Pet Sitter disappears & dog missing!

[Tobi]

A 'pet sitter' was employed to look after a dog by Filippa Mondlane and her sister who went on holiday. But the pet sitter has disappeared, giving a false telephone number. The dog, a Jack Russell, has completely disappeared too.

http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/wf...ref=twtrec

This must be causing such pain and stress for the dog's caretakers. If a pet has to be left in the care of a 'pet-sitter' it's always wise to check the person out thoroughly first, ask to see references, and make follow-up inquiries on them. And I think the same should be done for dog-walkers.

Goodness knows what has happened here....

[Catherine]

How horrible for the dog and his people. I guess pet care and child care should never be contracted over the internet. You just don't know enough about the person even if they belong to a company.

I am sure the refund will help to pay for the search, but it can't begin to help the people. Now knowing where their dog is will bother them for the rest of their lives. It is possible they will never find anything out.

It is safer to pay a friend(that you have known for years) or a neighbour or at least get someone who is recommended by a friend.
I can see why the people I have boarded animals for are so grateful. They know I care for their pet the way I care for my own.
I live next door to the cat that I sometimes cat sit. I can see the house from my place and pop over in minutes just to check on things.

A random stranger is just to risky. Even a kennel would be better because at least it is a business that has a physical location.

I really hope they get their dog back. I wonder what else the sitter was up too, after all why would she disappear.

[LeonilCraig]

This is lesson we should use use a professional pet sitter. Before anything like this happen, We should have a background check before intrusting our loved pets to anyone!

[LPC]

I feel very sorry for the caretakers of the dog. No doubt they genuinely thought that by using a professional pet-sitting company all would be well. They thought that this was a better choice than being in a kennel. However, sadly they made a mistake. As you say, Catherine, it is always best to use someone you know - a good friend or relative, for example, or someone who is well known in the local area for his/her love of animals. Choosing someone you have never met via an agency is just too risky - as happened in this unfortunate case. Even kennels can be checked out first by a visit, and although many pets do not like being there, at least the owners can be sure that their pets will be there on their return.

I find the words of the agency very questionable: "We do carry out checks on our pet-sitters so we are working on tracking the pet-sitter down." If they carried out checks on the pet-sitter, then why was the address false? Even a simple check of Google Maps would have shown the address as a supermarket! I think the claim of their having checked this pet-sitter is questionable, to say the least.

I hope that this petnapper is caught. They could equally post photos of the lady concerned, asking anyone knowing her to contact them. This may not be the first time she has done this.

I do so hope that the dog is found and returned to his rightful owners.

[Tobi]

I agree, LPC, as you say, a basic Google map search would have discovered that the address she gave is bogus. The "Holidog" company can't have checked out this person, "Rose" very well at all. That is not good, and is bound to affect their trade.
The dog is reported on doglost.co.uk and there are many re-tweets on Twitter for him. Let's hope he is found very soon. I do hope so.

[Catherine]

I do hope the dog is found. I feel for the owners. They must be so upset.

I would hesitate to use an online pet service. You don't know who anyone is and even their references might be fake. I think if Holidog does not show more responsibility their business will be effected badly by this. It should be effected badly. Clearly the pet sitter was not well known to then.

It is better to have a local pet sitter who lives near you. People in your own neighbourhood will be able to verify who they are and how they are with animals.

It works the same for the pet sitter. I don't like taking in an animal from a stranger. It could just be a pet abandonment. I did have two hamsters left with me. They never did come back. On the phone their excuse was that they just bought a puppy and didn't want the hamsters anymore.

Some things are too important to be left to chance and the hope that a total stranger will care for your pet as much as you do.

So did the pet sitter lose the pet, steal the pet, sell the pet or worse.