Want an animal in your life but not the commitment?
Share My Pet is an online platform matching fur babies around Aotearoa with human pals.
A selection of the dogs seeking companionship on Share My Pet
Founder Lili Wenzel tells Jesse Mulligan she got the idea after seeing the happy reactions to her own sociable little dogs on beach walks.
"People just seemed to have a need to be amongst the animals and we started questioning why it was they didn't have their own pet."
While dogs make up about 90 percent of the animals on Share My Pet, there are also alpacas, rabbits, guinea pigs, cats and horses available, Lili says.
The service attracts about an equal amount of owners and borrowers, who are often students, travellers, families who live in rental properties and elderly people.
Helena, a 72-year-old from Motueka, says spending time with a local border terrier has "opened up her world again".
Helena from Motueka, joined Share My Pet at 72 after the loss of her terrier (above). Photo: Supplied.
On the owner's side, Share My Pet is not a substitution for doggy daycare or pet-sitting, Lili says, but it is a great option for people who understand how happy it makes their pet to have more companionship and exercise than they can provide.
"A lot of pets have been overjoyed at having owners working from home and maybe as they transition back into offices they realise their fur babies."
The cost of Share My Pet membership works out at about $6.25 per week, Lili says. The owner and borrower don't exchange any money and only exchange personal details once they've met in person.
Sometimes the connection shared isn't just human to animal.
A Nelson hospital worker seeking a dog to go hiking with for stress relief matched not only with a dog called Koru, but eventually with his owner, too.
"He not only really liked the dog, he really liked the lady. And now they've actually adopted another dog that they co-own and they all go hiking."
