please help me with contract for boarding my dogs....
I'm drawing up the contract today that I plan to use to board my dogs....its really really hard becasue I don't know how to lay it out. There are a lot of things I want to include but I want the contract to be as simple and readable as possible. I wanted to break it up into sections like: General, rights and responsibilities of owner, rights and responsibilities of boarders but what I am running into is that there are a lot of things that seem to overlap....
ALSO, I want to say something to the effect that the condition the dogs are coming into their care in is quite poor. I want to specify that condition (that they are underweight, nails grown out and their resulting behavioral issues) and say something to the effect that they are going to help with treating some of those conditions (being underweight and the behavior.) The reason I want to do this is both so that they cant say they didn't know what the condition of the dogs would be (which i don't think they would do anyways, but contracts are kind of a worst case scenario thing anyways) and so they wont call the cops to report me for animal abuse when I bring them....How do I phrase this so I am not sounding like I am trying to get away with animals abuse. I also dont know that I can specifically say something like "we agree not to report the owner for animal abuse/neglect" I also don't want them to think thier hands would be tied if they ever DID start to suspect animal abuse on my part (which would definitely never happen but if I was boarding somebody else's animal I would not sign something agreeing not to report them if I started to suspect they were mistreating their animals) Does any of this make sense? What should I do about this part of the contract?
I will post parts of the contract as I work on it today to get thoughts on bits, so check back in. Thanks guys!!!
if you scroll down about 1/4 of the way there are some links...they give you samples of lots of things that could be very useful...I know it is for a pet sitting contract but that is very similar to what you are doing...take a look...It might help you with a layout at least. Hope it is helpful.
http://www.petsits.com/kit.htm?gclid=CLbfksv_6JkCFdxM5Qod_n4nRg
Thanks, yeah that did help...I found a few others that are good too. Good idea.
okay, I have a part of the contract about emergency procedures....I have medical emergency, Dog is lost or stolen, household evacuation, and....I even wrote one up about an area evacuation...is that too much? I'm just such a freaking worry wort.
"Emergency Procedures
In addition to the General Boarding Contract items in the event that an emergency arises during boarding, boarder will follow these procedures to provide animals with appropriate care.
• In the event that medical attention is needed for serious illness or injury, boarder will make every effort to contact owner or designated emergency contact in addition to contacting veterinarian. In the event that none of said emergency contacts are reachable, boarder will act on the advisement of veterinarian and/or the medical staff overseeing dog’s care to do whatever treatment is necessary to keep animal stable until owner is able to be reached. Boarder will take animal directly to veterinarian if it is not possible for owner to do so quickly enough. Owner will be responsible for all charges arising from emergency veterinary care.
• In the event that one or both of the dogs are missing and boarders suspect the animal has run off, they will search the neighborhood for the dog(s.) If the dog has not been located within a half hour, boarders will make every effort to contact owner or designated emergency contact. Boarders will make copies of the appropriate “Missing” poster (attached with contract) and begin posting them around the area. Owner will reimburse boarder for the cost of the posters and is solely responsible for the “reward” offered in the posters if the dogs are found by someone other than then the boarder. Boarders will contact the owner immediately when the dogs are recovered.
• In the unlikely event that one or both dogs are missing and the boarders suspect the animal has been abducted, boarder will immediately call the police and cooperate with the investigation. Boarder will then contact the owner. Boarders will then make copies of the appropriate “Missing” poster (attached with contract) and begin posting them around the area. Owner will reimburse boarder for the cost of the posters and is solely responsible for the “reward” offered in the posters if the dogs are found by someone other than then the boarder. Boarders will contact the owner immediately when the dogs are recovered.
• In the event of an emergency evacuation from the house (for fire, gas leak, natural disaster, etc.) boarders will take reasonable action to rescue dogs as they would their own animals in so much that it does not endanger the boarders own safety. If boarders cannot safely evacuate the animals they will inform rescue responders about the dogs’ location and request that they be removed from the home immediately. Boarders will contact owner at first availability so that she can come get the dogs.
• In the unlikely event of an area/mass evacuation (i.e. natural disaster, etc.) boarders will take animals with them to a safe location if at all possible and inform owner. If it is not possible, boarders will put animals outside, into fenced in back yard (not in a kennel or tied out) and call to inform owner so that she can collect them if possible. If animals are left on the property, they will be left with access to food and water to last several days if possible."