Seeking Justice for Max - Tragic Loss in Pet Sitter's Care

I’m sharing this on behalf of my dear friends Seulbi and Jae, who are going through something no pet parent should ever have to endure.

On July 6th, their sweet 14lb. Maltipoo, Max, tragically passed away while in the care of his regular Rover sitters, Kevin and Lauren. Just 30 minutes after dropping Max off, they received a video call through the Rover app. They were told that "something bad happened to Max," and asked Max's parents to pick him up. Max's parents instructed them to take Max to the VCA emergency hospital immediately.

When Max arrived at the hospital, he had no pulse, was not breathing, and was unresponsive. Despite over 20 minutes of CPR, he was pronounced dead.

The hospital’s initial findings were devastating and disturbing. Because LA Public Health required rabies testing using the entire brain—standard protocol when an animal passes away after reportedly biting a human—they were unable to perform a necropsy. Instead, they requested a full-body CT scan to better understand what happened to Max.

When they called Kevin to understand what had happened, he told them that after returning from a walk, he grabbed Max by the fur on the back of his neck to remove his harness—though this makes little sense, as the buckle was located on Max’s back. According to him, Max bit his hand, and he “instinctively threw Max.” Max reportedly hit the ground, began bleeding from the mouth, seized, and went still.

When they looked at the medical report, Kevin told the hospital something else—that he was gesturing Max to come up and then Max bit his hand.

Multiple veterinary professionals who reviewed the CT scan have stated that the severity and pattern of Max’s injuries—especially the multiple fractures—would require extreme force. (details are not included as there are active investigations ongoing)

To make matters worse, my friends later learned that someone else—whom they were never told about—was living in the apartment and returned Max’s belongings. Lauren, one of the listed caregivers, told animal control she was not even present when it happened. They were never told another person would be around Max, nor were they informed that Lauren would not be actively involved in his care during this stay, despite hiring both of them.

Since that horrible day, neither Kevin nor Lauren has reached out with any apology or thorough explanation, but instead provided only a written statement to animal control through an attorney.

While Rover did remove both sitters from their platform and covered the emergency vet bill, Rover concluded their internal investigation stating this was a tragic accident and attached a legal waiver that would take away any rights to pursue legal action or make this incident known to the public if they would like to collect any further reimbursement—including Max’s aftercare—which my friends declined to sign because they are still fighting for answers and accountability.

This GoFundMe is to help cover the cost of:

A message from Max's parents:

"Max was more than a pet—he was family, our baby. He was loving, loyal, gentle, goofy, and waiting just to love and be loved back from the first day we adopted him. He was just getting to enjoy life, that was cut too short at 4.5 years. We are devastated by his loss, and we are determined to seek answers—not just for Max, but for every pet parent who trusts others to care for their beloved animals.

Thank you for standing with us and believing that Max’s life mattered. Every share, every donation, and every kind word helps us move closer to the truth. "