them".
Isn't the job that can make money and play cats and dogs "sweet"?
Yang Xiaomeng works in a human resources company in Beijing.
She told a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that before she came into contact with this new business, she sold blind box dolls on a second-hand trading platform. "I accidentally saw that there was a job demand for pets to feed pets on the platform. My family has three dolls. Cats are also experienced and can try it out.”
Her boyfriend thinks that Yang Xiaomeng has a great "obsession" with home feeding of pets, and since she started taking orders during the National Day in 2021, she "couldn't stop".
"Even if I was very tired the day before, I still have to get up and continue the next day, and even go home at 3 o'clock in the middle of the night."
Yang Xiaomeng believes that it can not only play cats and make money, but also solve the worries of pet owners when they go out. "Isn't this kind of work delicious?"
Recently, the reporter followed Yang Xiaomeng to experience a door-to-door pet feeding.
Enter the password to enter the pet owner's house, and the cat named "Cheese" will "welcome" it.
Yang Xiaomeng skillfully checked the cat's eating, toileting and health status, while taking pictures of the pet owners and sending them.
After washing her hands, she began to distribute food, shovel feces, simply clean the cat's living area, and then sent the post-service photos to the pet owner for confirmation. In the next time, she could interact and play with the cat.
"The pet owner will hand over the house key or tell the combination lock code in advance, and will also tell where the pet food, treats and cat litter are. I only need to bring plastic bags, disposable gloves, disinfection spray and other supplies, which is a personal Protection, but also to prevent cross-infection between pets. These tasks are very simple, so there is no threshold for entry, just to see if you have patience and love." Yang Xiaomeng said.
Like Yang Xiaomeng, Zeng Ni, a post-95 Changsha girl, also spent a busy Spring Festival holiday.
She told reporters that on the busiest day, she got up at 6 in the morning, first went to a house to walk the dog, and then fed the cat from house to house according to the route planned in advance, and didn't return home until after 8 pm. 8 orders, because some customers live far away and wait for a long time for the bus, which takes more time.”
Every time she came to feed, Zeng Ni would also take a video to record her work. After posting it on social platforms, many netizens left a message saying "healed by cute cats and dogs".
She also felt that this work was "very healing", "watching other people's pets from being vigilant to lovingly lying beside you, I felt their trust, and I was very happy and enjoyed it."
The reporter browsed social platforms and second-hand trading platforms and found that not only during holidays, but also young people who can provide pet door-to-door services for a long time in major cities across the country, with a single price ranging from 20 yuan to 90 yuan. Distance, pet type and quantity, etc., to determine the final service price.
"The price will be high during holidays. Basically, customers who place an order will book multiple services, such as once a day or the next day. If the pet is sick, aggressive or other special circumstances, the order is generally not accepted." Yang Xiaomeng It is said that there are still some door-to-door feeding service apps. After the platform is registered, they need to be billed according to the platform standards. Through such professional platforms, they can also distribute service orders that cannot be taken care of to other peers.
Work depends on "character" and "consciousness", but pay attention to hidden risks
As an emerging service, many people will ask questions before placing an order: "Is it really safe to let strangers into my home?" Yang Xiaomeng said with a smile: "I am also worried about my own safety when I enter a stranger's house, but I am afraid that the other party is more worried about me. He steals cats, after all pets are part of the family now."
In order to avoid risks, Yang Xiaomeng and Zeng Ni will clearly write the service agreement on the order page, "the whole process can be video, it is recommended that the owner also have a camera at home", "please put away valuables" and so on.
In Yang Xiaomeng's view, this job requires trust from both parties. "There is also natural trust between pet owners. I have not noticed whether the owner will turn on the camera, but I will not touch other people's things at will." She also mentioned that "if you are worried, you can provide a copy of your ID card."
However, Zeng Ni felt that it was not convenient to disclose the ID card information, but a written agreement could be signed in advance.
"The two sides will add WeChat for daily communication. From the circle of friends, you can get to know a person roughly, and some guests will ask to meet in advance. When handing over the keys, you can also check whether the other party is reliable."
However, there are also some experiences that make Zeng Ni "uneasy".
When I took the order for the first time, the other party was a man and asked her to come to the house in advance for handover. "I was very scared at the time. I called my friend in advance, and kept the call while I went to the guest's house. Fortunately, the other party was only in the end. Tell me in detail where the food and cat litter are." Another time, because of the large number of service orders that day, she lost a guest's key, "I apologize and discuss with him how to solve it."
Yang Xiaomeng mentioned, "Sometimes there is a situation of co-tenancy. After entering the room, there may be co-tenants. At this time, I will be more worried."
Does such a job relying entirely on "character" and "consciousness" hide more risks?
In this regard, Zhang Ying, a lawyer from Beijing Gaowen Law Firm, analyzed that accepting or providing door-to-door pet feeding services, like other social industries, will also have legal risks.
"Because of the lack of understanding between the two parties, although the cost of such services is not high, once an accident such as property loss occurs, it will bring a lot of trouble to the parties. Strangers feed pets, and disputes over animal damage are also prone to occur. Door-to-door feeding staff If you do not have rich experience in animal breeding, you may be bitten or scratched by pets when feeding pets. At this time, although employers are thousands of miles away, they may still have certain legal liabilities. The risk cannot be ignored, once there is a transaction conflict, personal information such as address may be illegally leaked, causing more trouble.”
In this regard, Zhang Ying suggested that you should try to choose a service provider you are already familiar with. If you have to choose a stranger, you should try to choose a formal intermediary platform, and learn as much as possible about the identity information and credit information of the other party.
Under the premise of not violating the law, installing monitoring and other equipment inside and outside the house can better observe and record the service process of feeding personnel.
Try to use electronic door locks, so that you can remotely control the door switch and prevent the physical key from falling into the hands of strangers.
For pets that are not very docile, lock them in a cage in advance to avoid pets hurting people.
In addition, she also mentioned that if you provide door-to-door feeding services to others in the name of an individual and receive labor remuneration, it may involve paying personal income tax.
"According to the "Individual Income Tax Law of the People's Republic of China", the income from labor remuneration and salary income obtained by resident individuals belong to the concept of comprehensive income, and individual income tax needs to be calculated on a consolidated basis according to the tax year, and is applicable to an excess of 3% to 45%. Tax rate. If the feeder is registered as a self-employed industrial and commercial household, its income can be regarded as business income, and the excess progressive tax rate of 5%-35% is applicable. The individual income tax needs to be calculated on an annual basis, and the taxpayer shall pay the tax within 15 days after the end of the month or quarter. Submit tax returns to the tax authorities and pay taxes in advance; complete the final settlement before March 31 of the year following the year in which the income is obtained. In short, if there is income, it is likely to involve tax payment.”
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Meng Peipei Source: China Youth Daily
February 22, 2022 Edition 07