The embattled dog-walking app Wag, which is billed as the equivalent of Uber but for dogs, the app found itself at the centre of yet another controversy after another dog dies under its care. A woman who hired the dog-walking service says the dog-walker picked up her dogs at 7:30 am and returned home at 8:18 am with Bella in a limp and seemingly lifeless state.
Dog turns up dead under Wag's watch
Angela Composto, the 52-year-old woman from Long Island, accused the company of killing her pooch after she hired its dog-walking services. She told the New York Post that she used the app last month to hire a dog-walker for two of her dogs: an 8-year-old Yorkshire Terrier, Bella, and 3-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Chloe – and the former returned home in a lifeless state.
"I couldn't understand how a little dog goes out on a walk and comes back dead," she told the publication. Composto, who hired the dog-walking service as she was away from home, says the dog-walker, named Hannah, brought her dogs home in a limp and lifeless state, according to the footage obtained from her surveillance cameras.
While the walker noted that Bella "took a fall," she iterated that she would put the dogs in their crates and stick around for a while to make sure the dogs were okay. However, when she checked the security camera footage remotely, she realized that the dog walker left six minutes after she returned with the pets. Composto then contacted Wag and they sent another dog-walker to check on Bella, who found the pooch dead in her crate.
"I can't get it out of my mind that [Hannah] possibly could've saved [Bella] ... and I'll never know if Bella was alive and just needed to get to a vet ... or if she was already dead," Composto said. A necropsy later revealed that Bella had suffered trauma to the left side of her skull and leg.
Repeat Offender
This isn't the first time a dog has been killed under Wag's supervision. As many as 15 dogs have either been lost or killed by the app since 2015. In June this year, a dog-walker working for Wag was found to be responsible for the death of another Yorkshire Terrier after he took the dog out for a stroll without its dog collar.
Around the same time, one of Wag's dog-walkers allegedly stole a Manhattan couple's dog, prompting actress Olivia Munn, who is an investor in the company, to get involved. Last year, a Houston-based couple whose beloved pet died under the care of one of Wag's employees, alleged that Wag told them that they would only receive the compensation if they agreed not to tell anyone about the incident.
Just last month, the company grabbed headlines after a pet sitter working for Wag was caught on camera stealing from the pet owner's home.
