Policies

To best attend to the needs of your pets, we require a minimum of 3 visits per 24-hour period for all adult dogs, a minimum of 4 – 30  minute visits per 24-hour period for crated dogs and puppies under 1 year, and a minimum of 5 visits per day for puppies under 6 months. It is vet recommended that cats are visited no less than once every 24 hours so we require that all cats receive a minimum of one visit every day you are away.   We may require more than these minimums for a particular pet if we feel it is necessary for the pet’s well-being. BCPC is trusted to always use best judgement in caring for pets.

Due to traffic, emergencies and unexpected events, all visits are scheduled in time blocks. Morning visits for dogs are completed before 9:30AM. Preference is given to dogs and insulin-dependent cats. Daily Dog Walks will be completed between 11AM and 4:00PM. Requested 60-min and 45-min visits may be adjusted as schedule allows.

At Bull City Pet Care we work in teams to provide the best service and the greatest amount of coverage and flexibility around our clients’ schedules.  We will introduce a minimum of three professional pet sitters to your account. However, in the event of our own vacations and personal days, we will introduce a new sitter. We are all professionals: skilled and insured, and we will have all of your directions to care for your pet properly. BCPC will always use our best judgement in sending a new sitter to meet your shy or anxious pet.  If your pet requires more specific team members we may be able to provide a smaller team for an additional fee.  You can get to know a little more about all of our sitters here.

Payment in full is due within 5 days of invoice date. We accept Checks, Cash, PayPal, ACH and CC/Debit. Any outstanding balance is subject to a 20% late fee every 30 days. In the event your account has an outstanding balance past 30 days, we will not be able to schedule new service until account is paid in full. Any balance outstanding after 90 days will be turned over to a collection agency or suit filed in Small Claims Court. All accrued late fees, collection fees and/or court filing fees will be added to outstanding balance and are to be paid by client. There will be a $30 service charge for each returned check.

We understand that you may need to cancel your travel arrangements. However, late notice cancellations make it impossible to re-book time that was reserved to care for your animals.

VACATION PET CARE

• 7 – 3 days’ notice prior to the start of service = 25% of the entire service.
• 48 hours or less notice prior to the start of service = 50% of the entire service.
• 24 hours or less notice prior to the start of service or anytime after a trip has started = 100% of the entire service.

*Major holiday cancellation fees override the fees above.

DAILY DOG WALKS

We do not charge cancellation fees for automatically scheduled daily walks cancelled by 9 am on the day of the walk.  For walks that are self-scheduled, you will be charged 100% for walks cancelled with 24 hours or less, and 50% for walks cancelled with 48 hours or less notice.  Frequent cancellations forfeit any discounted or frequency rates.

Why do we have a cancellation policy?

We wouldn’t be where we are without our amazing pet sitters and dog walkers, driving house-to-house morning, noon and night, often sleeping away from home for a large part of the summer. Rockstars, that’s what they are. Unsung heroes. We also know we have the very best clients the Bull City has to offer (we’re talking about you). Having a cancellation policy ensures that all parties will be treated in an equitable manner. Because there are a finite number of hours in a day and the demand for our (very personalized, time-intensive) services continues to grow, we book services weeks, sometimes months, in advance. When we take reservations it sets in motion a litany of events; contacting sitters to assure coverage availability, juggling multiple schedules, reassigning jobs, key pick-up/drop-off, etc. We take reservations on a first-come, first-served basis, and we do not overbook. Late notice cancellations make it impossible to re-book the time that was reserved to care for your animals. Imagine a job were the work you depended on to make a living could be cancelled at any moment with no pay. We want to keep all of our experienced pet sitters around for a very long time so we choose to pay them for services on their schedule that are cancelled short-notice. It’s the right thing to do. Our cancellation policies are the same for everyone. This transparency allows us to schedule clients who understand in advance that our cancellation policy is in place to be fair to all. We hope you understand and thank you in advance for your cooperation.

