630: The Legal Landscape for Pet Sitters
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What do new laws mean for your pet care business? Across the U.S., states are passing legislation that raises the standards for how pets are cared for—and the consequences for falling short. From licensing and inspections to criminal negligence and felony charges, the bar is getting higher for sitters, walkers, and boarders alike. These changes can feel overwhelming, but they don’t have to catch you off guard. In this episode, we talk through the most recent laws, what they mean for you, and how you can prepare your business to thrive in this new legal landscape.
Main topics:
Criminal negligence: what it means
“Facility” definitions for homes
Licensing, ratios, inspections, reporting
Documentation as legal protection
Advocacy, pricing, and compliance
Main takeaway: “If you hear nothing else in this episode, hear this: legislation is coming.”
New animal-welfare laws are raising the bar for every pet care business—solo or staffed, mobile or at-home. That’s not a reason to panic; it’s a chance to lead. Start now: tighten your SOPs, train your team, and document every visit like it matters—because it does. Check your insurance, learn your city/county/state rules, and price for the real cost of compliance. Most importantly, speak up with your story so lawmakers write regulations with professionals in the room.
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Pet sitter confessional, laws and regulations, animal welfare, criminal negligence, pet care facilities, Texas HB 285, Massachusetts H4 919, Washington ESH B1 149, Kentucky HB 258, Nevada AB 381, Florida HB 455, New Jersey A1456, Maryland SB 80, pet care standards, industry compliance
SPEAKERS
Meghan, Collin
Meghan 00:00
Hi. I'm Meghan. I'm Collin. We are the host of pet sitter confessional, an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. We so appreciate you listening today, whether it's your first episode or many. We are thankful that you listen, and we are also thankful for pet sitters associates for sponsoring today's episode. We also wanted to remind you that you have about two more weeks to use the code prepare at Pet first aid for you.com. The number four and the letter U, pet first aid for you.com. That is Arden Moore's new course for pet first aid and CPR, and she does amazing things. So if you want to get pet first aid and CPR, or if you need to be renewed on your certification, you can go to pet first aid for you.com and use the code prepare for 5% off. But the 5% off code prepare is only good for the month of September 2025 so be sure to purchase it now and then you can take the course when you have some downtime. Today, we're diving into a topic that every pet care provider needs to pay attention to, laws and regulations targeting animal welfare and how they're going to impact the dog walking and pet sitting industry. This is incredibly crucial as our industry becomes more well known for exactly what we do and what we don't do. Lawmakers are taking notice, and they're going to start ratcheting things down. So a few key notes. Right off the bat, we aren't lawyers. We've never played them on TV, so we're interpreting this from our own understanding and the help of Dr Google. Also, these laws are US based United States only if you live outside. We are not familiar with your laws. We do not know them. So if you are listening outside of the US, we would love to hear from you on the status of the laws where you're operating. If you hear nothing else in this episode, hear this legislation is coming. The question is, are we speaking up to help shape it? Are we ready for it? What are you doing to prepare? Because here's the truth, when laws are passed, they usually come with an increased cost of doing business, more oversight, high barrier to entry, all of that good stuff. That might sound scary, but it can be a good thing if we are prepared, if we are learning about this now and not caught on the back foot, if we're being proactive instead of reacting. So we're going to highlight several key pieces of legislation, either recently passed or actively being debated across the United States, from Texas to Massachusetts to Washington and beyond. It's all going to affect the states in one way or another. At some point, we'll break down what these laws are, how they're going to affect you, and then what to do as a pet sitter and dog walker, what you should aim to do. There is a lot to unpack here, and each law has its own unique implications. So grab a coffee or a tea, settle in and let's explore how the legal landscape is shifting beneath our feet.
