Business & Tech

Got to Go: More Than Just Taking Pets to Tinkle

Manalapan business Got to Go offers pet and house sitting services.

Afraid Fifi can’t hold it in while you’re at work? Got to Go is a pet sitting company that takes care of people’s pets in their very own homes. The company does not only care for dogs and cats, but also cares for reptiles, birds, fish, pigs, and horses while their owners are away on vacation or at work. 

The company is run by Stacey Klompus, who took over the 11-year-old business from her father five years ago. The business began in Marlboro, but is now run out of Klompus’ Manalapan home. Tired of commuting everyday into Manhattan, Klompus decided to take over the expanding business full-time while her father enjoyed retirement.

There are two types of clients with pets that use Got to Go: people who go on vacation and need their pet cared for at their home and daily clients who need their pets cared for while they are at work during the day.

Pet sitters will come to the house to feed, walk, and spend time with the animals while the owners are unavailable. The sitters will even stay overnight at clients’ homes when requested if the client wishes someone to stay with the animal.

“People sleep with their dogs and a lot of times when they go away they want to leave the dog home, but they know the dog is going to be lonely. So, they will have us sleep over there so the dog has somebody basically in the bed with them,” Klompus said.

To help build the sitter-animal relationship, the Got to Go employee holds a free “meet-and-greet” with the new client and their pet. This way the animal becomes familiar with the sitter and he or she can assess the pet to make sure it is not too aggressive to care for. The client also is able to meet and explain to the sitter what type of care they are expecting for their pet.

Got to Go also does pet transportation; they will pick up the animals and drop them off at the groomers or the vet when needed, a service which many elderly clients appreciate or need, Klompus explained. The sitters will also even make trips to the pet store to pick up supplies and food for clients.

In addition to pet care, Got to Go also house sits. Many of Got to Go’s clients do not have any pets and simply want their home looked after while they are away on vacation for a long period of time.

Got to Go employees will check up on the home, sift through the mail and forward important letters, flush toilets, and make sure no damage occurs to the house.

Klompus told a story of one client who was in another country for six months and their basement flooded. Got to Go had the damage examined, they met with the inspectors, and had the basement cleaned up and radiated before the clients came home.

Now, Got to Go also does what is called “waiting for people”. Klompus explained that while clients are at work the sitters are hired to come to their home and wait for a repair man, cable man, or inspector. 

Klompus said that long lasting relationships with her clients are built and maintained over many years. The clients trust the company and will even call for last minute services which Klompus gladly takes care of. For instance, if a client decided to stay longer at an event than expected and calls the company to ask if a sitter could go to the house to feed the dog.

“We really service the clients with a lot of things that we didn’t even think we knew we were going to do,” Klompus said. “A lot of times our clients will ask us, ‘Can you do this?’ and we wind up being able to help them out with things. And what’s nice is it becomes like a family with all of our clients because we’ve been in business for so long.”

With so many different types of services offered, each one has a specific price based on the amount of service and what each service costs.

Got to Go has multiple pet and house sitters all throughout Central New Jersey and Klompus matches up the clients to the closest pet sitter. There are currently 17 sitters on staff.

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They serve clients from as far south as Howell all the way up through North Brunswick, although their heaviest area of clients are located in Manalapan, Marlboro, and Freehold.

Clients log on to the business' online scheduling system and sign up for what they need, when they need it, and then Klompus matches up that client to the closest sitter.

Got to Go is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Klompus is nearly always on call. She and another employee work on scheduling the clients and the sitters, but she is always available to her sitters whenever there is a problem - such as a sick pet, power outage, or even clients who have forgotten to provide an extra key!

“There are always things that come up and my sitters know that I’m available all the time,” Klompus said.

And don’t worry about that extra key, Klompus said she has a very good relationship with a locksmith.


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