Social media is abuzz with people and businesses ‘paying it forward’, but who’d have thought the concept of reciprocal generosity could work equally as well amongst the pet-loving community. Seems us pet-loving folk are all about the karma, man.

Placing Pets is a business built on the idea of people helping people and their pets. Brisbane pet lover Kylie Beaven started the Placing Pets website with her partner Greg in response to their own need to find holiday care for their two canine companions.

She says, “It can be costly to go away. We’d pay at least $130 to have someone looks after our dogs for a long weekend, but using a kennel is not an option for us as one of our dogs is an RSPCA rescue dog and is terrified of caged environments.”

Kylie explains that Placing Pets started from a real need to find an alternative to kennels. She says, “we were going to a family wedding and whereas Mum usually looks after our dogs, because it was a family occasion she was going too and so we had no-one to look after our pets.

“This predicament led us to think that it would be great if other pet lovers in the local area could help us look after our pets. This resulted in us starting up our own service, because we were sure that other pet lovers were having same problem, so why not help each other out?”

Placing Pets is a free service and despite the fact that there are many pet-sitting businesses overseas charging for their service, Kylie is adamant that Placing Pets will remain true to its intent—to grow community connections free of charge.

“We really like the idea of doing good things for people around you who you wouldn’t normally get the chance to meet,” says Kylie. Greg and Kylie have already benefitted from their own business; they’ve become pals with a couple a few suburbs away through pet-sitting each other’s dogs.

“It’s a friendship that wouldn’t have happened outside of Placing Pets,” says Kylie.

But Placing Pets isn’t just about building friendships; its concept also nurtures karmic principles too. “It feels good to know we’re helping people by letting after their pets—and it feels good to know that our dogs are happy and safe when we go on holidays."

“People like to pay it forward, because it works and it feels good,” says Kylie.

www.placingpets.com