If you cancel services after making full payment, you will receive a credit to your account minus any applicable cancellation fees. If you request a refund to your credit card/bank account, we will retain a 7% service charge to cover the cost of bank/credit card processing fees. If service has commenced, and one or more visits are canceled due to your early return or change in schedule, no refund will be issued for those unused visits. Account credits do not expire.

Due to the work that goes into finding coverage and as an incentive for our sitters to give up their downtime, a $5 surcharge will be automatically added to single visits/walks scheduled within 24 hours. Last-minute (less than 48 hours), multiple visit requests for vacation care are subject to a $10 charge per visit for the first 5 visits of your trip, up to $50. We understand that our clients may need emergency visits from time to time. While we are not a 24-hour, on-call service, we will always do our best to cover late notice schedule requests. Please note this service is based on the availability of our pet sitters.

A $10 surcharge will be applied to each visit scheduled on the following holidays: Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day & day after, The week from Dec 24th (Christmas Eve & Day) through Jan 1st (New Years Eve & Day), except for auto-scheduled dog walks which will continue fee-free except for Christmas Eve & Day and New Years Eve & Day that week. This surcharge compensates your sitter for working through their own holidays.

Major Holiday Cancellation Fees (Thanksgiving and winter holidays)

• 14-7 days’ notice prior to the start of service = 25% of the entire service
• 7-3 days prior to the start of service = 50% of the entire service
• 3 days or less notice prior to the start of service = 100% of the entire service

We encourage you to allow us to retain your key for future services. Keys are kept in a secured location and are coded for customer super-confidentially. Your name or address is never attached to a key. Keys can be returned after your travels for a $40 delivery fee. Avoid this charge by allowing us to keep a key on file, so future travels can be scheduled with ease. Please check the keys you plan to provide to BCPC to ensure they will open your door. In the event that we need a locksmith to gain entry into your home due to the malfunction of the lock, or failure to provide a functioning key to BCPC, it is your responsibility to reimburse BCPC for all costs incurred.

Please make sure your security system is in good operating condition before leaving town. BCPC is not liable for any charges resulting from the malfunction of a security system or inadequate profile details. Please provide alarm passcode, password, setting instructions and alarm company phone number whether you intend to set your alarm or not. It is preferred that you set up a separate entry/exit code and emergency passcode just for BCPC and please let your alarm company know that this code is for your pet sitting service. BCPC will not depend on contact with you to gain access to your home each time we visit.

To avoid situations such as overfeeding, missed feedings, incorrectly set alarms, unlocked doors and (heaven forbid) lost pets, any introduction of other caretakers into your household during your absence will result in our immediate inability to continue care. If you think your situation is unique, please contact us prior to your departure and we’ll be happy to discuss it with you.

While we understand that circumstances arise necessitating additional individuals’ presence in your home, we require advance notice of such a circumstance in order to determine a mutually agreeable course of action to minimize BCPS’ liability for potential actions taken by visitors to your home. We cannot grant entry to third party vendors (housekeepers, repair people, etc.), nor can we manage pets while these people are in your home. It’s awkward and sometimes it doesn’t feel safe. Not cool.

We urge you to keep pets indoors while we are watching them. BCPC reserves the right to adjust visit routines based on extreme weather (i.e., thunderstorms, extreme heat, extreme cold, etc.). Additional visits may be added to bring pets inside at pet sitter’s discretion.

BCPC will not accept clients whose dogs are chained or tethered in any way. BCPC will not be responsible for the safety nor liable for the death, injury, disappearance or legal consequences of any pet with unsupervised access to the outdoors. BCPC will not leave dogs unattended in electric or invisible fencing. (This isn’t about liability. We just worry.)

BCPC strongly encourages you to maintain legible and accurate identification on all pets, even if not normally provided access to the outdoors. Please insure that any animal, which may be quick to spring from the premise upon the opening of a door or gate, is additionally restrained from the exit (i.e. crate, internal door, etc.). We all have a solid Sideways Shuffle but, if you have a particularly wily cat, BCPC can not be held responsible for the loss of such pet.