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My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

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Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#391
post #11

This happened recently: Wag! dog walker charged with animal cruelty; customers concerned about industry background checks http://www.ktvu.com/news/wag-dog-walker-charged-with-animal-... EDIT: and the settlement letter sent from Wag: https://www.scribd.com/document/397139013/SNews-Copie1901081...

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Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#392
post #179
post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting story but someone I work with was actually severely rear-ended by an Uber driver heading to the airport, and she said the driver's insurance wouldn't cover the driver because the driver was acting as an Uber driver at the time of the accident. Don't know the insurance co., but I definitely remember being shocked by the fact that they wouldn't cover the driver for that reason

Commercial insurance is whole different ball game than personal insurance. Personal insurance typically doesnt cover commercial use. Driving for Uber is a commercial activity. I guess uber has an insurance policy that covers their drivers during rides now, so hopefully that kicked in to take care of your friend. Everyone should read their insurance policies to know their exclusions.

> covers their drivers during rides now

In the US. It's not clear if they have this anywhere else.

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A wise and correct perspective. Grief is an emotion and emotions are inherently subjective. Our cat died two years ago and although we've had a few cats over the years, this cat was special. I was totally unprepared for the grief and pain that I, and the rest of my family members, experienced. I didn't feel like I could really even talk about it with people outside the family because it sounded ridiculous to so many…

I have found grief to be in direct proportion to the emotional dependence we have. A pet would have been more consistently there in times of emotional distress, while an aunt would not have been. It's not a question of animal vs. human, it's a question of which has more time and feeling invested, and humans tend to invest their emotions more in pets than each other so it hurts more when they're lost.

A counselor I saw once defined grief as love with nowhere to go. I think that connects well with what you suggest here.

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has lost friends and family members, as well as pets, it feels the same. I see this dichotomy quite a bit in the public discourse, regarding dogs especially, where 1/2 the world treats dogs as family and the other half thinks they are some play toy/object. We have been living with wolves/dogs for a long time now, we're responsible for how they have evolved, and part of that is how they have evolved to…

I appreciate you responding and explaining your perspective, even though we may disagree on the issue. > 1/2 the world treats dogs as family Do you think that half the world, if given the choice between saving either their dog or a stranger's child in a disaster situation (e.g. a house fire), would choose their dog?

I'm going to say after reading some of the other responses that there's something seriously fucked up about the idea that you would save your dog. If you even, for a minute, thought that saving a dog with a life expectancy of 10-20 years tops living as a pet for someone's indulgence is remotely comparable to saving a child - who might live to 80 as an independent being - give yourself an uppercut. I'm a dog lover and love my dog, but I would sacrifice her in a heartbeat for a child - any child, regardless of whose it is.

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my experience, people signing up for these type of work range from generally ok (most Uber drivers) to absolutely desperate for money (living out of car, signs up for petsitting while owner is vacay). It seems the lower the bar of entry in terms of capital, the shadier it is. Ie Uber at least requires you to have a car, which involves some kind of credit check which is embodied in the car procurement before it e…

>From my experience, people signing up for these type of work range from generally ok (most Uber drivers) to absolutely desperate for money Come on down to Miami, where it’s not unusual for the actual uber driver to be different than uber drivers profile. You can’t really get more shady than exploiting undocumented immigrants who can’t get a DL, and having them illegally without a DL by driving under someone else’s u…

That's no different than traditional taxi services. Getting a taxi license is time-consuming and expensive in most places (as sometimes you have to buy from an existing license-holder)

Taxi drivers will therefore try to maximise their investment, so they have people driving their car 24/7, on shifts.

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wouldn't surprise me at all. My dog is part of my family. She comes before any stranger.

I can't argue with an opinion, but this is just mind-blowing to me. Judging by everyone else's comments, it doesn't appear like yours is an isolated opinion either. I'm just at a total loss for words. I had no idea so many people value animal life above human life.

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Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#397

Family has a dog. Family's dog needed a walk. There is a dog walking service called Wag. Family hires unidentified walker through Wag. Dog dies. Wag doesn't care and doesn't want to be held accountable. Family announces incident on Facebook. First world problems.

that's not what "first world problems" means. That's for people making a big deal about trivial problems. This isn't trivial, it's terrible.

Why I agree this is terrible, you might want to reconsider your comment also. Pets are a luxury for well-off people. It is in no way a necessity of life like food, or a basic shelter.

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#398
post #58

Seems to be something that, sadly, is to be expected from this generation of SV and SV-like companies that believe than any problem (usually a very First-World problem) can be solved with technology, and all the bad things, and negative externalities, can and should ber swept under the rug on the way to a billion dollar exit.

You are perfectly right, all of this is a result of the SV techbro culture of growing at all cost.

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#399

Incredibly stupid decision to respond this way by Wag. How bad to you have to be at PR to screw this up? It's not hard. Liability in the case of harmed pets is extremely limited, so you just pay it all and apologize profusely. There's no way the bad press will be worth saving a couple thousand maximum. Absolute idiots.

> Absolute idiots Agreed. You do three things in a crisis: 1) Acknowledge the problem. You killed someone's dog. This hits like losing family. "We're opening an investigation" is a chickenshit message. 2) CEO needs to speak. Personal call from the top. If a dog is seriously injured or killed while on your watch, the CEO must make the call. This shows seriousness to the customer. It also ensures top brass feels the pa…

I can easily imagine the policy started like this, and multiple dogs having died in the hands of the Wag service, but over time by gradient descent they slowly tested moving to greedier and greedier policy as long as no scandal arose, such that most people felt powerless and grudgingly took the little on offer. Until they encountered this principled owner!

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has lost friends and family members, as well as pets, it feels the same. I see this dichotomy quite a bit in the public discourse, regarding dogs especially, where 1/2 the world treats dogs as family and the other half thinks they are some play toy/object. We have been living with wolves/dogs for a long time now, we're responsible for how they have evolved, and part of that is how they have evolved to…

I appreciate you responding and explaining your perspective, even though we may disagree on the issue. > 1/2 the world treats dogs as family Do you think that half the world, if given the choice between saving either their dog or a stranger's child in a disaster situation (e.g. a house fire), would choose their dog?

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