Q: Dog sitter threw a party at my house ran over our dog, then moved the body to a different street to hide the evidence.
We hired a dog sitter to watch our house and dogs. They threw a party and someone hit the dog. They pulled the hose from our house, which we had put back before our departure, and washed blood from our driveway. The hose was left strewn across our yard. At this point the we don't know if the dog was still alive. They picked up the dogs body, opened the gate to the completely enclosed yard and proceeded to drive a mile down the road to dump the dogs body on the side of the road in order to hide what they had done. While on the phone with the sitter they claimed the dog escaped from a fence that was left open. This was not the case as each fence was checked prior to our departure. Our family relative was called by us to investigate along with the father of the girl who was supposed to be watching the dogs. They informed us that the dog was killed at our home and not on the road based upon the questioning of the sitter and friends. What can I do?
A: I am so sorry to hear this! That is horrendous. You can file a police report for animal neglect/abuse/cruelty (depending on your local laws) and also tampering with evidence. You can also sue this person for negligence, breach of contracts, conversion, trespass to chattels, and possibly other causes of action local to your jurisdiction. I would recommend speaking to a civil litigation attorney in your area, or an animal attorney in your area.
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