Rover bills itself as the most popular pet-sitting app in the U.S., with tens of millions of bookings since the service was founded in 2011. But just like other gig-economy apps such as Uber and Airbnb, Rover is offered as a technology platform rather than a direct employer of pet-sitters. And that can lead to some real questions about who’s responsible when something goes seriously wrong.
Gizmodo filed a FOIA request with the FTC for consumer complaints about Rover lodged over the past four years. The FTC furnished us 85 complaints that mostly fall into two categories: First, there are the scams people have tried to pull off using the app—something that happens on virtually any app where people are being hired to provide a service.
In the second category, there are complaints from pet owners about things that have gone very wrong, including the most dire cases where dogs have been lost or even accidentally killed after escaping. And it’s that second category we’re taking a look at.
One of the complaints released to Gizmodo by the FTC is from a user in South Carolina who says she found a pet sitter on Rover in 2021 and dropped off her two dogs at the unnamed person’s house. The dogs escaped, and weren’t found until days later, according to the complaint—one dog dead after being hit by a car, the other alive. But the user says Rover didn’t do enough to help when the dogs went missing.
“Rover printed 50 flyers when they heard of the escape and another 100 when I called demanding more. This was the extent of their assistance in finding our dogs,” the user wrote in a complaint filed with the FTC.
That same user explained how their experience with Rover led them to find other communities on social media where people had also allegedly lost pets in the care of dog-sitters on Rover.
“After joining a Facebook group, I found out that this is not a limited instance and the death or severe injury of pets has happened countless times while under the care of Rover sitters,” the user wrote.
Other complaints filed with the FTC explain the emotional turmoil of losing a pet after trusting they would be looked after responsibly.
“My family and I are devastated needless to say, we didn’t just lose a dog we lost a family member,” one Rover user from California wrote about an experience using the app in 2022.
The FTC redacted sensitive personal information from the complaints, such as the names of the people and dogs involved, which is standard practice when documents are released by federal agencies under the Freedom of Information Act. And while those redactions make it impossible for Gizmodo to independently verify each claim, there’s value in identifying common complaints being made about any given company, as we’ve done with services like 23andMe, Robinhood, and FTX. Sadly, some of the complaints filed about Rover are every pet owner’s worst nightmare.
For its part, Rover notes that in the event something goes wrong, the company offers what it calls the “Rover Guarantee,” which provides up to $25,000 in reimbursement for some expenses like veterinary costs.
“We agree that even one bad experience is one too many, and we deeply appreciate the trust placed in Rover by pet lovers every day. Over nine million stays booked through our platform have received a five-star review from a pet parent,” Rover spokesperson Dave Rosenbaum told Gizmodo over email.
Rosenbaum stressed that every pet sitter on the Rover platform is required to pass a background check and complete a safety quiz before they’re allowed on the site.
“While almost every stay goes exactly as planned, in the rare instance where a pet is separated from their care provider during a stay, our 24/7 Trust and Safety Team will communicate closely with the sitter and pet parent to reunite the pet with their family,” he said.
“To best support the search by the sitter and owner, we sponsor a substantial reward for information that leads to locating the pet, and directly contact other local sitters on Rover, inviting them to join the search efforts,” Rosenbaum continued while noting the company donates flyers to hang in the area and posts in pet-finding forums.
Ten of the complaints Gizmodo received from the FTC via a FOIA are below. Very minor changes to spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been made just for legibility. The complaints are otherwise unedited regarding the substance of their given issues.
1) “We found the body of our first dog…”
Easley, South Carolina – July 2021
On June 18th my fiance and I left town to attend a wedding of a friend in Memphis, TN. We left our two dogs in the care of a Rover pet sitter in Greenville, SC. She called us frantic on Sunday, June 20th to let us know that our dogs had pushed through her fence and were loose in her neighborhood. We found the body of our first dog, [redacted], on Monday, June 21st on [redacted], she had been hit by a car and did not survive. Our second dog, [redacted], was found alive by us Thursday evening on the same road, less than a mile from where [redacted] was found.
Rover printed 50 flyers when they heard of the escape and another 100 when I called demanding more. This was the extent of their assistance in finding our dogs. It also took until Wednesday for them to assign us an agent to our case. This happened after another call from myself. They refused to tell us if the sitter had been removed and as far as we know, she was still accepting bookings when our first dog was found dead and during the time [redacted] was missing. She is under the Rover website as [redacted] and as of 7/6/2021 she is still accepting bookings.
Please help us get justice for our dogs. Rover has only claimed they will consider our suggestions of things such as training for the Rover pet sitters, home inspections, and emergency contacts for the pets. After joining a Facebook group, I found out that this is not a limited instance and the death or severe injury of pets has happened countless times while under the care of Rover sitters. Rover refuses to take accountability for their pet sitters in these tragic instances.
2) “He was lost for a few days, then ultimately was hit by a car and died.”
West Sacramento, California- November 2022
Rover is a dog sitting business. We had used a sitter through them, who negligently lost my dog. He was lost for a few days, then ultimately was hit by a car and died. Rover has sent me scripted emails and only offered reimbursement for cremation when we had spent much more in time, effort, and money for dog care while we had him. I had asked for a return call 3 days ago and never received a phone call back despite the grief that my family is going through.
3) “As soon as they got home, they rushed to the water bowl, as if their life depended on it.”
Sicklerville, New Jersey- December 2021
This is a complaint based on this online company ROVER, to honored their commitment to accountability for its purported service and their unwillingness to assume any responsibility for the financial damages as a result of their negligence. The events as follows:
1.- During the period June 16- 23, we brought our dogs, [redacted] and [redacted], to be dog sitted at [redacted]‘s house, which we had done now for years (under ROVER’s agreement). Both dogs were in perfect health. However, immediately upon the return to our home on June 23, 2021, we noticed that the small dog, [redacted], was soiled in her rear and also both dogs appeared dehydrated. As soon as they got home, they rushed to the water bowl, as if their life depended on it. Few hours later, both [redacted] and [redacted] had massive diarrhea. [Redacted], the older dog a German Shepherd, had explosive diarrhea, which persisted for many days (but she did not require hospitalization). But [redacted], the small, younger pup, started vomiting on the evening of the 23rd and having diarrhea. The next day, [redacted] appeared very ill and we noticed blood both in her stool and vomit (we attached pics with the initial report/complaint to ROVER). We brought her, [redacted], to the ER. [Redacted] was diagnosed with ACUTE HEMORRHAGIC ENTERITIS a very serious condition for small breeds, secondary to ingestion of contaminated water, human food or other items.
2.- We were never notified of any attempts at bringing the dogs to the Vet while at [redacted]’s house, or any notifications about their health.
3. [redacted] is required to follow up with her Vet, but we have not been able to get a prompt appointment. We incurred an additional expense of $1,050.00 plus time, on top of the original $600 for the “service”.
4.- We are requesting reimbursement for both, the fees paid for the sitting period and the hospital bills. This dog, [redacted], is particularly very loved by my wife, [redacted]. This whole experience has been very traumatic to her and life threatening to [redacted]. Attached find the evaluation notes and bills from the vet hospital.
4) “My family and I are devastated needless to say”
Lynwood, California – July 2022
Hi my name is [redacted]
I used (as I always do) this service named Rover which is a pet sitting company while my husband and I celebrated our anniversary.
My husband dropped off our dog July 6, 2022.
I reached out to our dogs sitter via text message regarding how he was doing. She in turn responded there was an emergency.
Our Sitter [redacted] lost our dog not just any dog my daughters very 1st dog she saved her allowance for months to pay for.
My family and I are devastated needless to say, we didn’t just lose a dog we lost a family member.
We’ve contacted Rover time after time, they haven’t done anything regarding [redacted] which means she’s still out there being a sitter for over pets.
5) “They are putting people and pets in danger…”
San Jose, California – November 2021
Rover posts ads that read “Pet care services you can rely on, day and night.” and “Trusted sitters” on Instagram. I booked a pet sitter through Rover, trusting Rover that my dog was in good hands while I was away. The Rover dog sitter lost my dog and I discovered that Rover is nothing more than a brokerage platform. They took no accountability or responsibility losing my dog and pointed me to the fine print that said Rover does not provide pet care services. Their advertising directly contradicts this and has hugely misled me. I learned that the sitter was responsible for the pet care services after my dog was lost. As a result I incurred huge financial costs to retrieve my dog and emotional distress in the process. They advertise ‘pet care services’ but do not actually provide them. They are putting people and pets in danger by advertising services they are not providing or taking any responsibility for.