Collin 02:31
One more quick primer here. There's some terms that are going to be talked about here. So what exactly is something about criminal negligence? Before we jump into each bill, we wanted to find this term that you'll hear often. It's called criminal negligence. It's not just making a mistake. It's actually when somebody fails to see or avoids a risk that any and here's the key part, any reasonable person would and when you're responsible for someone's beloved pet, that bar is even higher. So again, when we talk about criminal negligence, it's did you do or did you not do something that a reasonable person would and then there's the term facility. This is also very confusing, but there is a legal definition. In each state, they have their own requirements. Many of the laws that we're going to talk about apply to pet care facilities, but that can mean a home where boarding happens for pay, not just a building with with signage or waiting room or or was purpose built to be a kennel. If you board pets in your home for money, you might be legally considered a facility. So pay close attention and always seek legal advice for where you are operating. Okay,
Meghan 03:35
let's dive in so Texas, HB, 285 was poncho and layla's law. This law adds criminal negligence to Texas Animal Cruelty statutes. Why? Because, until now, if a pet was harmed or died due to negligence from a groomer, a sitter, a walker, there was often no legal consequence for them. Now, gross negligence, not just intentional harm, can be prosecuted under this new law. It passed both chambers and was sent to the governor on May 25 of this year, and then was signed and went into effect September 1 of this year, 2025 so if you run a pet care business in Texas, this raises the bar for how careful and thorough your team needs to be. Every employee, every staff member, must be trained, and documentation of care becomes even more critical. This reflects a trend throughout the entire industry, but it's where you no longer need intent to be charged. It's grossly negligent acts like leaving a dog in dangerous conditions or walking a dog when it's super hot in the Texas heat 110 degrees outside, it can now lead to prosecution.
Collin 04:39
Then there's Massachusetts or Ollie, where Ollie's law went into effect of h4 919, Ollie was a puppy mauled to death at a dog daycare. Massachusetts responded by requiring all day cares and boarding facilities to be licensed and meet standardized care guidelines. These include staff to pet ratios, grouping dogs by size and injury report. Housing this was signed into law back in September 20 of 2024 even if you run a small in home boarding operation, you may now be subject to licensure and inspections. The expectations for professionalism and safety just got much higher. This bill argued to create safer facilities for pets, but businesses may incur higher compliance costs. It also reflects a national trend pushing for uniform standards across all commercial pet care operations.
Meghan 05:26
I think it's good to remind ourselves that with all of these laws, everybody wants better care for pets. So keeping that in mind, think about how your business would fare if this level of regulation came to your state. What changes will you need to make to meet that new standard in Washington, esh b1 149, was a newly passed law that expanded animal cruelty definitions to include more forms of neglect. It gave authorities the ability to enter properties without a warrant if animals are in immediate danger. It was signed into law may 12, 2025 and it was effective July 27 2025 so if you are running a pet sitting or boarding business in the State of Washington, this law is a true wake up call. If your care is ever deemed imminently harmful, you could face immediate intervention and possible criminal charges. The move toward penalizing gross negligence without needing proof of intent marks a serious shift in how animal welfare is legally protected. So again, think, do your emergency procedures hold up under scrutiny, not just if you have a facility, but even if you don't, if you're going into people's homes? What are your emergency policies? Could a law like this expose cracks in your policies and in your operation?
Collin 06:39
Ethan's law or HB 258 is in Kentucky. Ethan was a dog who survived extreme neglect. This law makes severe abuse or neglect of a dog or cat a felony on the first offense. Previously, first offenses were often treated as misdemeanors, and this was signed back into law back in 2024 so if your negligence causes significant harm or prolonged suffering, even once, you could face felony charges first time, mistakes could now mean real jail time. This aligns more with the growing legislative attitude that intentional harm isn't the only basis for serious charges. Egregious neglect can carry the same weight here. We've got to take a breath, because we all make mistakes. It's going to we understand that things are going to happen, but in this new legal climate, the stakes are getting higher and higher. The Training and Documentation aren't optional anymore. They're required if we're going to run a business. To point back to the standards
Meghan 07:36
that we're upholding Now, a word from our friends at pet sitters associates as a pet sitter, you know how much trust goes into caring for someone's furry family member, but who's got your back. For over 25 years, pet sitters associates have been helping pet care pros like you with affordable, flexible insurance coverage, whether you're walking dogs, pet sitting or just starting out. They make it easy to protect your business. Get a free quote today at pets@llc.com as a listener, you get $10 off your membership when you use code confessional at checkout, that's pets@llc.com because your peace of mind is part of great pet care. A new law in Nevada has been signed into law. It's called rebas Law, AB 381, Reba died from heatstroke after being locked in a container. This bill imposes up to 10 years in prison for willful neglect or abuse that leads to an animal's death. It was signed into law and went into effect June 2025 so intentional or even knowingly reckless actions could end your business and land you in prison. Obviously, these are things that we don't strive for. We don't want them to happen. We do everything possible to not have them happen. But this dramatically raises the stakes for those in charge of animal safety. It's part of a larger trend of holding animal caretakers to higher standards, whether they're running a facility or providing in home care.
