Watch the video to find out more about this incident.
Video Credit: Good Morning America
A couple’s dog was stolen by a dog walker employed by the app Wag, now they are advising to other pet parents to boycott the company until they made “serious changes.”
Sophie and Max Troper who lives in New York City adopted their dog Benny in 2015. The couple told BuzzFeed News that Benny “quickly became an integral part of our family.”
“Initially, we were planning to only foster him until he found a forever home, but after one night with us, we knew he was ours and adopted him,” they said. “We didn’t know his official breed or even his actual age, but none of that mattered.”
Benny even attended their wedding last year and walked down the aisle.
The couple said that they started using Wag app several months ago, usually multiple times per week to ensure Benny “was getting a walk and some love during the work day” while they both were not with him.
According to the couple, one of them typically would schedule a walk with Wag, which would then inform them who was assigned to their walk. Then, the walker received a code to a lockbox hanging on their door. Only those assigned via the app were supposed to receive the code.
The couple scheduled a walk for Benny as usual. Their original walker had canceled, so a second walker was scheduled. When that Walker came to get Benny, he realized the dog was missing.
“It was just like a moment you can’t explain, you just stop everything and you’re like ‘what the hell has happened here?’” Troper said.
The Tropers came home and searched the building’s surveillance video.
“Initially, we thought he might be hiding somewhere, as dogs tend to do. Max rushed home from work and quickly saw that Benny was gone,” the couple said.
The couple immediately took action and contacted to police. They collected video surveillance from surrounding businesses, and eventually found footage of a suspect leaving with Benny in his arms around 11 a.m.
“We do not know how or why he picked out Benny, besides being the most adorable guy in the world. He is not a show dog, he is a rescue, he is middle-aged and neutered,” the couple said.
They launched a social media campaign, and got the attention of actor Olivia Munn, she is a spokesperson for Wag and also known as for her animal rights activism.
Sophie and Max said during the investigation they did not get any support from Wag, who made “empty promises” about how much they could help and were not responsive during the investigation.
A spokesperson for Wag responded on the incident and said they worked directly with the Tropers and law enforcement on the investigation, said, they are also curious about what happened.
“We want to apologize to our loyal Wag! community, but most of all, we want to apologize to Benny and his parents for what happened and what they had to go through. We are in direct communication with Benny’s parents to discuss this situation and to ensure their needs and concerns are addressed,” the spokesperson said.
New York police found Benny safe and arrested a suspect.
Detective Annette Shelton of the NYPD told to BuzzFeed News that they found the suspect, who is a 21-year-old Christian Madriaga of the Bronx, and now he has been charged with burglary in the case.
The Tropers said police believe the suspect took Benny to give him as a gift to somebody else but said they couldn’t say much more about the case.
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