2 dog deaths, reports of abuse prompt investigation of San Francisco pet sitter from popular app

2 dog deaths, reports of abuse prompt investigation of San Francisco pet sitter from popular app

Tara Campbell

Sun, December 28, 2025 at 7:50 PM UTC

3 min read

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Several Bay Area dog owners are in shock, angry and, in some cases, grieving.

They're trying to make sense of a case that started with the hiring of a dog sitter from one of the most trusted service apps: Rover. One of its approved dog-sitters is now sitting at the center of a police investigation.

Felipe Morales-Torres is sounding the alarm about a dog sitter the Lake Merced neighborhood, one he found on the popular service app.

"He was covered in urine, or vomit, or both, so it was really just terrifying. We're all the way over in Ohio," Morales-Torres said.

His dog, Brady, was taken to the vet after being picked up on Christmas Day.

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Morales-Torres filed a police report. He later came across a Reddit thread and video, discovering two other dogs had died under the same care.

"This is a pet owner's worst nightmare come true," said San Francisco resident Ti Tran.

Tran and Amy Dinh left their dog, Aku, with the dog sitter on Dec. 19. While they didn't get a lot of communication, it wasn't too suspicious.

But two days before Christmas, they got worrisome news.

"We got a call on the night of the 23rd, right before Christmas Eve from the vet. They asked if we were the owner of Aku and said he wasn't responding, and his reflexes weren't intact," Tran said.

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The dog sitter had taken Aku to a vet clinic in the Fillmore District.

"He was just suffering so bad," Tran said.

"And he wasn't showing improvement in their care, and they were trying so hard," Dinh said.

Aku died from complications related to dehydration.

Scott Hallman's dog, Zeb, also died. The cause is still unknown.

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"As our flight was taking off, we got a message on Rover saying our dog had bloody stool and had fainted," Hallman said.

Hallman and his husband left Zeb with the same dogsitter on Dec. 17. Almost a week later, Zeb had died.

"We were in the air flying and my heart just sank, and I cried the rest of the flight," Hallman said. "Our dog was four-and-a-half. I've had him since he was five weeks old, and he was part of the family.

As for the dog sitter, Hallman says there weren't any warning signs on his Rover profile.

"You would think he's a single guy who works from home, who loves dogs and dogs love him, and he's been doing this for a while, so there were really no red flags," Hallman said.

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In a statement, Rover said: "We are heartbroken by this incident and condemn the reported mistreatment of these pets."

The company added that it had conducted its own investigation and permanently deactivated the dog sitter's account, along with another associated with it, and it is working with local law enforcement.

Meanwhile, police said this is an open investigation and no arrests have been made.

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