D.C. furloughed feds are dog walking for income during shutdown

State of play: Some local pet sitters are including information about being furloughed in their bios on the pet-sitting app Rover.

By the numbers: And there was a 45% jump in the number of new DMV pet sitters and walkers signing up for Rover between Oct. 13 and Oct. 26 compared to the same period the year before, a spokesperson for the app tells Axios.

• This is a higher year-over-year percentage bump than what Rover usually sees.

Zoom out: It's not just pet sitting — feds are turning to all kinds of side hustles, like a Joint Base Andrews air traffic controller driving for DoorDash, or the IRS lawyer now slinging hot dogs in NoMa.

• A Lyft spokesperson tells Axios the group's seen "a modest uptick" in D.C.-area driver sign-ups since the shutdown.

Context: A large chunk of feds see the shutdown as a time for self-reliance.

• 41% of federal workers surveyed in a GoDaddy and HarrisX poll said that they'd start their own business or side hustle if the shutdown impacted their incomes.