Save Farrah - Negligent Rover App Sitter Injury
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When I waved goodbye to Farrah as she drove off in the back seat of her Rover App sitter’s car on February 14, I could not have anticipated the months of one-on-one care and costly medical bills that would follow. In preparation for our first annual Valentine’s Day event for over 500 guests, my boyfriend and I knew it would be best for our four miniature Dachshunds to stay with a pet sitter. They are by nature a very anxious breed when left alone. We hired a pet sitter with the Rover App, a woman who had watched our pets three times before. With tons of things to do prepping for the event, we paid extra for the Rover sitter to pick up and drop off our pets: Lily (mom), Fred (dad), Murphy (son), and Farrah (daughter).
Exhausted after hosting a very successful party, our biggest one yet, the Rover sitter asked the next day to keep our pets for another night, free of charge. I presumed positive intentions: maybe her daughter had a late night dance class to attend; maybe she had a bunch of errands to run; maybe she was sitting other pets and it was more convenient to drop them off the next day. I was exhausted and needed rest, so didn’t think anything of it and agreed to the next day drop-off… Later that after some rest and time to clear my head, I thought, “Why would she do this free of charge? What if something bad happened to them? Why didn’t I consider this before and ask for a reason why?” It was too late in the evening to say anything, so I slept it off and awaited their arrival the next day.
It was after 5PM the next day and still no word. I messaged the sitter on the Rover App and tried calling. She said she needed a couple more hours and would be over soon. Three hours later she finally arrives with all four pets, picking them out of her car one by one. Last to arrive was Farrah. I was MORTIFIED to see she whimpering as she waddled into the house dragging her left hind leg behind her. I immediately asked her sitter what happened. She told me that Farrah was “trying to pee on her carpet and a Razor scooter fell on top of her.” She proceeded to ask her 10 year old daughter to show me “the picture”: a pee puddle with a silver Razor scooter leaning against a nearby wall. Immediately I pictured the scooter falling on her, breaking her leg, causing her to pee herself. With tears in my eyes, not knowing what to do, I said “thanks” and closed the door immediately to tend to her.
Farrah whimpered to the touch of her back leg. She needed to be carried to go pee, to be put on the bed, to do anything. I knew something was broken. She whimpered and cried ALL night long. She couldn’t get comfortable. My poor little baby. Of the four dogs, she is the only one who is untrusting of humans she doesn’t know well. I cry every time I think about how scared she must have been. How solidified her thoughts must be about strangers after this.
As soon as they were open, I called Rover to report the incident and ask about their policy. I was told they may not even consider offering help as I let the dogs stay for another day with the sitter without using the App. I actually did all of my text communications through the App, and it was their contracted sitter that offered to keep them free of charge. They told me they would let me know as soon as possible what vet costs they’d cover.
The next day I took Farrah in for an emergency vet visit. After taking several x-rays (as pictured), we discovered that my two year old baby girl’s left pelvis was SHATTERED! The vet told me that farrah clearly had blunt force trauma to the right side of her body because her right eye was completed bloody red, no white in her eye. She said Farrah should get better with time on her own, but if she hadn’t made any progress in a couple month’s time, they would consider surgery. I was heartbroken.
Since then, she has seen the vet every two weeks for a check-up, and she’s been referred to an orthopedic surgeon who is recommending an $8,000 surgery: $6,000 surgery, $1,700 Cat Scan, and $300 follow-up visit. I’ve considered suing Rover because the refuse to cover her vet bills after one month from Feb 14. A broken bone apparently takes months to heal. Rover should have an insurance policy to cover injuries like this or require their consultants to have insurance. I’ve considered suing the sitter to cover these costs, but I truly believe she can’t afford it and it would take a lot of money and headaches to work through that process.
I’ll never know what actually happened to her, but I do know that her sitter obviously kept the pups an extra day to see if Farrah would get better. She bathed all four dogs. I can’t even imagine the pain that Farrah endured during that bath - her baths are much longer than the others because it takes awhile to wash all of the soap out of her long wavy hair.
I’m here to ask for your help to give Farrah a second chance at walking normally for the rest of her life. I truly appreciate reading our story and any donation you can give. Thank you.
Exhausted after hosting a very successful party, our biggest one yet, the Rover sitter asked the next day to keep our pets for another night, free of charge. I presumed positive intentions: maybe her daughter had a late night dance class to attend; maybe she had a bunch of errands to run; maybe she was sitting other pets and it was more convenient to drop them off the next day. I was exhausted and needed rest, so didn’t think anything of it and agreed to the next day drop-off… Later that after some rest and time to clear my head, I thought, “Why would she do this free of charge? What if something bad happened to them? Why didn’t I consider this before and ask for a reason why?” It was too late in the evening to say anything, so I slept it off and awaited their arrival the next day.
It was after 5PM the next day and still no word. I messaged the sitter on the Rover App and tried calling. She said she needed a couple more hours and would be over soon. Three hours later she finally arrives with all four pets, picking them out of her car one by one. Last to arrive was Farrah. I was MORTIFIED to see she whimpering as she waddled into the house dragging her left hind leg behind her. I immediately asked her sitter what happened. She told me that Farrah was “trying to pee on her carpet and a Razor scooter fell on top of her.” She proceeded to ask her 10 year old daughter to show me “the picture”: a pee puddle with a silver Razor scooter leaning against a nearby wall. Immediately I pictured the scooter falling on her, breaking her leg, causing her to pee herself. With tears in my eyes, not knowing what to do, I said “thanks” and closed the door immediately to tend to her.
Farrah whimpered to the touch of her back leg. She needed to be carried to go pee, to be put on the bed, to do anything. I knew something was broken. She whimpered and cried ALL night long. She couldn’t get comfortable. My poor little baby. Of the four dogs, she is the only one who is untrusting of humans she doesn’t know well. I cry every time I think about how scared she must have been. How solidified her thoughts must be about strangers after this.
As soon as they were open, I called Rover to report the incident and ask about their policy. I was told they may not even consider offering help as I let the dogs stay for another day with the sitter without using the App. I actually did all of my text communications through the App, and it was their contracted sitter that offered to keep them free of charge. They told me they would let me know as soon as possible what vet costs they’d cover.
The next day I took Farrah in for an emergency vet visit. After taking several x-rays (as pictured), we discovered that my two year old baby girl’s left pelvis was SHATTERED! The vet told me that farrah clearly had blunt force trauma to the right side of her body because her right eye was completed bloody red, no white in her eye. She said Farrah should get better with time on her own, but if she hadn’t made any progress in a couple month’s time, they would consider surgery. I was heartbroken.
Since then, she has seen the vet every two weeks for a check-up, and she’s been referred to an orthopedic surgeon who is recommending an $8,000 surgery: $6,000 surgery, $1,700 Cat Scan, and $300 follow-up visit. I’ve considered suing Rover because the refuse to cover her vet bills after one month from Feb 14. A broken bone apparently takes months to heal. Rover should have an insurance policy to cover injuries like this or require their consultants to have insurance. I’ve considered suing the sitter to cover these costs, but I truly believe she can’t afford it and it would take a lot of money and headaches to work through that process.
I’ll never know what actually happened to her, but I do know that her sitter obviously kept the pups an extra day to see if Farrah would get better. She bathed all four dogs. I can’t even imagine the pain that Farrah endured during that bath - her baths are much longer than the others because it takes awhile to wash all of the soap out of her long wavy hair.
I’m here to ask for your help to give Farrah a second chance at walking normally for the rest of her life. I truly appreciate reading our story and any donation you can give. Thank you.
Organizer
Pamela Stiles
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA