10/25/2022
[585 DAYS MISSING] My dog, Zorro, has been missing since MARCH 18, 2021 after a sitter named Elizabeth Perry, hired via Rover.com, lost Zorro in the CHICAGOLAND AREA, and proceeded to lie about it for 5 days until I returned home from vacation.
I’m re-sharing the detailed story of Zorro’s disappearance in hopes someone sees this and has a tip they can share about Zorro’s whereabouts AND to continue to warn others about the dangers of Rover, to hopefully prevent this from ever happening to another family.
I miss Zorro and have thought about him every day for the past year and a half since he went missing. I will not stop fighting and searching for him and will not give up until he’s brought home safely. For those of you who have continued to hold on hope and help me throughout these times – thank you. I am still fighting because of you.
Please continue to help me share my story and ❤
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‼️THE FABRICATED STORY‼️ I dropped off Zorro on 3/18/21 at 8:30am in Lakeview, Chicago (IL) at the Elizabeth Perry’s house. Each day, Elizabeth would send me extremely detailed updates about Zorro’s wellbeing (see screenshots). Detailed to the point that she explained what food he was eating, how he was doing on walks, how he was interacting with other dogs/her family, etc. However, she claimed she couldn’t send photos because her phone broke. Then, on the morning of 3/22/21, Elizabeth texted me saying she forgot maintenance men were coming to her apartment that day and asked if she could take Zorro out for a while since he seemed stressed.
On 3/22 at night, Elizabeth then texted me again saying Zorro had JUST went missing. She explained that after the maintenance men came to her apartment, she decided to take Zorro to her boyfriend, Michael Dixon’s, house all the way in Waukegan, IL. Once at her boyfriends house, she said she put Zorro in the backyard but at some point, he managed to “push through the side gate and disappeared”.
I arrived back home on 3/23. On that same day, while I was still under the assumption Zorro was only missing for one day, a friend stumbled upon a missing dog post from Waukegan Animal Control, dated 3/18, with a picture Zorro. That’s when we realized everything was a lie.
❇️THE REAL STORY ❇️Turns out, what really happened is after I dropped off Zorro on 3/18 at 8:30am, maintenance was scheduled to come at some point that day to Elizabeth’s house (not on 3/22 in her fabricated story). So, immediately after I dropped off Zorro on 3/18, she then drove Zorro to Waukegan to go to her boyfriend’s house (all within 10 minutes of dropping him off, she didn’t even let him get acclimated and she decided it was a smart idea to drive an hour away without my permission knowing Zorro is super shy, scared of men). Once in Waukegan, she said Zorro then “pushed through the back gate” of her boyfriend’s yard and ran. She then called Animal Control to report Zorro missing around 10:20am but did not tell ME until 5 days later. She also told Animal Control and the Police I was “unreachable”, which is why they never had my number and couldn’t contact me. The timestamp of her call to the Waukegan Animal Control shows she lost Zorro just two hours after I had dropped him off in Lakeview (or at least claims to have lost him).
Once we found out the truth, I confronted Elizabeth and asked her why she lied for 5 days about my Zorro’s wellbeing. Her excuse was she had hoped to find Zorro before I came back home. This means if she ended up finding Zorro, she likely never would have told me he even went missing.
When a dog goes missing, the first couple days are crucial in finding that lost pet. She sabotaged those chances by lying to me.
❌ Rover.com’s “SUPPORT” ❌ I have found out this is not an uncommon situation on Rover. In each case, Rover provides the same MINIMAL level of support. All Rover did was offer a $100 reward towards my $5k reward (they’ve since upped their reward to $500 since my story gained media traction)... Posted on two lost dog websites, and paid a minimal fee for a service that conducts robocalls. They have since told me they will cut off communication with me “unless they hear positive news”. They have told media outlets they are “looking into this situation and doing everything they can to help me find my dog” however, since they made those statements to the media, they have done nothing. The social media community has been calling on them to make a change. Instead of responding, Rover disabled their comments on TikTok and have been deleting all the comments on Instagram.
Rover needs to take responsibility and should use their resources to help me find my dog. Even outside of my specific situation, they need to do more to make sure this doesn’t happen again. They need to better educate their sitters on what to do if they lose a pet. They need to have a step by step plan for the sitter and owner, outlining what to do if your pet goes missing. They need to better display on their website, the truth about their minimal background checks and limited protections provided by “Rover Guarantee”. They need to treat our pets as they are – family.
We will find Zorro. And along the way, I will continue to fight to showcase the truth about Rover, educate others on best practices when hiring a sitter, and demand that Rover make a change.
Please continue to help me share my story and