A community solution to housing your pets while you’re out of town…

One of the hardest parts about being a pet owner in the UAE is figuring out what to do with your animal friends when you travel. Relying on friends and family can often feel like you’re imposing on them, especially if you’re away for long periods of time.

If only there was some kind of centralised system of passionate animal-lovers who could be trusted to look after your pets whilst you’re away. Well, that’s precisely what a new service called Dupaws is striving to achieve.

A homegrown Airbnb-style service explicitly for pets, the website allows pet owners to connect with potential pet sitters across the seven emirates. This is a welcome alternative to something that pet owners know only too well – that mad dash to book a place at a local boarding service only to be told that it’s full for the summer.

Each sitter has a personal profile that includes availability, photos, information on previous experience with animals, whether they prefer to host cats or dogs, and price.

Owners can even request a meet and greet via the site to see if their furry friends and the sitter are a match, with the ability to rate each sitter they use out of five and leave a review.

How can I become a pet sitter?

Dupaws offers anyone the ability to become a pet sitter, simply by signing up via the site.

You create a profile that includes your schedule, the type of pets you’re happy to host (currently only dogs and cats are accepted) and your service rates. Obviously, it’s also good to include a little about yourself and your previous experience with animals.

Each profile submission is then reviewed by Dupaws to make sure it’s filled-in correctly and is on the up-and-up.

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Images: Dupaws