TIFU: Rover sitter held my dog ransom

Obligatory this happened this weekend note.

So I needed a Rover. I was going to Indiana to my best friends lake house for a long weekend. I found Iyana on Rover. She asked me if I could pay over cashapp. I honestly didn’t think anything about it at the time. I was in a crunch and my previous booking had canceled the evening before I was supposed to leave for my trip. Here we have fuck up number 1.

The next morning, I agreed and we said we would figure it out when I dropped her off. She then said it would be no problem to come pick her up. Again, I’m aware now of fuck up number 2, but I was really starting to stress and I didn’t think anything of it. She said she would be at my house at 4 to pick up my dog, Shipley. After hearing nothing, at 4:45 I reached out she told me she was getting a haircut and that it was taking longer than expected but she was on the way. I was beginning to feel like things were not lining up and was getting frustrated. But she arrived shortly after that and she was very apologetic and friendly in person so I felt more at ease. I then left for my trip.

Everything went fine Friday and Saturday. Sunday evening I texted her and said I would be home around 3pm Monday afternoon to pick up my dog. She said that would work.

After telling her I was hitting the road at around 10am, she responded claiming my dog had chewed up part of her carpet. I asked her how that had happened because I had specifically left my dog’s crate and her bed with her so she wouldn’t be left unsupervised. She said that it happened while she was showering. This all seemed very sketchy and unlike my dog. I have had her for 1.5 years and she hasn’t had any destructive behavior in over a year. (Side note: she also has 2 cats, so how do I know they didn’t do that?)

At 1pm I said I was about 2 hours out and asked for her address so I could pick up my dog on the way home. She didn’t respond until a few minutes before 3pm, saying she wasn’t home but her girlfriend was with my dog. She then said she would be home at 6pm so I could come then. I was extremely frustrated at this point because she refused to tell me where my dog was being held. She said I needed to send her $1200 to pay for a complete replacement of the carpet. I told her I would be willing to figure something out once she got a bill from the office or repair company. But I said I refused to send her anything over cashapp.

At this point it was around 4:30pm and I told her I was extremely frustrated and this was unprofessional. I asked her what the name of her apartment complex was so I could call and speak to the office. She stopped responding to my messages right before 5pm. After sending more texts and calls I told her I was done playing games and she had until 7pm or I would be contacting Rover and the police.

At 7pm I called Rover customer support and explained what was going on. The representative said she would try to get in touch with Iyana and to wait an hour and if I heard nothing to call back. She didn’t contact me. So I called Rover back around 8pm and the customer support representative found the profile of Iyana and gave me the phone number of her emergency contact. I called that number around 8:15 and spoke to a woman who said she was her girlfriend and that Iyana had been so stressed and anxious when I told her I was upset and would be reporting her profile, that she had dropped her phone and it was broken. I will say at this point I was extremely pissed and verbally ripped her asshole open wide into a new dimension and told her I was coming to get my dog and if she didn’t give me an address in the next 10 minutes I was hanging up and calling the police immediately. She sent me the address.

So I get to the apartment around 8:45pm and knock on the door. I can see my dog inside through a window. So I knew she was okay thankfully. The door opens a crack and I can see the chain/dead bolt engaged to keep it from opening all the way. They said they have a document that once I sign I can have my dog back. This ransom note looks like a 5th grader wrote it. No periods, incorrect grammar and spelling errors. It’s almost comical at this point. I would have laughed if I wasn’t shaking from rage at this moment.

So at this point I’m standing there shaking, vision with a tinge of red, a million thoughts running through my head. It clicks in my head that I’m standing here arguing with 2 women and things are starting to get a little loud. Not willing to put myself in a situation where it’s my word against theirs, I tell them I will be calling the police and waiting for them in my car outside in the parking lot. I know how this story goes. Crazy, psycho former Marine with PTSD intimidates 2 women. Not even willing to give that any traction so I remove myself from the situation and call the non emergency phone number for my city. I explain everything going on and the operator tells me that an officer will be heading there. I give them my information, and wait.

After 3 hours of watching Netflix on my phone in the car and trying to unsuccessfully mediate, I finally see 2 majestic Chariots of Law pull up. It’s close to 12:15am. The calvary is here boys. I start talking to the Sergeant in charge and immediately notice a Marine Corps motto tattoo on his forearm. The tides are finally turning my way. We briefly talked about the Corps and I show him the ransom note, as well as several pictures of my dog. He then asked me to wait in my car while he and the other officers went to talk to them.

About 15 minutes later he returns with my dog and everything else I had left with her like her food, dishes and toy. After helping me load it all into my car, he asked if I was willing to speak to them one last time. I said yes, but it quickly turned into a sob story and so I asked the officer if I was allowed to leave because I had heard enough. After giving the officer my information and speaking to him over at my car, he informed me that there were 2 other cats and a dog in there as well as my dog. He said Iyana had admitted to him that she had no proof it was my dog who destroyed the carpet. So I thanked him and the other officers and drove home.

Tuesday, my curiosity got the better of me and I Facebook creeped her and the first thing I see is a link she posted to a website similar to GoFundMe asking for donations so she could pay her rent. My gut is telling me this entire thing is a scam. While I know I was stupid and made some huge mistakes, I rolled the dice and got very lucky.

I wanted to share this so other people can learn from my mistakes. Do not ignore red flags.

Thankfully she is totally fine now! She was very exhausted and stressed when I got home. But she has since returned to her cheerful, annoying, typical self

TL:DR: A Rover seemed very sketchy, but I went ahead and left my dog with her. She tried to hold my dog ransom when I refused to pay her $1200, until the police came and returned my dog to me