What if you were out of town and got a call from a vet hospital letting you know your dog had an extensive injury? Meanwhile, you didn't even know from the sitter there was an issue, he was injured and needed SURGERY.
'Little Ziggy' is characterized as a super spunky dog in the interview that Jesse Jones with KIRO7 News conducted with his owner. 'Ziggy' was lost AND injured while a pet sitter watched over him. The last text the owner received from the sitter said that "everything is good" and then he heard from a local vet. At this point, Ziggy was badly injured and needed medical attention. What happened?
Thanks to the dog's microchip the owner was found while he was away or perhaps he wouldn't have been connected with his dog at all.
What do we know?
Ziggy was found at a local park and some good samaritan rushed him to the hospital. Animal Control was not contacted that the animal was lost. According to the investigator's report, Ziggy jumped out of the car after getting into a fight with another car. The sitter told officers the dog was aggressive. What's really awful is the report had tons of inaccurate dates and information.
The worst part of all of this is that the owner literally found out about his injured dog from the animal hospital. The sitter didn't communicate that any of this had occurred.
Jones did get a statement from Rover.com.
The sitter was cited for a leash law violation. All of this is absolutely horrifying. Look at this injury!
Pet owners need to be very careful when hiring a pet sitter. They should check references and I'm just not sure these apps like Rover.com or Wag sitters are an option anymore as there are too many of these stories. We've written a handful just this past summer. Dog sitting services shouldn't be comparable to services like Uber. it's not just about convenience. One woman even reported about her dog's death.
Rover.com does have a background check but it's clearly not the same as having actual experience and good judgment. Thank goodness Ziggy is ok.
Thank you, Jesse, for reporting this story as we live in SW Washington and this is the first time we'd heard this story. This happened two months ago.
Please let us know if you think of these services like Rover and Wag. Leave a comment below with your story.
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