Train yourself to find the right pet sitter

Television host Ina Garten adds walnuts to her endive salad.

"The Food Network's good for Buddy," explains Debbie Weiland, sitter for Buddy the boxer and approximately 150 other valley pets.

Most pet owners leave the TV tuned to Animal Planet while they're away, Weiland explains while cuddling with Buddy on her client's couch, "but all those strange noises can be upsetting."

For many Las Vegans who can't take their pets on vacation, hiring a sitter seems preferable to boarding. For about $20 per half-hour visit, sitters provide food, water and accident cleanup in familiar surroundings.

"And love," Weiland says. "Don't forget to mention love."

Cats, especially, can fare poorly in kennels.

"They can hide in the back and not eat," says Dr. Clarissa Engstrom, veterinarian and chairwoman of the Clark County Animal Advisory Committee, who notes that serious medical problems can result from anxiety-induced anorexia -- including liver failure from abnormal fat deposits. (Dogs board much better, Engstrom notes.)

Your pet may not stress out staying home while you're away. But will you, knowing that a total stranger is traipsing around your house?

Should you?

Nevada requires no licenses of pet sitters, other than a business license. Nor does it require insurance, bonding or background checks.

"There's so much trust people have to put in my hands when they hire me," Weiland says. "They're giving me the keys to their house, their alarm codes, and they're trusting me with their babies."

In 1997, Boston resident Sandy Pochapin hired a new sitter for her tabby. Dakota's regular sitter wasn't available, because it was Thanksgiving.

"I ended up finding someone from the Yellow Pages," Pochapin told the R-J, adding that she phoned the person's references.

Within a month, Pochapin received a $4,000 bill for a pre-approved credit card mailed to her house while she was away. Accounts also were opened at retail stores and a cell phone obtained in her name.

Pochapin was able to clear her debts and fix her credit. But, she says, "it took years."

If friends cannot furnish you with trusted pet-sitting referrals, four national associations -- National Association of Professional Pet Sitters, Pet Sitters International, Pet Sitters Associates and Professional United Pet Sitters -- offer to do it through their Web sites. (Weiland prefers to list her service, called Critter Sitter, exclusively with a local network called the Southern Nevada Association of Professional Pet Care Services, which charges half-price -- $50 -- for membership and delivers her just as many clients.)

The four big referral companies all offer insurance and bonding to sitters -- though none require them for listing.

"We encourage pet owners to ask for proof of insurance and bonding," says Terry Chance, marketing director for Pet Sitters International, which lists 29 active valley sitters.

Weiland carries the industry-standard $1 million in liability coverage for home damage and/or pet loss or injury. It costs $175 per year. Like most listed sitters, however, she is not bonded.

"The first couple of years I was in business, I did it," Weiland says. "But I've let it go because it's a complete waste of money."

Bonds cost about $100 annually, but sitters tend to consider them less useful than insurance because they cover similar losses and, unlike insurance, pay only upon criminal conviction. Cathe Delaney, operations director for the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters, calls them useful only to the rare company with more than one sitter operating under a single business license.

Of the four big national referral services, only Pet Sitters International offers background checks to its members, for $50 a pop. But, again, it doesn't require them for listing. And Chance says she was unable to determine how many members even opt for it.

Delaney admits that any one of her company's members could conceivably be a criminal.

"Well, it is your home, so we would hope that you would screen that individual," she says, neglecting to elaborate on how.

Dr. Engstrom suggests asking your veterinarian for a sitter reference. Though some vets who board may not wish to bid against their own business, others may not mind recommending someone they trust. Still other vets may work with technicians who sit for extra money on the side. Engstrom, for example, employs four.

"And those technicians have my cell number," she says. "So if something goes wrong, they call me immediately."

Weiland gets ready to roll to one of today's five other fur-covered stopovers, giving the apartment a once-over with her eyes.

As she coos "goodbye, Pumpkinhead!" to Buddy, Garten puts the finishing touches on her endive salad.

Contact reporter Corey Levitan at clevitan@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0456.