A Peabody, Massachusetts, man used a popular pet-sitting app to find someone to take care of his dog while on vacation last summer.
He was returned home with about $3,000 worth of damages, but is now warning other pet owners.
When Travis Anthony and his partner went to California in July, they left their dog with an overnight pet sitter they found on the Rover app.
“Her profile at Rover was pretty good,” Anthony said. “She had at least 25 to 30 great reviews, so she had five-star reviews.”
They have had success with this app in the past. So they met a sitter in advance, felt they could trust them to stay in their home, and set out for a week.
“Everything was going well. I checked the cameras in the living room and nothing seemed out of the ordinary,” Anthony said. “I watched some videos of her playing with our dog and it was great.”
However, the connection to the surveillance camera was then lost.
“I was starting to get a little nervous about not having access to the camera,” Anthony recalls. “But I was still trying to stay calm. But then one day I realized that our car was not at home. Because our car is a connected car and the app on my phone And we knew where it was…what was it? It was some strange address. At that time we were very worried and panicked.”
Anthony said she did not give the sitter permission to use the BMW and left the keys in the locked master bedroom. He asked a relative to come pick up his car, but he canceled the service because he couldn’t find anyone to take the dog.
“The worst part was not knowing exactly what was going on,” he says.
They got their answer when they got home.
“As soon as you walk in, you can smell burnt oil and other odors,” he said.
There was smoke and soot damage from a kitchen fire.
“It was obvious that she had rummaged through a lot of our stuff…our closets and drawers were obviously ransacked…like someone had ransacked the place,” Anthony said. explained. “Now I know why I couldn’t access the camera, because apparently she had either removed it or removed the cables to the modem and router as well.”
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Archived surveillance footage showed the sitter attempting to disable the camera and bringing three other dogs into the home. She also said she witnessed a stranger smoking on the couch, and both the man and the sitter drove off.
“The most infuriating thing is that she used our car over and over and over and over again. And then she got in our car at night and didn’t come back until the next morning. That’s why our dogs weren’t being supervised,” he said.
Anthony filed a police report and two weeks later realized her debit card was missing from her home and called police again to report it had been used. The sitter has been charged with theft and credit card fraud. He also filed a complaint with Rover.
“They gave us a refund for the reservation. But if we want them to cover the damage, we have to take out homeowner’s insurance first and what our insurance doesn’t cover. I was told it would cover everything,” he said. He said.
Rover said:
“While we strive to help pet parents find and book the services of pet care providers who provide loving care, this is far from the typical experience on the rover platform. We understand the trust Mr. Anthony has placed in his sitter and are deeply upset by this.” “That trust has been violated. As soon as we were alerted to these concerns, we Our 24/7 Trust and Safety team has launched a thorough investigation. We have removed the sitter from our platform, which means they can no longer list their services on Rover. , Mr Anthony has been fully refunded and we are prepared to reimburse him for eligible costs through the Rover Guarantee.
The Rover Guarantee does not apply to losses covered by your homeowner’s insurance. Therefore, Anthony must pay his $1,000 deductible.
On the other hand, Rover says:
”The safety of pets and people on our platform is always our top priority. All sitters who list their services on Rover must first pass several security measures, including a criminal background check conducted by an industry-leading third party, and have their profile reviewed by a member of our team. . ”
The company did not say whether it regularly checks for updates.
Anthony recommends potential employment to others using Google apps. His sitter’s name appears in the police diary released.
“If I had Googled her first, I would have immediately thought, ‘This isn’t going to work.’ And based on what I saw, I canceled it.”
For several years now, Rover has required all sitters to pass enhanced background checks, including careful monitoring for crimes such as animal cruelty, to protect the health of pets and the people who book care through Rover. He stated that it is mandatory.