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Wag! dog walker charged with animal cruelty; concerns mount from customers
DANVILLE, Calif. (KTVU) - A Danville couple is questioning the vetting process of walkers hired through a popular dog-walking app after home video appears to capture a man kicking and whipping their family pet.
What makes them worry even more is that the on-demand dog-walking service, Wag!, only conducts background checks on applicants once before they are hired and does not do continuous checks.
Annual background checks are not legally required of dog-walking services, but according to Bloomberg, the practice of periodically checking has been expanding into the healthcare, financial, manufacturing and retailing industries.
The dog owners, Miranda Fulks and David Brown, feel the dog walking industry should follow suit.
“These people are in your homes,” said Brown. “They’re walking your dog. They take care of a part of your family.”
Fulks added: “I had no idea, when you read [Wag!’s] app, they say they vigorously background check their people. It does not say they only do that once.”
Like many dog owners, Brown and Fulks relied on the Los Angeles-based Wag, founded in 2014, to help walk their two dogs, Olly and Maggie. They say a few weeks went by without problems until the dog walker, Adam Vavrus, 37, called them about an incident during a walk. Shortly after the call, they also noticed that Olly was acting differently.
What makes them worry even more is that the on-demand dog-walking service, Wag!, only conducts background checks on applicants once before they are hired and does not do continuous checks.
Annual background checks are not legally required of dog-walking services, but according to Bloomberg, the practice of periodically checking has been expanding into the healthcare, financial, manufacturing and retailing industries.
The dog owners, Miranda Fulks and David Brown, feel the dog walking industry should follow suit.
“These people are in your homes,” said Brown. “They’re walking your dog. They take care of a part of your family.”
Fulks added: “I had no idea, when you read [Wag!’s] app, they say they vigorously background check their people. It does not say they only do that once.”
Like many dog owners, Brown and Fulks relied on the Los Angeles-based Wag, founded in 2014, to help walk their two dogs, Olly and Maggie. They say a few weeks went by without problems until the dog walker, Adam Vavrus, 37, called them about an incident during a walk. Shortly after the call, they also noticed that Olly was acting differently.
