You may have heard of Rover.com – a site that promises to “find you the perfect dog sitter” that takes your dog into their home while you are away on vacation….usually at a much cheaper rate than a professional sitter that comes to your home. The website claims to be a mediator that will put you in contact with safe homes to care for your dog while you are away. “No more lonely cages, just happy homes full of love!”
I wanted to share with you what happened to a family that recently used Rover.com’s services. If you ever consider dropping your dog or cat off for a stranger to care for outside your home do your research. Websites like Rover.com may have reviews, but you’re giving away precious cargo.
Before going away on a holiday at Christmas, this family decided to board their 3 year-old Shar Pei Akayla. Akayla’s dad used Rover.com to find a family to watch her. The couple found a dog sitter with positive reviews. She was advertising herself as looking to start a professional dog-boarding business. On December 24th, Akayla was dropped off at the woman’s home.
On December 27th, only three days after being dropped off, tragedy struck. Source:
imgur.com
The couple received a message, telling them to call the woman boarding Akayla. There was “an emergency.”
While the woman was gone from the house, her own dog attacked and mauled Akayla severely.
It took 3 hours of surgery and 9 packages of sutures to patch up her neck.
Akayla stayed at the vet’s office until her family could fly home on December 30th.
This is how bad her neck was, even AFTER surgery.
She had drainage tubes placed in her neck (which is why this is so wet).
On New Year’s day, Akayla had to be taken to an emergency vet.
Her wounds began to emit a foul odor and the sutures were separating from the skin on the back of her neck.
Some of the skin was infected and needed to be removed in a second surgery.
Poor Akayla had to be put on antibiotics to try and stop the infection before it got too serious.
Then, after another surgery to remove the dead and infected skin, she was back on the road to recovery. The vet also placed an additional drainage tube into her wound.
Almost 4 weeks after the attack, Akayla is looking much better.
She even got a little bit of a face lift from all of the skin removal surgeries.
Putting your fur-kid in the hands of another person is always frightening. Thank goodness she survived the vicious mauling and was able to recover.
At Paws Pet Care Pet Sitting & Dog Walking we take care of your fur-kid in the privacy of your own home. They are kept in their own familiar surroundings….around the sites, smells and sounds that they are use to and not in the presence of other animals. We don’t even “pack” walk dogs together! All of our services are private services, meaning that we are taking care of your pet in your home only.
We would love to serve you! Call us at 502-802-5052 or visit our website at www.pawspetcareathome.com for more information regarding our award-winning services.
By Beth Green
Pack Leader At Paws Pet Care Pet Sitting & Dog Walking
502-802-5052
info@pawspetcareathome.com
Source: imgur.com
Do you think this is a reflection on rover.com, or simply a dumb dog sitter?
Hey Joe!
I know that Rover does NOT have a vetting process, training, or any requirements whatsoever for their pet sitters. Anyone and everyone who wants to be a “pet sitter” can do so. So I definitely believe that this is a reflection of a combination of a lack of good business practices from Rover along with an unqualified individual.
Unfortunately my daughter Courtney obtained Rover’s services while visiting Athens Ga. On Aug 8, 2019 for her 1 1/2 year old dog Nori. At 5:30 pm on August 8, 2019 the dog sitter who’s employed with Rover by the name of Cameron claims Nori “somehow” got out of her harness and ran off in Athens near Milledge and Macon HWY. His story is SHADY & Rover the company itself is claiming NO RESPONSIBILITY! They’re hiding behind this so called disclaimer!! So my daughter Courtney is out there searching for her Nori alone! We are (Courtney’s parents) and we’re driving 6 hours to be with her during this difficult & stressful time, while also assisting in the search for Nori. Rover is completely useless & NO ONE SHOULD EVER USE THERE SERVICES!!!! BEWARE!!!! This entire experience has not only been excruciating but also heartbreaking!!!! Nori has been gone for 2 days and no one has seen her since.
I do not think that ALL Rover pet care givers are bad, but Rover makes it VERY EASY for people who don’t really care about companion animals to sign up to just make a quick buck. And when tragedy happens, it makes the whole industry look bad. Thankfully I have processes and procedures in place to help make sure accidents like this do NOT happen and if something did (and it never has) I would certainly take responsibility for it no matter how painful it would be for me to do so. Ms. Williams, I am so sorry for the loss of your daughters baby. My condolences to you and your whole family. How awful!
Rover doesn’t screen their clients, that I know. I know someone that takes in dogs via rover and then takes off for the entire day leaving the dog in a crate. It’s disgusting. This person has a criminal record too, yet Rover claims they screen their clients. NOT! She only takes crated animals. DO NOT USE ROVER.
No accountability or responsibility to the client with “app” businesses like Rover, Dog Vacay, etc.
Another issue of Rover is their poor customer service to the pet owner. My dog’s eye was scratched deep by the sitter’s cat during the stay. They even tried to ask me to pay the deductible out of my own pocket, not the sitter and refused to reimburse me any money on vet bills after 2 months. But my dog’s eye takes much longer to recover and needs more vet visits.
Well, Rover is a TECH company…not a pet sitting company and they have NO satisfaction guarantee. They are an “Uber” for dogs and cats. We believe that the best place for your dog is in the safety and comfort of YOUR home…not in a strangers home with their pets. We’d love to serve you or refer you to a privately owned professional pet care company that will provide stellar service for you.
I dog sit on rover and am very careful. You do a meet and greet before and I never take a dog that I cannot handle. You do have to be careful with any kind of dog sitting business that you leave your dog at. My brother used a private business like this that also claims to do background check and the lady stole his mail and left his dogs to use the bathroom all over his house for the week he was gone. Owners- be smart. Rover isn’t perfect.
