Is it reliable to let strangers feed cats at home?
The service level of new door-to-door cat feeding needs to be improved
□ Sun Tianjiao, a trainee reporter of this newspaper
□ Our reporter Chen Lei
Put on the disposable shoe covers, enter the password to unlock the door, take out the key under the doormat in front of one of the bedrooms, open the door and enter the bedroom... After doing this series of work, Xiao Qi finally sees the room tentatively from the bottom of the bed The kitten with its head sticking out—that's exactly what he's meant to serve.
Immediately afterwards, Xiao Qi began to prepare cat food, shovel cat litter, and take out a cat stick to play with the kitten. The whole process took about 20 minutes.
Finally, I reported the situation to the cat owner, and he ended the job of feeding the cat at the door this time.
In recent years, with the rapid development of the pet economy, emerging services such as door-to-door cat feeding have emerged as the times require.
A large number of young people like Xiaoqi provide a whole set of services for home feeding, cleaning up feces, and playing with them in the form of part-time jobs.
More than 20 cat owners who were interviewed by the "Rules of Law Daily" reporter all said that they had enjoyed the door-to-door cat feeding service through friend introduction, pet hospital recommendation and other channels, and will continue to choose this service next time if necessary.
"The door-to-door cat feeding service saves cat owners a lot of worry and meets their objective needs, but there are also some hidden risks that cannot be ignored." Experts interviewed by reporters believed that, as a new service, door-to-door cat feeding services still There is room for further improvement, which can be regulated and improved by setting industry standards, regulating network platforms, and strengthening market supervision.
The pet economy is booming
The rise of door-to-door cat feeding services
In fact, door-to-door cat feeding services are becoming the choice of many cat owners.
Liu Yuan (pseudonym), who lives in Dongcheng District, Beijing, is full of praise for the door-to-door cat feeding service.
On the first National Day holiday after adopting a pet cat, he originally planned to send the cat to foster care, but found that the triple list of cat vaccinations could not be found, and foster care needed to provide these certificates.
In desperation, he learned that the door-to-door cat feeding service is relatively simple. He only needs to provide his home address and sign an online contract to place an order, so he decisively chose the door-to-door cat feeding service.
He was very satisfied with the experience of accepting the door-to-door cat feeding service for the first time. The door-to-door cat feeding service he chose was introduced by a friend.
After the door-to-door cat feeding service became more and more popular, many cat owners also began to provide door-to-door cat feeding services for others.
The first time Xiaoqi came into contact with door-to-door cat feeding was before the Spring Festival in 2019. At that time, he was going to leave Beijing to go back to his hometown for the New Year, but there was a problem in front of him: when he went home, who would feed the two cats he raised?
He originally considered fostering in a pet hospital, but the familiar pet hospital was closed for the New Year, and he was also worried that after being sent to the pet hospital, the two cats would not be able to adapt to the new environment.
When Xiaoqi was in trouble, a doctor from a pet hospital told him that he could provide door-to-door cat feeding services: he would come to the door for about half an hour every day to help add cat food and drinking water, clean up cat litter, and play with him. Leave on your own, if you are worried, you can make a video of the whole process.
Because the other party was a veterinary doctor he was familiar with, Xiao Qi chose the door-to-door cat feeding service with the attitude of giving it a try, and left the spare key to the other party.
During the Chinese New Year, the pet doctor will come to Xiaoqi's house at almost a fixed time every day, and complete services such as feeding cats, changing cat litter, and playing with him as agreed. He will report to Xiaoqi when he enters and leaves.
Since then, Xiaoqi has chosen the door-to-door cat feeding service many times, and actively joined the team that provides door-to-door cat feeding service part-time.
Xie Hongfei, a researcher at the Law Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that home feeding services have their own necessity and room for development, especially during holidays, when pet owners are not at home and cannot take care of pets, and they are worried that pets are sensitive to the environment and do not choose to foster them elsewhere , the door-to-door cat feeding service was born, which is the result of the spontaneous operation of market value.
"Service providers who come to feed cats should have relevant skills, such as understanding the basic situation of pets, being familiar with various pet foods and corresponding feeding methods, and mastering the skills of using cat litter."
The service process is similar
Low threshold and lack of standards
Yueyue, who used to work in Beijing, has been providing door-to-door cat feeding services part-time for more than two years. She has raised 4 cats herself, and is recognized as a "little encyclopedia" for cat raising in the circle of friends.
More than two months ago, she left Beijing to work in Qingdao, Shandong, and she still provides door-to-door cat feeding services to several familiar netizens during her breaks.
Yueyue said that the door-to-door cat feeding service she provides mainly includes feeding cats, changing cat litter, playing with them, etc., but the specific content depends on the needs of cat owners.