Collin 08:50
In Florida, there's Dexter's law. HB, two to five and the animal abuser registry. HB, 455, Dexter's law increases the penalties for cruelty by counting each abused animal as a separate victim, the registry bill would then publish the names of animal abuse offenders online. Dexter's law went into full effect here in 2025 and while the animal abuser registry bill of 455, got indefinitely tabled, this was superseded by the passage of Dexter's law, so a registry will still go into effect January 120, 26 fully searchable with people's names who are convicted of animal abuse. So now mistreatment of multiple animals means multiplied penalties, and if you're ever convicted, your name will be publicized, effectively, ending your career in animal care. These changes show that lawmakers are seeking to create long term accountability and trust with their constituents and the people where they live, and not just a one time punishment, because previously, there was a way to have something come up on your name, get get charged with animal abuse, move to a different location and be completely unsearchable and dis. Connected back to those original offenses. If you
Meghan 10:03
are a groomer, you want to listen up because the New Jersey a pet groomer licensing law has been introduced. It's a 1456, and s2 64 this bill would require groomers to be licensed, undergo training and implement specific safety protocols like banning cage dryers and installing surveillance. The status is that it was introduced in both chambers in January 2024 and it is currently referred to respective committees for them to look at and assess. So while this is aimed at groomers, that reflects a larger trend of the industry, states want standards. They want oversight. They want accountability. They want to know exactly what's going on in these facilities. Pet Sitting and dog walking could be next. These changes signal that any commercial pet care, grooming, boarding, etc, it should be held to uniform standards, but small shops might struggle with compliance costs like installing surveillance. Not everybody can afford to have cameras or oversight. It really highlights a balance between the animal safety and the business burden. As business owners, we take on a lot of that burden, a lot of costs, a lot of paying people and needing to do administrative and overhead things. So this would increase that burden. So think about your own tools and where you do business. If you don't provide grooming in a facility, maybe you do out call and mobile grooming. We know a lot of pet sitters offer just nail trims. Well, that's part of that as well. So would your own setup pass inspection under these proposed rules?
Collin 11:24
This year, Maryland enacted and passed the animal abuse and neglect penalties or Senate Bill 80 this law increases penalties for abuse or neglect that results in an animal's death or necessary euthanasia. Convictions actually now carry up to three years in prisons, a $5,000 fine, or both. Courts may also impose a lifetime ban on animal ownership, possession or residence. With this went into this will go into effect October 1 of 2025 this law raises the stakes for all who work with animals while primarily targeting abuse cases. The broad language means even unintentional neglect could bring severe consequences. Businesses from shelters to pet care providers must be proactive in meeting higher safety and care standards. Increased operational costs are very likely because of this, but so is heightened accountability. This continues the national trend for stronger and stronger oversight in animal welfare.
Meghan 12:20
You may be listening and thinking, well, this doesn't apply to me. I don't live in those states. Or this is for bigger facilities. I don't I don't have one of those. This wouldn't apply to me. Or that's not a service I offer. But more and more lawmakers are not distinguishing between corporate kennels and small solo run operations. So what does this trend, all of these trends in these states, mean for all of us, it means that if you accept payment to care for pets, your standards matter, and if something goes wrong, these laws make it clear that you are accountable, you are going to be held to a standard. So think about are you legally ready? You can't prepare for everything, but knowing that these laws are happening in other states, or maybe even your own state, what are you doing now to prepare, do you have a signed service agreement for every client, a contract, a document that you hold them to, that they signed on this date? Is your liability insurance policy up to date and sufficient? Have
Collin 13:13
you since started offering services that you didn't used to and are technically no longer covered under under your original policy? Now is the time to double check and really ask those hard questions, and it can mean that operationally, you may have to change your business, but what's better to be legally compliant or on the hook for something if it has happened?