6) “One of my dogs was found wandering the streets by a neighbor.”
Sacramento, California – August 2022
The company and dog sitters Rover recommended and deemed safe left my house an absolute wreck with ants, insects, spills on every surface of every room. Her job was simple and she had luxuries while she was here watching my two happy labradors. She filled my house with smoke which I’m still unable to get rid of. But above all she left my dogs on paid time in an unsecure location. One of my dogs was found wandering the streets by a neighbor. The other senior dog who she received specific clear instructions where to leave him so he would be safe had fallen. He was injured and is taking several days to recover. She also stole items from my home and has made it so I am unable to contact her. Rover won’t give me her information so I can file a police report. They will not give me her last name, phone number, birthday or address. This is absolute fraud and negligence. Most importantly I fear for her other clients and she said she had many booked this next month. Please help me and our precious animals. This can and will not stand. I cancelled her services before completion and they owe me this amount and so much more.
7) “Our dog went missing and found 5 days later.”
North Miami Beach, Florida – May 2023
We had our dog placed with this company for pet sitting service Dec 23, 2022. Our dog went missing and found 5 days later. He had lacerations and broke tooth. Rover reimbursed the first invoice for laceration repair, then refuse to pay for second invoice for tooth extraction due to fracture. Their excuse was they could not see if the fracture are fresh. Even though the vet doctor note gave the dog two new diagnosis upon he was recovered by animal service. We started doing some digging about this company. The animal service at Orange County Orlando, Florida stated they are getting more and more pets missing by Rover.com pet sitters. We saw many reviews about their sitter lost pet that they are sitting, refuse payment for damage, play phone game when we call them. With more than 10 calls we got the same pattern that customer spend long time then the case manager is not reachable, and the agent on phone can only leave message for the manager on case, but the manager never call back. This is not the company for pet sitting, they are not responsible, they did not offer any help to look for the pet they lost. The sitter family we had only followed our dog for a couple of block and concluded they are done.
This company should stay away from other people’s pet. With their unfair practice toward customer after the pet suffered injuries. It is even worse for add more trauma on top of already horrible situation.
Please investigate and reach out to their upper management office, since we as customer can not.
8) “He had NEVER, EVER, had any sort of health issues whatsoever.”
Olympia, Washington – October 2021
My husband and I were on vacation in California recently. On our second day there, I get a call from our vet saying that one of our dogs, [redacted] , was being brought in on suspected heat exhaustion. We had both of our dogs boarded with a lady we found through Rover. It was going to be very hot in our area, so the sitter wanted to bring in extra fans. She let the dogs out in her backyard for a little while to play before putting everyone up. [Redacted] was barking like mad right after being put up and was barking when the sitter got back. Whether or not he was barking the entire time, who knows. He was caged for about 2 hours. When she got back, he was barking, but also going limp and was glassy-eyed. On the advice of her vet tech sister, she tried to cool him down on her own in front of fans and with cool compresses. When that didn’t work, she took him into the vet. His temp was over 102 and he had bruising on his paws. When they finally got his temperature down, he started bleeding from his rectum, showed brain swelling, and neurological activity, which was indicating seizures. He had NEVER, EVER, had any sort of health issues whatsoever. I want to say it was at this point I called one of the doctors I work with and begged her to go and get our other dog, [redacted] , from this woman’s house and watch him until we got back from our vacation. I didn’t know what was causing all of this and at that point, I couldn’t risk something happening to him. She was gracious enough to do that for us. Our vet worked on him for half a day, trying numerous drugs to try and get him stable enough for a possible blood transfusion at a specialist office in Tacoma. This transfusion was going to cost $7-10,000 and there was minute chance of it working, and an even smaller chance of good quality of life afterwards. We were in beautiful Pebble Beach speaking with one of the vet doctors who told us they were doing their best, but that she felt they were prolonging the inevitable. We had to make the decision on vacation for them to stop their efforts and to put him to sleep. As I said, he’s never had any health problems whatsoever in the past. Was in perfect health. We called my mother-in-law to tell her and when we described his symptoms, she said they sounded like the effects of rat poison to her. We are sending him to Washington State University for a necropsy (animal autopsy) to find out what exactly happened. Whether his cause of death was natural or not (I’m inclined to believe the later), he had to have been scared and in pain. The vet’s office assured us they made him comfortable and that he was surrounded by a bunch of ladies in the office. I was thankful for that, but it was very hard on us that we didn’t get to say goodbye.
