Emergency Policies – School Closings:

Clients who are in town

We follow the Alexandria City Public Schools
and Fairfax County Public schools' all-day closings for public emergencies and for inclement weather.

  • When schools announce all-day closings, no regular monthly or daily client visits will occur for pet owners who are in town.
  • Delayed school openings do not change our service schedule. (e.g. if school opening is delayed by 2 hours, our service is not interrupted.)
  • When road conditions are safe, we may return to business as usual even when schools close over a multi-day snow event.
  • We make every attempt to email all monthly and daily clients before 9am when we cancel visits for the day.

Clients who are out of town


Pet sitting appointments take place as scheduled for pet owners who are out of town, regardless of school closings, unless weather prevents our safe travel to your home (see next section, Neighbor Contact).

  • We prioritize pet sitting visits along the lines of elderly, sick, and medicated animals first, all dogs second, and other healthy animals third.
  • We may visit earlier or later than your designated preferred timeframe. For employee and vehicle safety on the roads we usually work at half our normal pace.
  • Your home preparation is your responsibility. Please leave us a shovel and/or broom, extra towels, ice melt, extra pet food, etc. before you leave town.

 

Emergency Policies – Neighbor Contact for Inclement Weather:

Neighbor Buddies

Emergency Contact for Snow, Ice, Weather, Road Closure Emergencies:.

  • Clients who are out of town and using our pet sitting services must designate at least one neighbor to serve as our Snow and ICE Contact to care for the Animals, in the event of snow, ice, storm, or other emergency that makes our access to the home unsafe or impossible.
  • During the pet owners's absence, the neighbor contact must have a key or other entry information directly from the Owner prior to the Owner leaving town.

 

Emergency Policies – Pet Emergencies:

Pet Emergencies

How we handle pets in distress.

  • In the event that emergency medical care is necessary for Animals, APC will make a good faith effort to contact Owner to discuss the emergency and, if Owner provides authorization or if APC is unable to contact Owner and Owner's provided Emergency Contacts, APC will transport the pet immediately for treatment from a licensed veterinarian, the expense of which will be borne entirely by Owner.
  • If unreachable in a pet’s life-threatening crisis, Owner authorizes APC to seek immediate veterinary treatment with the standard full code directive to the emergency veterinarian’s course of action. If reimbursement to APC is required, Owner agrees to provide reimbursement within two business days of APC’s notification of amount.Alternate directives may be requested by the Owner to APC directly by email.

    STANDARD FULL CODE DIRECTIVE* (Surgery approved) Owner instructs APC and the veterinarian to use all means available to resuscitate Animals, including CPR, emergency medications, defibrillation, and surgical intervention. Owner authorizes veterinarian to use best judgment to determine whether humane euthanasia is in the best interest of Animals, once all life-saving procedures have been attempted.