Under Fetch's care (Jane), my dog was hit by a car and died that night. The details of the worst night of my life -the night Fetch lost my girl (who would've turned 5 and I've had since 8wks) and also left her sister alone un-watched in a hotel the same night are below.
Based on our online application, Kathleen (the owner) calls me to discuss my dogs specific needs. For our rehearsal dinner and wedding night at the Omni Rancho Las Palmas, we need a sitter to watch Mickey and Ellen in the hotel room bc Mickey has separation anxiety and can open doors when she's alone. I emphasize this to Kathleen and with this information, she tells me her experienced sitter, Jane, is up to the task and can handle the situation. Kathleen could've turned our business down after hearing about Mickey, but she was excited and confident for Jane to watch them for my wedding.
The night of our rehearsal, I meet Jane at 6pm in the lobby and walk to the room where my parents are with both dogs. I repeat to Jane like I told Kathleen- Mickey has separation anxiety and can open doors when alone so not to leave the hotel room and just watch her and her sister carefully. Being extra careful/taking all precautions, my mom even repeatedly asks her if she needs to use the restroom bc it is out of sight from the door. If she needs to go, be extra careful- make sure she can still see Mickey.(She could've used a leash to take mickey to the bathroom area or even put on the door chain if Mickey wasn't with her). She says no I don't need to go at all I'll sit here on the couch and watch carefully. All this takes about 10 min with Jane before we leave for the rehearsal dinner.
At 7:09pm I get a call from Jane who says Mickey got out when she was going to the bathroom (we later find out this was just 20 min or less after we specifically asked if she needed to go and to be extra careful if she did). We rush out of our rehearsal and after 2 hrs of searching with our 40 dinner guests, I am told a dog is hit by a car near the hotel and we find that it is Mickey. We rush to the only vet open at that time but she was hit in the head too hard. I passed out from the extreme grief, shock, and pain and the ambulance is called for me. My girl was gone.
Later, we discover based on cell phone records, what Kathleen details in an email, and witnesses that Mickey got out around 6:30-6:35pm, but I wasn't notified until at least 34 min later at 7:09pm- time wasted where we and our 40 guests could've helped search/found her since dinner was at Roy's down the street 5 min away. I'm forever tortured knowing Fetch could've called over half hour sooner and maybe we could've found Mickey and saved her life.
Furthermore, during this time (over half hour) Jane has completely left Mickey's sister Ellen alone in the room. She not only waited to tell us that she lost Mickey so we lose the first vital 34 min or more to find her when she first gets lost, but she should've called immediately so someone could watch Ellen during this time esp since she already lost Mickey. When Jane does call, my parents find Ellen alone in the bridal suite and take her with them during the search for Mickey.
Doggy daycare/overnight pet hotels, friends/fam have never lost Mickey under their watch with the exact same knowledge of Mickey. So, I'll never understand how a professional vetted dog sitter who was repeatedly given specific instructions of how to care for Mickey let this happen. I think she was negligent on her watch and just didn't listen to our specific instructions for Mickey.
A witness working at the hotel who saw Mickey run out of the room and tried to catch her with Jane (who had a chance to corner her and call me then but failed) told me later he urged Jane to call me at that time- he saw Mickey actively running away from Jane so she clearly wasn't the owner and the owner needed to be contacted to get this dog but Jane refused saying she didn't want to ruin our dinner- it was still ruined just 34 min. later but now also our wedding and led to a tragic death. This witness knew immediately to call the owner in the situation but Jane a qualified experienced pet sitter according to Fetch (Kathleen) did not.
The worst night of my life was the night before my wedding when Mickey was taken from our family because Jane did not heed our specific instructions for our dogs.
Fetch may think this was an accident but in my opinion it was complete negligence for a co. who claims they care for dogs like "pet kids."We were not given the pet care Fetch claimed they would provide- so please consider this when choosing them as your dog sitter or walker. read more