9) “The dog bowls had mold growing in them”
South Gate, California- August 2022
I am filing a complaint due to gross negligence, damages to our property and breach of contract by Rover pet provider [redacted] . On 08/21/22 night, I notified [redacted] that pet [redacted]’s owner [redacted] would relieve him shortly after 7:00 A.M. We asked [redacted] to give the pets, [redacted] and [redacted] their medication prior to his departure to ensure medication compliance. [Redacted] arrived at 7:05 A.M. [redacted] answered the locked door; [redacted] observed another man and pet provider [redacted] had been sleeping in my bed as they exited our bedroom. The dogs had not been given medication in a timely manner. The dog bowls had mold growing in them. Our hardwood floors had dog feces and urine. The dog pads in the kitchen were filled with urine. The dog beds have feces. We purchased extra supplies such as dog pads, etc. but [redacted] noticed that he had not used any additional pads. [Redacted] was not cleaning up the soiled pads and/or wiping the dogs. [Redacted] wiped down the dogs and bathroom, kitchen and living room area due to the extent of the odor and lack of cleanliness. Dogs were groomed days prior to [redacted]’s care, and when [redacted] arrived, the dogs were dirty. Dog food bags are filled with food; I have concerns dogs were not being fed. Our dog [redacted] has a laceration in his right ear that appears to be infected. Pet provider [redacted] was instructed to hand the key to [redacted] but did not turn in our key.Upon further exploration we have documented that pet provider [redacted] was staying in our home outside of the 7:00 am-8:00 pm shift, had 3-4 men on our property without our consent, negligent and did not meet the dogs’ needs, did not provide medications at appropriate times for Diabetic dog [redacted] and dog with Epilepsy [redacted], etc. [redacted] did not arrive on time to provide meds on the first day of coverage and neglected our dogs’ physical and medical needs throughout his time in our home. We have concerns of exposure to Covid-19, monkeypox and bodily fluids. The locks were changed. We are staying elsewhere due to safety.
10) “I was afraid if I confronted the sitter and was too direct—they might not come back to care for my animals.”
I went away on vacation for 2 weeks and hired a sitter through Rover (the pet sitting company). I did everything through the app as I was instructed to do. The sitter and I clearly discussed what the expectations were for while I was away. I have screenshots showing the conversation and her enthusiastic agreement. Payment was rendered through the Rover app as well (I paid $567).
I have a Ring doorbell installed outside of my apartment that time stamps when someone is outside of my door (entering leaving too). It became very clear on Day 2 of my vacation, that the sitter was not following through on what we had discussed. At all. Unfortunately, this left me in a very uncomfortable position because I was afraid if I confronted the sitter and was too direct—they might not come back to care for my animals. I was in Europe on my vacation, so it would not have been plausible to get back home in time for my pets if I made the sitter angry. Long story short, she continued to not care for my pets appropriately while I was away.
Immediately upon my return, I reached out to Rover Support regarding this issue. On their website, it clearly states that money is not released to the sitter until 2 days after the job has ended. Meanwhile, I did not hear anything back from anyone in their Support team for several days. By the time someone did respond, I was told that it was too late. I submitted screenshots of my conversation with the sitter, time stamps from my Ring doorbell proving that she was in and out of my apartment within 3 minutes, and I also submitted the video clips the Ring doorbell recorded as well to prove that it was the sitter going in and out.
After a month of going back and forth with the Support team (through phone calls and emails that went unanswered for days)—I was told that my money was gone and could not be refunded. When I followed up with the Support team—I was informed that no supporting evidence was submitted and that’s why I was denied a refund. No one will speak to me on the phone. When I call, I’m told that the Resolutions team do not have phones and cannot speak with me, but that they will inform them of my call so that they can follow-up in an email.
I have been nothing but kind to these people at this point and cannot even begin to fathom why this has been handled this way. I feel like I have literally been robbed. This is not okay. If needed, I can submit anything and everything the FTC may need to support my claim. I just don’t think they should get away with this. I understand that $600 is not a HUGE amount of money—but this feels like I have been blatantly ignored, lied to, dismissed, and stolen from by the company.
Please help me in resolving this. I appreciate your time and consideration. Thank you immensely!!
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