At Hearts at Home, we take our jobs very seriously. We only accept pets who are a good match for our services, thoroughly vet our clients and employees, and design policies to ensure the best level of care. Inclement weather can make providing services a challenge, which is why we have very specific policies that apply to pet care during weather events. Following is our inclement weather policy and additional details to ensure that our team and clients are always on the same page.
Pet Care During Inclement Weather: Inclement Weather Plan
As part of our inclement weather plan and policy, Hearts at Home Pet Sitting we will use our best judgment to care for our clients' pets and homes during weather events. We reserve the right to alter or cancel scheduled visits if conditions make it dangerous for our team to drive or walk dogs in inclement weather.
If and when conditions impact scheduled pet care services, our management team will contact impacted clients as soon as our inclement weather plan has been implemented; emergency contacts will be contacted if the primary contact cannot be reached.
Pet Care During Inclement Weather: Midday Dog Walking
Hearts at Home will provide midday dog walking services as long as we can safely reach our clients' homes. When necessary, the length of a scheduled midday dog walk may be shortened due to heavy rain, thunder, lightning, high humidity, excess heat, ice, flooding, and other inclement weather.
When outdoor time is shortened due to weather events, dogs will enjoy a quick potty break and the remainder of our visit will consist of indoor playtime. The decision will be made at our discretion with safety as our priority.
Pet Care During Inclement Weather: Travel Pet Sitting
Every effort will be made to complete pet sitting visits for clients who are out of town. Clients and their emergency contacts will be notified if it is not possible to safely reach scheduled homes and if service schedules will be significantly affected due to inclement weather.
When traveling and leaving pets in our care, it is imperative that clients name an inclement weather contact who has access to their home, is comfortable caring for the pet(s), and is, ideally, located within walking distance so that they may seamlessly take over care of the pet(s) if we are unable to provide scheduled services due to a weather emergency.
We also recommend that clients look into upcoming weather events before departing home. We encourage you to stay home or take your pets with you when hurricanes, floods, or other serious storms threaten the area. While we will do our best to care for your pet when you're out of town, weather emergencies make it very difficult to operate because weather conditions and/or local law enforcement may make road travel impossible or illegal for an undetermined period.
Pet Care During Inclement Weather: Emergency Contacts
Inclement weather and emergency contacts are key to ensuring pets are properly cared for during weather events and other emergencies. For this reason, we encourage you to observe the following recommendations when scheduling services:
Check and update your personal and pet profiles every time you schedule
Ensure that your emergency contact will be in town during your appointment
Let your emergency and inclement weather contacts know that you have listed them as such
Discuss emergency veterinary care with your veterinarian and emergency veterinarian of choice
Most importantly, consider canceling your trip if severe weather threatens to hit the Yorktown area. While we'd love to help them, we may not be able to evacuate pets in a worst-case scenario. Evacuation responsibilities during anticipated weather events fall on the pet parent.
At Hearts at Home Pet Sitting, our pet sitters and dog walkers provide in-home pet care services for Yorktown, Poquoson, Newport News, and Hampton, Virginia. If you are interested in our dog walking and pet sitting services, please complete a new client questionnaire here.
For more information, visit our website or contact us by email at Hello@HeartsAtHomePetSitting.com or by phone at 757-745-9868.
Existing clients may request services here. We look forward to caring for your pets!
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