Get to Know Me
My name is Sam, I have been running Starks and Barks for the last 8 years. I am half French and half British and grew up in France just over the border from Geneva, Switzerland where I went to school. I graduated from the International School of Geneva in 2003 and came to the UK for my university studies. I graduated from Winchester university with a BA in education and theatre and went on to do an MA in international communications.
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Following my MA, joined TT Games Publishing as a QA and French Localisation tester (2008-2011). Sadly my company moved the QA department out of the area and I was unable to move so I accepted the redundancy package offered. I then moved to Microsoft Reading (2012-2012) to do testing for them and as they only work on short term contracts once my project was over I was out of a job so I volunteered with Cats Protection, I answered their phones on a weekend and provided advice to the callers as well as taking details of lost/found cats, new adoption requests and rehoming requests to be passed on to the correct team.
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I also volunteered with a local dog rescue and took their dogs out for walks as often as I could. Through CP I got employed with a company providing pet taxi for clients as well as animal transport from the local vet to the overnight hospital. I realised very quickly that although the work was a bit unpredictable, I loved it and wanted to do it full time. I set up Starks and Barks and got a couple clients. At first I only had a few dogs but that quickly expanded to more dogs and cats. I worked 7 days a week from 8am - 10pm as I still worked with the taxi company and eventually gained some wonderful regular clients.
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In 2009 my husband and I adopted Alfie from Cats Protection, he was only 3 months old and had been dumped in someone's garden and left to starve. I met Honey in 2015 at the vet while waiting for my overnight cat transport to be ready. She had been signed over to Cats Protection as she was not always using the litter and her owners couldn't afford to investigate what was wrong. CP struggled to find someone to foster her so my husband and I agreed to foster her long term. Sadly after 6 years with us she passed away in June 2021 from cancer. She was well loved and had a wonderful retirement with us.
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In 2016 we welcomed my son who has joined me (until 2020/2021 due to school) on every dog walk and pet sitting job. All my cats and dogs love spending time with him and he is learnt how to look after animals so he may occasionally join on some pet visits.
Sadly with Covid-19 and the lockdowns in 2020 I had to put my business on hold, I was in regular contact with all my clients and I'm happy to say that I have all my dogs back including some new ones as well as some of my cat clients as we start to slowly recover from the pandemic.
I understand how difficult it is to leave pets and go on holidays, I used to leave Alfie and Honey at a cattery when we left but after two stays, they made it clear they hated it so I would book my fellow pet sitters to come and look after them for me.
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I am fully insured and dbs checked (all proof is given at our first meeting) and comfortable giving medication (fluids, tablets, eye drops) to your cat should they need it.