Popular Dog Sitting App Under Fire for Alleged Mistreatment

The popular dog sitting app Rover has been under fire after a series of TikToks showing a husky with no personality and face injuries went viral.

The husky’s owner posted several videos six days ago, and they've already gained a combined 12 million+ likes.

The first video shows the husky laying on a bed, looking almost lifeless with a large injury on the side of his face and around his nose:

The second video proceeds to explain what happened that caused a usually excitable and talkative dog to be in such a depressive state. Apparently, the dog had just returned from staying with a dog sitter off of the app Rover.

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The video shows graphic photos of the dog’s injuries, as well as screenshots from the text conversation between the owner and sitter before he came to pick up his dog.

The sitter claims that the dog had severe anxiety while the sitter was in a cycling class, scratched up their door and seemed to have rubbed his nose raw. The owner stated how that seemed out of character for his dog, but didn't think much of it at the time.

However, once he picked his dog up later that day, he saw just how beat up he was and became skeptical of the sitter’s explanation. He asked the sitter what exactly happened, and they gave a similar answer about the dog scratching up the door and rubbing his nose raw.

While this could possibly explain the injury by the dog's nose and on its paws, it doesn’t shed light as to why there were puncture wounds on the side of the dog's face. It also definitely doesn’t explain why the dog seems to be traumatized and unable to eat or drink.

Unfortunately, it seems that this isn't the first dog to be injured while under this sitter’s care. A screenshot of a review from another dog owner explains that their dog was also injured by the same person. The review also states that the sitter seemed to prioritize their three-hour workout classes over the dogs they are caring for.

This is not the first time Rover has been under fire for the mistreatment of dogs staying with its sitters. There have even been cases of dogs dying under their services like a blind dog that died after falling off of a second-story balcony.

The Daily Dot shared a statement they received from Rover stating that the sitter involved was removed from the app and the husky’s owner was given a full refund as well as reimbursement for his veterinary bills. The owner has also been posting updated videos showing his pup's recovery as heals and slowly returns to his usual self.

Obviously, this incident doesn't completely define the company. There have been mostly positive experiences for the majority of their users; it's expected that accidents will happen. I just think this should be a cautionary tale that leaving your dog under the care of a stranger does have its risks.