How OnlyPaw protects your pet on every booking

Five safeguards run on every OnlyPaw booking without you having to opt in. Here's exactly how each one works.

1. Provider verification — mandatory, not optional

Before any provider can accept a booking on OnlyPaw, they must complete a three-step verification:

• Government-issued ID upload. Passport, national ID card, or driver's licence. Photo of both sides.
• Selfie match. A live selfie is taken through the app camera (not uploaded from photo library — prevents ID theft). The selfie is matched against the ID photo automatically.
• Boarding hosts: 3–5 home photos. Photos of the actual boarding environment — sleeping area, feeding area, outdoor access. Reviewed manually.

Providers who fail any step cannot list. Providers who provide fraudulent documents are permanently banned and reported to relevant authorities.

2. Service-specific knowledge test — 70% pass mark

Different services have different failure modes. A dog walker needs to know pavement-temperature safety. A boarder needs to recognise bloat symptoms. A pet taxi driver needs to know carrier-securing procedure. A groomer needs coat-type handling. A trainer needs positive-reinforcement fundamentals.

So we built six separate knowledge tests — one per service — each with 10 questions covering the safety-critical failure modes for that service. Providers must score 70% or higher to be approved for that service. If they want to offer boarding AND walking, they take both tests.

3. Stripe-escrow payments — funds held until confirmation

When you book, your card is charged and the funds go into a Stripe-managed escrow. The provider does the service. When you confirm the service was completed correctly, the funds release to the provider (minus OnlyPaw's platform fee).

If something's wrong:

• You can flag the booking as disputed within 48 hours of the service end date.
• Funds remain in escrow while OnlyPaw support investigates.
• Typical resolution: 24–72 hours.
• Outcomes range from full refund → partial refund → provider payment, depending on evidence.

You don't chase the provider. You don't chase the bank. OnlyPaw + Stripe handle it.

4. Insurance on every booking

Every OnlyPaw booking includes baseline insurance covering provider-caused pet injury or illness. Coverage limit is displayed at booking time and depends on the service (higher for boarding and pet taxi, lower for one-off drop-in visits).

Additional cover is available for:

• Extended boarding stays (7+ nights)
• Multi-pet households
• High-value pets (working dogs, show cats, breeding animals)
• Providers who list themselves as "senior-pet certified" or "medical-needs certified"

Claims are filed through the app and typically resolve within 5–10 business days.

5. Live GPS + photo proof on every service

Walks, taxi rides, and boarding all have proof-of-service tracking:

• Walks: Live GPS route recorded start-to-finish. You can watch it in real time. Mid-walk photos are automatically sent to you.
• Pet taxi: Live GPS from pickup to drop-off. Stage-by-stage notifications ("Driver arrived", "Pet loaded", "Trip started", "Destination reached").
• Boarding: Minimum daily photo check-in from the host. Video calls on request.
• Grooming / training: Before-and-after photos (grooming) or written session notes (training).

6. Emergency button — 24/7, one tap

Every active booking has a red Emergency button visible at the top of the booking screen. Tapping it:

1. Alerts OnlyPaw support in real time.
2. Puts you and the provider on a shared call/chat within 90 seconds.
3. Escalates to a case manager if unresolved after 15 minutes.
4. For medical emergencies, OnlyPaw support connects you to the nearest 24-hour vet in the provider's area.

The button is not a "chat with support" button. It's a "something is actually wrong right now" button.

7. Chat moderation — off-platform contact blocked

Our in-app chat automatically flags messages containing phone numbers, email addresses, WhatsApp handles, or external messaging invites. These are blocked pre-booking-confirmation because off-platform bookings lose every safety protection above.

After a booking is confirmed, phone-number sharing is allowed so you and the provider can coordinate at drop-off / pickup.

Report a safety issue

If something has gone wrong — provider was unsafe, pet was harmed, provider is a fraud, chat was inappropriate — please contact our safety team immediately: safety@onlypaw.net. This inbox is monitored 24/7 and every message is triaged within one hour.

For criminal-level incidents, we cooperate fully with local law enforcement and preserve evidence per legal-hold procedures.