Meghan 13:31
And that gets to a whole nother discussion of not just animal welfare with these laws, but also independent contractors. Are your staff trained in following SOPs? The only way you can train people is to have them as w2 employees. You cannot train or shadow, or whatever synonym you want to use for independent contractors. They are their own business. You cannot tell them how to do run their business.
Collin 13:53
So it's no longer just a tax liability that we're talking about. We're talking about legal liability for negligence or abuse, or other words that we've described here, because if you can't tell somebody how to do something, but they're still related to you, or they're still attached to you because they're an independent contractor, you are still on the hook for that care because of the relationship that you have
Meghan 14:12
another question to ask yourself is, are you documenting each visit and care task? We're not saying that you have to use PET setting specific software, although we do and we love it. But even if you send text messages to your clients, are you continuing to keep those or are you deleting them after your visits have run out?
Collin 14:30
I mean, many of us use software because we like the check boxes that we can create and send to the client to say, hey, here's some peace of mind that I'm giving you. I gave the medication and they pooped and they peed, and we think, Oh, from a client's perspective, this is really great, because look at the information that I'm getting them from a lot of the laws that we just walked through, this is actually now a charting course, and it can be proof of you doing or not doing a particular service or request from the client, and maintain that level of care. Sure. So instead, we can view these as well. This is now part of my legal required documentation for the care that I gave at this visit that really changes the perspective and the seriousness with which we will approach those and how we design those. But when we're doing all of this, we have to ask ourselves, do I even know my city, my state, my County's current animal care regulations. Am I aware of the licensure that's required, of the inspections that may be required, of the documentation that I must have and carry with me? Do we? Do we understand that, and have we gone and asked the right questions?
Meghan 15:37
I homeschool our kids, and so we live in a state where we have to document the number of hours that we do, things, the coursework, the tests, we have to save all of that. And so this really gets to that as well, of document, document, document. You have to save things. You have to prove that. You have to be able to prove that you did what you said you were going to do, and that you did what the client requested.
Collin 15:57
Yeah, if somebody showed up to you to your door tomorrow and said, I need you to prove to me that you gave this medication to the dog yesterday. How would you do that? What would that look like to you? And are you able to scale that into your business if somebody showed up to your home because you do boarding or daycare out of your home and they because they got a tip that you're doing that, would you be able to pass their surprise inspection. If a regulator came along with you and was doing your care, would you be able to pass that? I mean, this sounds like it's getting to be very extreme in that sense of, oh, well, the inspectors aren't going to come to my dog walk. Are they? Well, while these laws that we've talked about here aren't to that point, if there becomes an inspection requirement for care and having a standard there, if it was applied to facilities in some way, to groomers, to trainers, to boarding to daycare, why would we not then expect for it to be applied to us in dog walking and In Home Pet Sitting in some way and shape and form that needs to be on our radar for how we would prepare for that,
Meghan 17:00
the industry is being regulated as we speak. It has been for years, and will continue to be. This is not going away. They're going to get more strict, and more states are going to be covered under these laws. So whether it's through licensing or criminal liability or mandatory training, state governments are stepping in to regulate animal care more tightly. That's just a fact, and that includes us as well, even though we go to people's homes a lot of times, that is still going to come into effect for us. So if we as an industry don't speak up and get involved, these laws will be written for us, not with us in mind. A lot of people don't understand what we do, or they think it's weird, or they might not even know that this is an option that exists,
Collin 17:41
and I have long said that laws written out of passion will always be more beneficial for more people than laws written out of punishment. Too often we see these laws that come out of a horrible situation, and they pass, and we think, Okay, finally, it's done. We get something out of here, but these are meant to never allow that to happen again. And so there is a punishment aspect to these. So we, by being involved, right, we can help prevent some things that could happen to us of higher costs to running our business. A lot of these implementations, okay, well, if I have to track and digitally store things, well, okay, I wasn't paying for software. Now I have to do that, or I didn't have this kind of oversight and training before now, I have to do that. These are additional costs that we have to take on
