WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2024
1B
THE COASTLAND TIMES
OBXPETS
Choosing a pet sitter: What you need to know commonly, through personal referrals. Burr offers drop-in visits and dog walking, and occasionally overnight pet sitting for established clients. On a typically busy day, she might stop and see as many as 10 animals throughout the day.
By Summer Stevens summer.stevens@ thecoastlandtimes.com
When researching what qualities to look for in a pet sitter, who better to ask than Rover.com’s top reviewed pet sitter on the Outer Banks? Lyndsay Burr has more than 100 5-star reviews, and for good reason. She is thorough, dependable, kind and sends adorable photo collages to owners while they’re away. Some clients refer to her as their pets’ fun auntie. The Coastland Times sat down with Burr to hear how she got started as a pet sitter, and what questions to ask a potential sitter. In middle school, she found a litter of kittens whose mother had died. She fostered the kittens, keeping one and finding homes for the other three. Though she’d always loved animals as a child, it was at that moment she became, as she describes, “the crazy cat lady.” Her family would look after pets in the neighborhood when their owners were on vacation, and vice versa. “I never imagined this would turn into a job,” she said. “I got into it by accident and it just grew organically.” She was volunteering
“I feel like I spend as much time in my car as I do with pets!” she said. When she meets a family for the first time, she comes with a list of questions. This list has grown over the years to include everything she needs to know to care for someone
else’s pet. Here is some important information about your pet and your home to share when working with a pet sitter: • Pet’s age, weight, breed, coloring (if caring for multiple pets, Burr
See Sitter, 6B
PHOTOS COURTESY LYNDSAY BURR
Lyndsay Burr with Cabo.
with the adoptable SPCA cats at PetSmart. “I would come home and gush about all of these adorable cats and my husband encouraged me, saying, ‘You’re already doing this anyway. Why not sign up for a Rover profile?’”
Four years ago, the Pennsylvania native created her online profile on Rover.com. Within weeks, she was getting contacted about her services. People find her on her website (sandbarks.com), on her Rover profile, or most
Max, left, and Yuki live in Kill Devil Hills. Pet sitter Lyndsay Burr said the pups are “best buddies and play so well together despite their size difference!”
5TH ANNUAL
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2024
10am–1pm | $10/dog
Cash or check at gate Proof of vaccination required at gate
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All proceeds benefit Coastal Humane Society Emergency Assistance Fund
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OUTER BANKS FAMILY YMCA 3000 South Croatan Highway, Nags Head, NC 27959 P (252) 449-8897 W ymcashr.org