This was posted over at /r/legaladvice by drowningandromeda
Hi. I’ve never posted here before so let me know if I’m not doing right.
Like the title states, I entrusted my two dogs to a Rover.com sitter while I went out of town. Two days later I received a terrible email stating that one of my dogs had died instantly due to being attacked by a known aggressive 150lb mastiff. The dog sitter had taken in the mastiff for her sister “just for a couple days” unbeknownst to me and locked it in a shoddy pen next to a broken deck my dog was able to get into and was killed instantly.
She then abandoned his dead body at a local Banfield and did not give them instructions to cremate or bury so I don’t even know where his remains are. Rover support told me they’re sorry and that they have no systems in place to compensate for a dead animal — that their guarantee and insurance are only for vet bills if your dog gets hurt on a Rover stay — which makes it sound like a dead dog is great business for them because they don’t have to pay anything.
Also, the lady that was watching my dog gets to go on with her life as nothing happened – I’d like to bring charges against her but don’t know how the process works. If it matters, her husband owns the house this tragedy happened at.
After calling several law firms, it seems like cases involving animal law aren’t taken up by many attorneys. I was able to find one animal law dedicated firm but haven’t heard back. What are my options in regards to suing, settling, or taking this to court?