For a growing number of travellers with pets it’s worth handing over their keys to a Trusted Housesitter, writes Pamela Whitby from TDS Europe

If Amber Heard and Johnny Depp had heard about TrustedHousesitters before they smuggled dogs Pistol and Boo into Australia last year, they might have saved themselves a whole lot of stress. Their beloved pooches would have been cared for and happy, their vet would have been in agreement, they would have saved a whole lot of dosh (not that they need it) and might have had more time to spend travelling around Australia.

Instead, the famous pair faced their day in court and, in a happy ending for Australia at least, were forced to make the now viral video apology (over 3 million times on YouTube alone), in which Heard describes Australia as a “treasure trove of unique, plants, animals and people”, which Depp touchingly adds “must be protected”. Pity they didn’t have more time to travel the ‘island’!

The video has been trending across all digital channels this week, proving that the Australian government certainly understands the value of user-generated content – UGC was a central them on Day 1 of EyeforTravel’s Travel Distribution Summit, Europe yesterday.

Andy Peck, the passionate pet-loving founder and CEO of TrustedHousesitters, also understands the value of UGC. “The feel good nature of the experience we offer goes way beyond the pleasure of travelling somewhere new,” says Peck.

Driven by pet power, he says “users absolutely love the service”, which has a 9.7 rating on TrustPilot with over 1,800 independent consumer reviews.

The amount of highly shareable user-generated content that Trusted Housesitter users are generating seems to backs this up. Try searching for searching for #TrustedHousesitters on Twitter or Instagram predominantly, or #WeAreTrustedHousesitters, a community campaign that has been running over the last week to spread the word about the firm’s recent Webby nomination for Best Community Website.

This isn’t surprising. After all, after travel photographs, some of the most shared content on social media is of people’s pets. 

Speaking to EyeforTravel yesterday, Peck said that over 60% of the Western world own pets, but 50% of those aren’t taking holidays as a result. Either they don’t want to leave their beloved animals at home alone or they simply can’t afford to.

Unlike Depp and Heard, most people (90% says Peck) don’t want to fly their pet half way across the world. And they are right: the online platform’s consultant vet says that animals are much healthier and happier in their own home. 

While some may question the viability of what may be viewed as a ‘niche’ platform, Peck disagrees. The four-year-old platform, bootstrapped to date, now has a community of nearly 60,000 people in 142 countries, and it’s growing all the time. Sitters and owners pay £79 a year to use the service, which has nearly doubled year-on-year since launch.

The firm has facilitated over 1,000,000 nights of house and pet sitting globally and is seeing around 600,000 visits each month.

Now they are looking for partners, and Peck believes he can help travel companies increase their bookings. If 50% of pet owners aren’t booking that trip because they are worried about their pet, he might have a point.

In any event, with castles and penthouses with pets now featuring on the platform, this might be something Depp and Heard might want to consider for Pistol and Boo when they are next on location.