I work to deadlines. Unnegotiable deadlines. I often come home late, and there are weeks when I don't see the sun. I leave home before the sun rises and get home after it's gone down.

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So by the weekend, the last thing I wanted to do was clean the house.

 

A few years ago, I hired a cleaner to come every second Friday afternoon.

 

It was fantastic.

 

I'd come home to a clean house, sleep in on Saturday morning and actually enjoy my weekends again.

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For a couple of months, everything was great.

 

Then one Friday evening I came home and saw the side gate standing open.

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I panicked.

 

I found Duke in the backyard. Completely unaware that he'd just taken a few years off my life.

 

I don't blame the cleaners (a married couple). They cleaned the house beautifully. They just didn't realise that closing the gate was every bit as important as vacuuming the carpet.

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It got me thinking: Nothing happened to Duke. He was fine. Probably wondering why I was making such a fuss. But I couldn't stop wondering about what could have happened.

 

What if he'd wandered onto the road?

 

What if he'd been injured?

 

What if nobody knew where he belonged?

 

Then I thought about the animals that don't have anyone waiting for them: Who looks after them when they're injured? Who pays their vet bills?

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For years, I'd quietly donated part of my income to animal charities, including WIRES. When I started thinking about Pawsitively Clean, another thought occurred to me: If the business could cover its costs—maybe even make a profit—why not use part of that profit to help animals that don't have anyone looking after them?

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That's why we donate 1% of every clean to Australian animal charities.​