The Pawfessionals Dog Walkers & Pet Sitters

I have used the Pawfessionals for 2 years to walk my dog about 5 times /​month. The first walker was very good; he was replaced by someone who was clearly not a dog-​lover. I still stayed with them because it was easier than looking for someone else, and my needs for walking lessened considerably as I was not traveling so much.
Last month I had booked a walk while my family was supposed to be at a wedding. I had hurt my back and could not attend, and since I could not walk the dog I left the appointment in-​place. I waited all day at home, and the dog walker NEVER SHOWED UP.
Nobody in my emergency list got a call or text message that there was a problem. They require you give them a second key in case of emergencies, but apparently they don’t care. I called and spoke with the owner, Darren, who said he was unaware and planned to speak to the walker later that day. I never heard back from him. No apologies, no explanation. I emailed to ask for my keys. He refunded my money for that non-​walk, and it took about a week to get my keys returned.
If you can’t trust them to show up, why bother?
If you call the owner to say that nobody showed up, and they don’t respond with surprise, explanation and apologies, STAY AWAY! STAY FAR AWAY!

i had Merly come out twice. She was prompt and sent me an email and a picture of my cat. I have asked for her again and i hope it goes smooth this time too. If it all works out, I will ask her to come later this year when i am out for more than two weeks. Let’s see how it works out!

We used Pawfessionals to look after our Kitten when we went away for 2 weeks and most recently for when we went away for a weekend. Booking was easy, so was making payment and the service was excellent.
Before we went away we had the opportunity to meet the person looking after our kitten who is called Merly. Merly followed our instructions to the letter and our kitten enjoyed her company so much that for at least a week after our kitten would run to the door if she she heard someone coming even if we were in the house. We emailed the manager Darren on our first day of holiday to check the first visit had gone ok. He directed us to an online diary that the pet sitter keeps to give you updates which is a great idea and on top of that Darren actually responded to our enquiry quickly, even though it was Christmas Eve!
When we went away the second time, they allocated Merly to look after us again without us asking. This time our kitten was still recovering from being spayed so had a cone and specific instruction with regards to feeding which Merly great at following.
We would definitely continue to use Pawfessionals in future.

Beyond my expectations! The service let Casey bring Zephyr to the vet for care after he had a stroke because I was away on business and could not get him there after the vet opened (my flight left too early and if I brought him in the day before I would have lost what could have been my last night with him).
They were supportive and compassionate in my hour of despair! Thank you to both Casey and Pawfessionals of New York your help is much appreciated.

Cat sitting service was sufficient, but the operations/​logistics and professionalism of this «business» left much to be desired.
After discussing over the phone our needs for a cat sitter for a weekend away, we agreed to have the sitter come once on Friday, twice on Saturday, and once on Sunday.
We had asked for references for our sitter, and after asking 3 times, we finally received some names and phone numbers. No written testimonials or other assistance from the Pawfessionals. That should have been a warning.
After all of the discussions and confirmations, both with the sitter herself and the operations center, the sitter came at 11:30am and then again at 3:30pm on Saturday, and then not again until 3:30pm on Sunday, when we had already returned to the city. Our kids were left without food/​clean box for an entire 24 hours.
We called Darren to discuss and review the disconnect, but he was very rude and unprofessional, saying that we should have reviewed the schedule ourselves, even though we had orally discussed our needs numerous times and agreed to the schedule. He said we wouldn’t have to pay for the Sunday visit, as we were home when the sitter came, and he would review the transcript of the initial scheduling phone call.
We had to follow up a number of times because we were never refunded and finally had to resort to asking our credit card company for help.
I will never use this service again, and I hope no one else makes the same mistake we did. I should have read the other reviews on Unilocal first…

Darren is amazing! My dogs are a handful and they love him. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with my babies! Highly recommend — trustworthy, clean, responsible.

I used this service for my cats and it was a disaster. I honestly was not sure when I arrived home if my cats were going to be alive. Long story short, my cats were closed up in my bathroom for at least a full day with no food or litter box. When I called to complain, the owner thought I was being high maintenance and just told me that the pet sitter was a bit neurotic and anxious, but some how it was my fault. Also, there were a few lies that came up because the pet sitters story and the owner stories did not add up.
If you love your pet, I would stay away from this company. There are to many pet sitters in Manhattan that would not jeopardize your pets life.