China News Service, Chongqing, February 6th: "Left-behind" pets can celebrate the New Year with peace of mind and add human touch
Author Liang Qinqing
As the Spring Festival approaches, some people who have returned home have no choice but to leave their pets alone in empty rooms. How to keep their "left-behind" pets safely during the New Year has become a problem that troubles many people. Some people look for suitable foster care venues for their pets early, while others choose pet caregivers to come to their homes to feed them, so that their cute pets staying at home can celebrate the New Year with peace of mind.
The reporter visited and found that many pet shops received a large number of foster care orders during the Spring Festival. Pet shops with good reputation and good service can be said to be "hard to find". The reporter learned at a pet store in Chongqing on the 6th that the store’s foster care spaces were nearly fully booked, and some customers had made reservations in advance by the end of 2023. Shop owner Wen Yi said: "We have received seven or eight pets one after another. The remaining pets will not be delivered until one or two days before the Chinese New Year, and the foster care time is usually between 15 and 20 days."
On February 5, Wen Yi, the owner of a pet shop in Chongqing, was taking care of kittens fostered by customers. Photo by Liang Qinqing
There is a huge demand for pet boarding, and how pet stores can ensure their safety and hygiene is the focus of "shit shoveling officers". Wen Yi said that one of the necessary conditions for pets to "check in" is to provide vaccination records, check the body for wounds, skin diseases, infectious diseases, etc., and sign a contract with the owner to ensure that they are healthy and taken care of when they are delivered. The owner will also be informed of the situation at any time during the process.
In addition to sending pets to pet stores, some people also choose to purchase door-to-door feeding services. Compared with foster care, the services provided by pet sitters allow pets to not have to leave their familiar environment, and there is no need to worry about stress reactions caused by unfamiliar places. The reporter noticed that when searching for "home feeding pets during the Spring Festival" on social platforms, a large number of personal order-taking information will appear, and some have hundreds of comments.
On February 3, pet caregiver Gan Shimeng (right) went to a customer's home to understand the feeding needs in advance and make records. Photo by Liang Qinqing
Wang Jiayi, who has four cats, will go back to Northeast China with her husband this year to celebrate the New Year. She said that one of the cats at home had been to the pet hospital because of illness, and now she was very nervous every time she went out, and she wanted them to live in a familiar environment. "It will take a week before I can come back to the Northeast. During this time, the pet caregiver will come to my home to feed him three times. Especially since the orange cat at home is only six or seven months old, he still needs a pet caregiver to come to my home to play with him. It is difficult to find a pet store. fulfill these requirements.”
"During the Spring Festival this year, I had a lot of orders." Gan Shimeng, a pet caretaker born in the 1990s, did a rough calculation. Before the Spring Festival, she had received more than 80 requests for door-to-door pet feeding, and the most she had to feed 12 pets a day. Home.
"Pet caregivers must know what they are doing so that they can provide services in an orderly manner." Because he also raises pets himself, Gan Shimeng understands the concern of being a "poop shoveler." Before the service, she will visit the pet owner for free to interview. On the one hand, she familiarizes the customer with the profession. On the other hand, she also allows herself to understand the storage location of pet supplies in the customer's home, and record the feeding habits and service content.
On February 3, pet caregiver Gan Shimeng wore disposable protective clothing before entering the house and did a good job of disinfection to ensure the safety of pets. Photo by Liang Qinqing
She has been working as a pet caretaker for more than a year, and she has her own experience. Every time she comes to the house, she will bring her own tools such as cat teasing sticks, laser pointers, disposable sprays, and disinfectants. Due to the frequent visits during the Spring Festival, she purchased a lot of disposable protective clothing, gloves, foot covers and masks, changing them every day to ensure the safety of pets.
"I am going back to my hometown in Qinghai to celebrate the New Year this year, and I am very worried about the two cats at home." Zhang Xiaoyan, who works in Chongqing, said that she used to keep her cats in a pet store and didn't eat at all for the first two or three days, so she chose door-to-door pet feeding services this New Year. The pet caretaker will live broadcast the feeding process, and will tell the owner in time how much water the cat drank, how much food it ate, whether its defecation was normal, etc., which "makes me feel relieved."
Shen Hongbing, a professor at the School of Economics of Chongqing Technology and Business University, said that as pets transform from functional roles to family members, the pet market is being continuously standardized and diversified. "Whether it is door-to-door feeding or foster care in pet stores, it has greatly reduced the problem of pets being abandoned or left unattended, showing a social life of 'human and pet harmony', making this Spring Festival more humane."
"Pet carers are not only trustees, but also entrusters." Gan Shimeng said that her original intention is to let the "shit shovelers" who travel far away have no worries, and use one person's stay in exchange for so many "furry children" to live in peace of mind. " New Year's Eve", "I feel quite a sense of accomplishment." (over)