Families heartbroken after dogs go missing while in care of highly-rated sitter

6 hours ago 5

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – We are successful summertime abrogation season, a clip erstwhile plentifulness of favored parents permission their loved ones with strangers oregon prosecute a sitter done a service.

But what if your favored is mislaid portion you’re away?

That’s precisely what happened to 2 South Florida favored owners, and present they are connected their ain searching for their household member.

Hannah Lopez is devastated her canine Timmy is missing.

“That was my archetypal ever canine that’s been a puppy,” she said. “I raised him.”

She utilized to tally astir with her 2-year-old Aussie doodle time and night, and present her full household is mislaid without their 50-pound grey and achromatic fluff shot aft she says their favored sitter mislaid Timmy portion they were successful the Dominican Republic.

“She’s like, ‘well Timmy ran distant erstwhile I went to crook successful different canine to different customer. and helium ran away,’” Eric Lopez recalled being told by the sitter.

Timmy was being cared for astatine a location successful southwest Miami-Dade connected June 24 erstwhile helium went missing.

The Lopez household utilized Rover.com to archetypal find their canine sitter. This was their 3rd clip leaving Timmy with the sitter erstwhile the calamity occurred.

“She was connected Rover before,” said Eric Lopez. “We adjacent went and took the occupation of going to her location and doing similar a conscionable and greet with the dog, we tried to bash everything right.”

They person enactment up hundreds of fliers, launched drones and blasted online posts.

Not lone person they upped the reward to $2,000, but the full household is retired connected Krome Avenue holding up signs, hoping idiosyncratic volition admit missing Timmy.

But Eric Lopez feels his favored sitter has near him successful the dark.

“We went to sound connected the door, she didn’t unfastened the doorway for us, truthful we had to telephone the constabulary to get our dog’s worldly back,” helium said. “I would expect her to beryllium retired with america looking for the canine arsenic hard arsenic we were looking, particularly since she mislaid our dog.”

Local 10 News tried to scope the sitter arsenic well, but she refused to talk astir the incident.

A akin concern happened to Dylan Hurtado.

“Her credentials looked good, everything that she explained sounded authentic, I said that she was a bully fit,” helium said.

Hurtado hired a five-star-rated favored sitter helium recovered connected Rover.com.

But portion helium was successful Japan successful precocious March, helium recovered retired from a connection successful the app that his 10-pound reddish artifact poodle puppy named “Michael Jackson” besides went missing.

“She told us, ‘Hey, I don’t cognize if Rover has contacted you yet, but Michael Jackson is missing,’” Hurtado recalled.

The canine sitter told him she was watching different dog.

Both were successful a kennel unneurotic successful a backmost country that was near unfastened erstwhile the sitter said Michael Jackson escaped.

“How did the canine get retired of the house?” helium asked. “That’s wherever I’m confused due to the fact that she changed her communicative aggregate times.”

Hurtado said helium sent countless messages to Rover.com and filed a constabulary report.

Local 10 went to Brownsville, wherever Michael Jackson went missing and recovered missing canine flyers for him, but couldn’t scope the canine sitter.

Rover.com sent Local 10 a statement, which read, successful part:

“Most of america astatine Rover are favored parents ourselves, and we tin lone ideate the heartbreak and accent these owners are experiencing. We articulation them successful hoping for a swift reunion. The favored attraction providers progressive successful the 2 referenced incidents are nary longer capable to connection services done the platform.

“In the uncommon lawsuit that a favored becomes separated during a booked enactment from a attraction provider, Rover’s 24/7 Trust & Safety squad takes contiguous enactment to enactment hunt efforts. Our squad works diligently to assistance by backing printed flyers, posting connected pet-finding platforms that alert section shelters and veterinary clinics, offering a important reward for the recovered pet, and notifying adjacent sitters and walkers successful our community. All bookings connected our level are besides protected by the Rover Guarantee, which provides up to $25,000 successful reimbursement for eligible claims.”

It’s not precisely the reassurance those families are looking for.

More than money, some conscionable privation their dogs back.

“Rover has to beryllium much liable successful who they prime to beryllium a favored sitter due to the fact that anybody tin cod wealth to instrumentality attraction of a favored but not everybody cares capable to instrumentality attraction of a pet,” said Eric Lopez.

Both dogs are microchipped but inactive missing, and these families are devastated and heartbroken.

Anyone who decides to usage a third-party assets is urged to work the good people connected what work they volition instrumentality successful an emergency.

As for Rover.com, the institution claims these situations are uncommon and uncommon.

If you spot Timmy, delight telephone 786-356-8001.

If you spot Michael Jackson, delight telephone 786-445-5968.