Vancouver pet parents found themselves looking for a local pet sitter when they needed to head out of town for a friend’s wedding. After much research, they found a pet sitter they believed they could trust from a popular online pet sitting service, Rover. What started out as a fun weekend with friends, turned into a nightmare for the loving dog parents.
Michael and Shannon Brennan dropped off their beloved pup Sami with a pet sitter on a Friday before they left town for the weekend. Within 24 hours they received a concerning text alerting them to the fact that Sami had escaped the pet sitters care, and is now missing.
Our beloved Sami is missing! She’s wearing a black harness & was last seen in the East 47 and Knight St area of #eastvan around 8:30p on Sept 7. Missing since Sept 6th from the home of a negligent pet sitter. If you see her, pls don't give chase! We are devastated #bringsamihome pic.twitter.com/Ok9jwAxyc8
— Shannon Brennan (@Shanrosebrennan) September 8, 2019
Not only did the pet sitter send them this troubling news over a text, but then refused to help search for the pup, and even asked the distraught pet owners to stop contacting him.
‘I’m sorry, your dog is gone. I will no longer be responding to any more communication with you,’ and that was it.” –Brennan recalls the message from the pet sitter.
The Brannan family rushed home to begin their search for their sweet Sami. Four days went by with no luck in their search efforts. They recruited family and friends to help them search every inch of the streets Sami may have roamed, but still could not find their beloved fur baby.
Shannon was able to spread the word of Sami’s disappearance on social media, which helped to bring in a tip of a possible sighting of Sami in a nearby neighborhood. They walked every inch of that neighborhood for 11 hours with no luck, and began to wonder if they would ever be reunited with Sami. A life with the Brennan family was the only life Sami had ever known. The thought of him being alone and scared broke their hearts, and they were beginning to break.
A friend recommended leaving Sami’s favorite bed behind in a last ditch effort, just in case it left a scent for him to follow. Shannon laid his favorite bed in a friendly residents front yard, and asked them to contact her right away if there was any sign of the missing pup.
Sure enough, that next morning Sami was seen lying in his bed, clinging on to scents of his family. Michael rushed to the area, and was able to lure Sami in with some of his favorite treats. The family was finally reunited!
Michael and Shannon are determined to prevent this from happening to other families, and demand action from Rover to remove negligent sitters.
“Following an incident, our team will conduct an in-depth investigation and take appropriate actions, such as removing users from our community.”- Rover representative
The Brennan family is so relieved to have their sweet boy home. Sami will surely be catching up on all the cuddles and belly rubs that he missed out on during his time away!
H/T: bc.ctvnews.ca
Image Source: https://www.facebook.com/michael.brennan
Toledo, United States.