"For example, some guests will ask to open the windows for ventilation, and some guests will ask to play with cats with specific toys. These must be communicated in advance."
"Doing this business can not only make my cat more money for cat food, but also can 'catch' cats in other people's homes. It is a very happy thing." Yueyue said that because of the door-to-door cat feeding service, she came into contact with Many loving cat owners have also seen many cute kittens.
"As far as I know, the people who provide door-to-door cat feeding services are basically all part-timers." Yueyue admitted that there are still many areas that need to be regulated in the door-to-door cat feeding industry, and the uneven quality of service providers is one of the important problems. .
She said that she had met a very unprofessional door-to-door cat feeder. At that time, she was just about to go out. She had a face-to-face with the door-to-door cat feeder and found that the other person was a man in his 50s who was holding the cat. The method is very unprofessional, and I have never raised a cat at first glance.
Only 10 minutes after entering the door, he finished feeding the cat perfunctorily, without any emotion to play with or take care of the cat, "makes me feel very uncomfortable".
Another time, when she came home from a business trip, she saw that the door-to-door cat feeder mistook the alcohol she bought for disinfection as water and poured it into the cat's drinking bowl, and she could not contact the other party afterward.
"Fortunately, the smell of alcohol is pungent, and the cat did not drink it, but the cat did not drink water all day. That person is really irresponsible." Yueyue said.
Li Mu (pseudonym) is a doctor at a pet hospital in Changping District, Beijing. In his spare time, he also provides door-to-door cat feeding services for some customers.
He told reporters that some of his pet doctor friends privately provide door-to-door cat feeding services.
"Nowadays, there are many people who provide door-to-door cat feeding services in the name of pet hospitals or institutions, but in fact, they are just like us, just accepting 'private work'. As far as I know, regular veterinary hospitals do not provide door-to-door feeding services for customers alone. Cat service." Li Mu said, because there is no need for special qualifications to feed cats, and there are no barriers to entry, so they are currently in a mixed state. "There are people who really love cats and understand cats, and some are just to make some money", and even with bad intentions.
In this regard, Zhu Xiaojuan, deputy secretary general of the Business Law Research Association of the China Law Society and associate professor of China University of Political Science and Law, believes that the simple cat feeding service is not a service with high technical content. In principle, no qualification is required, but from the perspective of protecting natural persons, relevant vaccinations should be required. , to prevent risks.
However, with the expansion of the number of employees and the development of the industry, the entry threshold should be continuously improved.
Legal risks cannot be ignored
Service specifications need to be improved
So, is it safe for cat feeders to enter the private realm?
Ms. Zhao, who lives in Chaoyang District, Beijing, owns a cat and usually chooses to feed the cat at the door. However, she always changes the combination lock on the door before and after the service staff comes to the door, and tries to find someone she is familiar with.
Sometimes, she also asks the other party to turn on the mobile phone and live broadcast the process of feeding the cat to the door in real time.
"After all, there is no one at home when they come, and there are still belongings in the home, which is inevitably worrying." Ms. Zhao said.
Not only customers may have concerns, but also the cat feeding service staff.
Yueyue told reporters that she would sign a "Yueyue Home Summoning Form" with customers in advance, considering that she would need to enter other people's homes to feed cats, and she would have to touch other people's special belongings such as cats. The two parties will reach an agreement after understanding the situation and then implement it to avoid subsequent disputes that may arise.
Li Mu once met a customer. After he completed the door-to-door cat feeding service, the customer refused to pay on the grounds that he was not satisfied with the service, and he couldn't do anything about it. "It's just that I will charge a deposit in advance."
"The door-to-door cat feeding service involves issues such as pet safety, private property security and personal information protection, and there are potential legal risks." In Xie Hongfei's view, the door-to-door cat feeding service is one party entrusting others to provide professional services such as door-to-door feeding according to its own needs. Form a service contract legal relationship.
The nature of this contract should be defined as a contract of acceptance, and the provisions of the Civil Code concerning contracts of acceptance should be applied.
Zhu Xiaojuan also believes that entrusting strangers to enter the house to provide cat feeding services risks damage to the client's property, as well as other possible property or personal losses.
From the perspective of protecting their respective rights and interests, they should clarify their respective rights and obligations and their responsibilities for breach of obligations by signing an agreement.
In the event of property damage, pet injuring people, or disputes over the payment of goods, they shall be liable according to the contract. However, in the case of property damage or pet injuring people, there is a co-existence of infringement and breach of contract. The way to maximize protection.
Zhu Xiaojuan suggested that, first of all, start with the formulation of industry access standards, strengthen industry self-discipline, improve the credit supervision mechanism, and make the industry's services based on evidence; Responsibility and relief mechanism; finally, when entrusting a cat feeding service person to provide services, the principal should also perform the necessary duty of care and carefully examine the other party's character.