Allegations dogs sold by dog sitter
Posted Jan 29, 2013 07:29:31 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Pet owners are being warned to be cautious after a dog sitter in the Halifax area allegedly sold two dogs she was supposed to be boarding.
Cassie Craft of Saint John, N.B., is trying to retrieve her two four-year-old, white boxers after a Waverley, N.S., dog sitter is accused of selling them to someone in Bridgewater.
Craft wants the woman charged, but Halifax Animal Rescue said there is little legal recourse unless the dogs have been registered as purebred, microchipped or tattooed.
“For safety, always microchip your animal,” the rescue centre’s Annette Armitage told the Rick Howe Show Monday. “You can say ‘take that dog in, scan the shoulder, the chip will come up, and it’s registered to me, the owner.”’
Craft said in an email to media, that she interviewed several dog sitters to look after her dogs while she went to school. She eventually settled on a woman using the name “Ashley” who answered a Kijiji ad.
The woman has since been identified as Gail Benoit, who in 2009 was fined $1,500 for animal cruelty and instructed to pay nearly $3,000 in restitution to the SPCA for selling dogs who were near death.
Armitage is warning pet owners against responding to or using online ads because of these situations. She suggests calling local shelters and vets to ask for recommended pet sitters instead of trusting strangers.
“Always get references,” she said. “Any reputable business, pet sitter, will provide an individual with a background check.”