Meghan 18:25
more laws coming into effect also could mean new training and certification requirements, something as simple as pet first aid and CPR certified. Everybody. Every pet sitter and dog walker should be certified, but the law may require that. Now, licensing fees is also another big one, not just your city, but what about your county? What about your state? There's a lot of levels here that could come into play when you're talking about these
Collin 18:48
fees, not just a business license, okay, that's one thing, and that that allows them to say, Okay, I am conducting commerce within this boundary. That's a business license. But we're talking about, what if it required you to have a pet sitting license or a dog walker license and be put, be put on some registry of the activities that you are doing, much like kennels and boarding and daycare facilities. Again, you will find a lot of legislators look to corners of the pet care space that are regulated or have things already in place and go, Well, why don't we just do that for everybody and so that that could come to us? Okay, now I've got to have a business license. I've got to have I've got to have a pet sitter walk license, I have a dog walker license. And these don't aren't going to just cost $5 right? They're going to cost hundreds of dollars. And
Meghan 19:30
again, you may say, Well, this would never happen in America. We're the land of the free and the home of the brave, but these laws are now restricting kennels, they are restricting boarding and daycare facilities, and they are coming for us next so there's likely going to be new barriers for starting up a dog walking and pet sitting business. Some things you can do about this are, stay informed. Listen to podcasts. Talk to your local government officials, your state officials. Go to a House of Representatives meeting if you're allowed, follow local legislative developments. That is super important. You could also join industry. Associations to stay more informed. Organizations are the first tapped by legislators when looking for more information, and then, of course, getting your house in order, your services, your business, making sure that your policies, your safety procedures, your emergency plan, your training, are airtight. Nothing can break those you've got your ducks in a row. You're
Collin 20:18
also going to need to consider adjusting your pricing with higher standards. Means higher value. Sure, there's that aspect, but also it means that we have higher costs to associate with operating the way that a lot of the legislation is pointing us to. So make sure that your rates reflect that both the value and that you're able to cover new costs incurred in order to stay compliant and be vocal. If a new law is proposed, reach out to legislators. Submit comments, tell your story, make sure that they are connected to a professional pet sitter and dog walker, though, that they know what the industry is actually like. Legislators are going to only hear from the squeaky wheels, the people whose pets have been injured, the people whose pets have died. They we understand that we need to make sure those things never happen. But are the legislators actually hearing from people within the industry to talk about what some of these things could actually do to businesses and make it harder to operate, or maybe even better or higher standards that we could raise to to make sure, hey, I know you're trying to implement this thing, but what would really help this and what would really help people get on board with this. Is to do X, Y, Z, be part of that conversation. Make sure you are active in this and that you do know what is going on. All of this is happening because horrible, awful things happen to people's pets. People love their pets more than they ever have in the entire history of humanity. This means that standards should be set high. It means that people should really care about what is going on, that there should be protections in place for the consumer. Our industry does not have those. It is up to each individual business to set those standards and maintain those protections. Moving forward, that will become increasingly less and less relevant as more and more agencies and governments step in to impose that on us, we should be the ones leading the charge. We should be the ones raising the standards as high as possible and showing people what that care actually can look like.
Meghan 22:17
We know not everyone agrees that there should be more laws, more oversight, more government. But Ready or not, the laws are changing. We need to make sure that we are ready, that we're not just reacting to the future of pet care, but we're actively helping to shape it. We appreciate you listening today. If you have thoughts, which I'm sure you do, on these new laws and anything else we would love to hear from you, you can email us at Pet Sitter confessional@gmail.com you can also look us up on Facebook and Instagram. At Pet Sitter confessional. Thank you to pet sitters associates for sponsoring today's episode, and we will talk with you next time bye.
