A dog-walking app has been accused of covering up the death of a pup, who was killed in the care of one of their employees.
Last Thursday, Nick Moore wrote an emotional post on Facebook that said he and wife Sara‘s wheaten terrier, Winnie (not pictured above), was “hit and killed [on December 10] while on a walk with a walker that [they] ordered through” app Wag.
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According to the social media message, the Houston, Texas owners became suspicious when the walker they ordered “had a different name in her bio paragraph than was shown on her profile.” Apparently, when his wife asked for her name, the employee “did not provide an answer.”
Things became more disconcerting when Sara “did not receive the confirmation that Winnie’s walk was over.”
Although she “called the walker, the walker answered and assured Sara that Winnie was home safe.” However, “five minutes later Sara received a call from a Wag representative saying that Winnie was not home safe, but had been hit and did not survive.”
To this day, the couple claim they “do not know a single answer as to who was involved, what happened, where it happened, or why it happened.”
Although the company offered to “take care of all of the expenses, such as Winnie’s cremation,” they allegedly asked the owners to sign a “non-disclosure agreement” where they couldn’t tell anyone what happened, leave any negative reviews, make posts on social media, or hold Wag or the walker responsible.
After they refused to sign, the company allegedly told them “the agreement was now ‘null and void.'”
In an article posted on Wednesday, Nick told BBC that the lack of information they received about Winnie’s death “makes the healing process very difficult,” adding:
“When you don’t know what happened, your mind fills the empty space with worst case scenarios that play over and over… Its been a terrible experience and we are both still going through it.”
Allegedly, the record of Winnie’s last walk was deleted from the app.
In a statement to the publication, a Wag representative said:
“As a company of dog lovers and pet parents, we’re deeply saddened about what happened to Winnie… The walker, along with a good Samaritan, took the dog to a nearby veterinarian immediately after the accident… The walker has been deactivated from the Wag platform… We use a robust vetting process that includes an application and verification process, a third-party background check, and online tests covering dog safety and handling knowledge that each applicant must pass to be approved to work on our platform.”
The couple are “welcoming a new puppy [named Rory] from the same breeder in February,” and “will not be using Wag” ever again.
[Image via WENN.]
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