Financial liability for losing a cat while cat sitting.

Question

Hello, Can someone cat sitting be sued by the owner if they cannot locate the pet/if the cat wanders outside by mistake? In this situation, the owner has not chipped the cat nor has him wear a collar.
And if so, about how much money could it be for if this cat sitting is free for a few days time?

Thank you.

Answer

Pet-sitters must exercise reasonable care to protect the animals entrusted to them. A lawsuit can be commenced to try to get compensated when an animal goes missing while under the care of a pet-sitter. It will be up to the court to decide if the pet-sitter was negligent. If the pet-sitter had insurance, it is possible the insurance carrier will pay the claim. I cannot tell you how much money a court might award the “parents” of a cat when a cat-sitter loses the cat. This is done on a case-by-case basis.

Most importantly, efforts should be made to locate the cat, including, for example, visiting local shelters daily and contacting the shelters to report the missing cat, contacting local veterinarians, hanging lost cat signs, checking lost and found Internet sites, and posting information about the lost cat online and elsewhere where lost and found animal records are maintained. Some local police departments and localities keep these records.