Darcie, you sound like someone that I would love to have on my team. 🙂 We have state-of-the-art software that our sitters use that let us (managers) know that they are there when they are suppose to be and are completing their services on time and accurately. If the visit isn’t marked complete, another sitter or myself (owner/manager) is dispatched immediately. When our sitters mark their visits complete, the client is notified that their visit was done. This happens whether we do 1 visit per day or 5. We have never missed a visit in over 10 years. You should apply to be a Paws Pet Care sitter!
Hi Paws Pet Care, I found your article on google. While I completely agree with you about getting a bad sitter I disagree with the part about dogs should only be in their own home and with no other dogs. That isolation is not what they need. They need someone who is competent, fully trained, and has years of experience. Where and with who does not matter if the sitter is a professional. What you left out is how many years of experience your staff has on average, what training and certification each staff member has, what safety protocol you follow, and how rigorous of a background/criminal record check you do. These are thing things that matter…. not whether the dog is at home vs a new place or by themselves vs with other dogs. I could not find answers to any of these questions on your website. Thanks for reading.
Hey Mike!
I don’t think I said that dogs should not be with other dogs exclusively. Some dogs are social and can be ok with other dogs and some dogs are NOT social and do better in the comfort and security of their own home. However I do believe there is a lack of knowledge for the general public on the proper introduction of dogs that will be socializing together. Most folks do NOT understand dog-body language and cues that identify when aggressive behavior will occur BEFORE it actually happens. I would never board my dog in someones home who was not properly trained to be able to identify these cues. All our pet sitters are bonded, insured and go through a state/local background check. They must be referred to me by clients or pet care professionals that they have already provided care for or have worked for. I only hire experienced pet sitters and dog walkers. They must take and pass a pet care test. The majority of my staff has an average of 10 years or more experience in working with companion animals…some more.
I’m a sitter for Rover have 10-15 clients and have never had a problem with any dogs. I do a meet and greet with the owner and the dog I have had dogs that were not good fits and we agreed (the owner and myself that they need to find another sitter or make other arrangements. Whenever I have a question or concern they were there to help. Are they perfect no and I would be willing to bet your company isn’t either
Pretty darn near. Come work for me! 🙂
Rover is absolutely not safe and I have all the details and thousands in vet bills to prove it. The sitter responsible for permanently paralyzing my dog is still available and recommended for hire on Rover’s website. Users looking to hire a sitter have no idea if anyone listed has a prior record of complaints, incidents or accidents, because Rover will NOT remove offenders.
Read our full story here: https://www.babysavers.com/is-rover-safe/
Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry for your experience! I suggest going with a locally owned and operated PROFESSIONAL pet sitting service, not a pet APP. Your service provider should be licensed to do business, bonded and professionally insured and be able to show you documentation. They should also be able to provide a background check to you if you request it, since they will be making visits to your home. You should be able to see online reviews from sites like Google, Angie’s List, etc and also ask for referrals! I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions! – Beth Buster, Owner at Paws Pet Care Louisville, Kentucky
OMG, I am so sorry about Jersey! What a little cutie! I would be absolutley livid if this happened to my pet. I just started my petsitting services on Rover because I am now able to give my undivided attention to it. I know there is a need for genuine caring and affordable pet sitting. I am getting a lot of inquiries on the site, and I’m wondering if there could be a possibility of a client coming over to do me harm. I agree that it could lure dangerous people to the site, they only asked for my SS number, and it seemed pretty easy to set up the account. I already booked 2 appointments. I truly love animals, even more so than humans, and it would never occur to me to put the animals in my care in a dangerous situation just to make more money. I underpriced my services just because I truly love having dogs around, and know they will be well cared for and loved just like my own. It does seem scary having complete strangers come into my home, and I would be a bit nervous leaving my furbabies with just any random person. But I am holding onto my faith that there are good people in this world. We hear all sorts of horror stories in all aspects of pet services…it’s not just Rover. Veterinarians, groomers, breeders, etc….all can be bad apples. Just do your research as much as you can.
I am so sorry for your horrible experience! I did a meet and greet with my little girl recently. The woman wouldn’t even let our dogs meet. We walked them for approximately two minutes than she let me in her house. She instructed her four year old child to take their dog upstairs. Mine was left downstairs. How would I ever know if they got along? I wouldn’t! Then, she proceeded to show me the room where she keeps the dangerous dogs. That’s right, DANGEROUS dogs, but don’t worry, they are usually muzzled, and sometimes there is a fence up, unless there isn’t. My baby is 23 pounds. Can you imagine? It states on her profile that her child does well with dogs. She continuously pestered my dog. The mother kept yelling at her kid to stop, ad threatening time out. Huge red flags. I asked her how many dogs she takes at a time, since her profile stated (2) plus her dog. She said, “LOTS!”
People don’t know what the hell they are doing. We will no longer travel because we can’t rely on a trustworthy sitter for our fur baby. I called Rover and told them about it. They told me to call Animal Control. WHAT???
DO NOT USE ROVER!!!
You should try a professional in-YOUR-home pet sitting service in your area. I network with sitters all over the world…if you’d like for me to give you a reference I certainly could. It’s really the BEST option for your pet. Of course you need to do your homework to make sure they are licensed, bonded, insured and background checked. They should also be able to point you in the direction of reviews on Angie’s List, Google, Yelp and the like…and also provide references! Let me know if I can help. – Beth Buster, Owner of Paws Pet Care
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