***WARNING: DO NOT TRUST!***
I've spent the last three days thinking about how I would articulate what I recently experienced with Carla. I feel it's best to stick to the facts. Here are some of them:
INSTRUCTION: "He's a military PTSD emotional support animal, which takes precedence over him being a pet. He's got a job to do, so please only pet him if he is sitting or laying. He is not allowed to jump up, bark, whine, play bite, or be on any furniture/beds."
FACT: The sitting/laying rule was not enforced, as Carla continuously petted, scratched, and played with him, invalidating much of his training. Additionally, I came home after 4 days to a broken retractable leash and a dog that would bark and whine constantly.
INSTRUCTION: "He knows he's not supposed to cross that threshold of the kitchen without being specifically commanded to do so, but he may try to sneak one in on ya, so make sure to close the gate to the kitchen at night and whenever you're not within general eyesight."
FACT: Carla messaged, "I've been letting him run free at night or when I am napping." He was allowed to roam free, even being permitted to go upstairs, which has been off limits to him for the two years he's been alive.
INSTRUCTION: "It is VERY important that he remain disciplined"
FACT: Having not heard from Carla the entire day, I logged into my puppy cam while out-of-state on vacation to discover the dog is missing.
11:15pm Me"Is Chase ok?"
1:20am Me "Carla, where's Chase?".
1:39am Carla "He's with me lol!"
1:40am Me "Where??"
1:41am Carla "Sterling Stage" "Were in Sterling at my friends campsite :-)" "Its on Kent Rd in Sterling" "I assumed I was ok to take him with me? He's definitely having a good time! We left pretty late because I had a drop in visit in Clay to do." "I didn't want to leave him home...assuming the cameras in there are motion activated/live stream" "definitely if you want me to keep him home let me know"
1:55am Me "Absolutely, positively. He’s not a traditional “pet”. I had no idea about any of this. He’s supposed to be home. If you have alternate plans that preclude this, please let me know ASAP so I can book a morning flight." "I can’t call you from where I am. At this point, I’d really just like to know he’s home, safe, and taken care of in the most basic of regards. Simply what the detailed instructions have been, and nothing more."
2:02am Carla"I know he is in training to be a service dog but assumed it was ok to take him wherever." "...like I said, just assumed he'd want to be part of the action wherever I was. I usually do that with my Rover clients just to get them out of the house..."
INSTRUCTION: Please do not table feed or give him anything to consume other than what is supplied.
FACT: After hours without word of where my dog was, I received a message stating, "Home, stopped for breakfast and Chase had a breakfast sandwich...he is fine. Rover reached out to me because I guess you called them?"
FOLLOWUP:
Upon making the decision to terminate Carla, our surveillance system notified us of movement when she finally entered the house, two hours after saying she was "en route". We began to monitor it and she proceeded to verbally complain, upset that we had involved Rover in the reacquisition of my dog, calling it, "Drama, drama, drama"-despite taking the dog for an unauthorized overnight visit an hour from my residence to go camping with her friends. Once able to make visual contact to ensure the safety of the dog, as well as the property which she had the key to, we messaged her to leave the key and leave the house. After 25 minutes and a call to Syracuse Police Dept, she finally left the property. I cut my vacation short and returned to NY to find the dog extremely dirty, acting highly unusual, and had to take him to the vet due to gastrointestinal problems from his ingestion of food he was specifically not supposed to eat.
I leave it to you to form your own opinion.
