My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag • Hacker News Board

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

#411

Post by whistlerbrk » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 1:49 PM UTC

We had a nightmare story with Wag. My sister's dog was being walked by a new walker through Wag. The sitter brought our dog to a nearby fenced-in handball court and let him off leash, which he was not supposed to do. Her dog went to retrieve a ball that was stuck between the concrete padding and a chain link fence and in so doing severed several arteries in his paw.

The handball court looked, no joke, like a multiple murder scene. Dogs have 7 arteries iirc through their paws and so there was blood - everywhere.

I know this because I happened to have left work early and was eating dinner with my family nearby when my sister, away at work, gave me a frantic phone call that the walker called, freaking out, that her dog hurt himself and 911 refused to pick him up.

I ran to my car as far as I could, drove down to this park, wrapped up his paw, carried him into the car, and drove, breaking every light to the animal hospital. Along the way NYPD pulled me over and upon finding out what was going on, proceeded to escort us to the hospital, clearing the way (shout out to the 88th).

If I wasn't home, I'm not sure her dog would have lived. He needed several days in the hospital, blood transfusions and minor surgery. The walker could not have handled it poorer, he was hyperventiliating, completely freaking out, and couldn't get control of himself. I was nice to him, gave him water, calmed him down, but jeez he was a mess. No training, no proper incident response.

Don't use Wag.

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

#412

Post by dustincnj79 » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 1:55 PM UTC

bestnameever wrote: post #172

sizzle wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not put an IP camera on your pooch and front yard for the peace of mind and to verify they are actually doing their job?

I would imagine that placing a camera on a dog in this situation would be pretty illegal in a lot of states, especially if their dog is being card for in another person's home.

Yes most likely it would be illegal in a private residence however in many situations if the individual was advertising doggy day care then the individuals who's pets attend would have the right to record without the consent of the individual unless there was some specific statement in the terms and conditions stating that would be an inappropriate action on their premises which then should lead an individual to reconsider who watches their dog. Would you allow your child to be taken care of by a daycare business would not allow parental surveillance or supervision during any point of the day I would hope not and if in either situation you sign something stating you would not be allowed to surveil your pet or child and you continue using that a service then unfortunately the liability I believe is then on the consumer. Remember the old adage buyer beware. There are some pretty sick human beings in this world who often pray on the weak or innocent and it is the pet owners or parents responsibility make sure that their pet or child is not being abused especially when they are not able to verbally express when atrocities take place!

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

#413

Post by dustincnj79 » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 1:58 PM UTC

onion2k wrote: post #104

scott-smith_us wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please explain why wanting to hear both sides of a story gets an "OH COME ON!" from you?

We do have Wag's side of the story. They decided to only reimburse costs if a customer signs an NDA, and then they decided to revoke their offer when the customer refused to sign. Wag don't need to add anything more than that for us to know they care more about a very small amount of money than the dogs customers entrust to the care of the walkers they employ. To be honest the money is actually a small and distractin…

Does anybody know if wag does any type of background check which might show signs of an unstable individual violence mental health issues or something that might throw up a flare so maybe not hire them if they are not doing so then they are just as guilty as the individual who caused the death of the pet.

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

#414

Post by buzzdenver » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 2:01 PM UTC

lowercased wrote: post #405

beaconstudios wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These services like Wag and Rover have literally one job, and that is to make sure you trust the individuals watching your pet. I think this is where the key incentive misalignment is. These companies are rent-seeking, meaning they have a strong incentive to lower marginal costs. Vetting has to be the largest component of that so it's likely to be cut (or just dropped entirely). But the vetting is the entire point…

The vetting is 'crowd-sourced' with customer reviews, no? If 'Bill' thinks 'Leslie' is a great walker... what more should wag or rover need to do? Vet Bill now too!? That's just crazy talk...

It's not in the interest of the marketplace actor, like Wag, to see negative reviews, so I would not be surprised if Leslie's rating was doctored somehow. For example with Uber I had a couple of bad experiences with the driver not picking me up but starting to charge me, and I had to settle for getting my money back but could not leave a review because technically I did not ride with the driver.

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

#415

Post by glangdale » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 2:03 PM UTC

glangdale wrote: post #394

throwaway713 wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Also, while this is a wild hypothetical, a lot of uncritical celebrators of their dog's apparently human-like right to life and liberty seem overly willing to make the choice between (a) a hypothetical threat to their dog's continued liberty and (b) an unconscionable threat to the well-being of other people - kids, particularly - around them. Everyone who has a dog of some sort of 'questionable breed' who doesn't do everything in their power to socialize and control said breed is gambling with the lives of the animals, humans (kids and adults) around them. The demented sentimentalizing of All Sacred Canine Life has cost a few humans theirs instead.

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

#416

Post by dustincnj79 » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 2:05 PM UTC

I myself would only entrust my pet to someone I would equally entrust my child to and it wouldn't be from someone or service purchased on the internet or whatever means it was saught out without meeting the individual first and requesting a background check of said individual. I feel sorry for the owner of the pet but they also need to do their due diligence.

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

#417

Post by loceng » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 2:09 PM UTC

thomasec wrote: post #151

We had a similar (but thankfully, less serious) thing happen with Rover. We booked a dog sitter for 4 days with a woman named "Leslie". When we showed up to "Leslie's" place, the lady who we met did not match the person in the photo, and barely spoke any english. We were on our way to the airport, so I really didn't have a choice at that point but to leave our dog (I realize now I should have done more vetting, or me…

This is akin to the Airbnb model: tap into people's inherent faculties to determine trust on good packaging ("host guarantee" etc), good branding that makes them look reputable, and good customer service (at least on the service) - but then not give a shit once you look a little bit below the surface, meanwhile building brand recognition and perceived value to exit early investors and founders via an IPO transferring risk to the general public.

Getting VC money and scaling/capturing market share for these businesses artificially seems to be the recipe, the bigger the network effects the better (for them).

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

#418

Post by Siemens » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 2:09 PM UTC

Sounds like the dog was kidnapped to be sold for a profit.

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

#419

Post by beaconstudios » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 2:11 PM UTC

buzzdenver wrote: post #414

lowercased wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The vetting is 'crowd-sourced' with customer reviews, no? If 'Bill' thinks 'Leslie' is a great walker... what more should wag or rover need to do? Vet Bill now too!? That's just crazy talk...

It's not in the interest of the marketplace actor, like Wag, to see negative reviews, so I would not be surprised if Leslie's rating was doctored somehow. For example with Uber I had a couple of bad experiences with the driver not picking me up but starting to charge me, and I had to settle for getting my money back but could not leave a review because technically I did not ride with the driver.

I would think it would be beneficial for the marketplace to see negative reviews, because they will direct customers to the reliable dogwalkers, leading to greater customer satisfaction and retention. Badly reviewed dogwalkers could be bumped off the platform.

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

#420

Post by nkrisc » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 2:16 PM UTC

thomasec wrote: post #151

We had a similar (but thankfully, less serious) thing happen with Rover. We booked a dog sitter for 4 days with a woman named "Leslie". When we showed up to "Leslie's" place, the lady who we met did not match the person in the photo, and barely spoke any english. We were on our way to the airport, so I really didn't have a choice at that point but to leave our dog (I realize now I should have done more vetting, or me…

Just speculating here, but seems like this "Leslie" could be a person or even group of people who subcontract out the sitting duties to a bunch of people who will do it on the cheap and then send them way more dogs than anyone person should ever be watching.