STREETSBORO, Ohio - An Ohio family got a disturbing surprise after hiring a Wag! dog walker to walk their new puppy. The dog walker apparently did not realize the home was equipped with surveillance cameras that captured his every move.
One week ago, Brent Overholt, of Streetsboro, brought home Pluto, a 9-week-old golden retriever puppy, for his wife's birthday.
"For some of us, our dogs are our children," he told WJW.
He hired a dog-walking service called Wag! to take the puppy for a walk Wednesday afternoon while he and his wife were at work.
"They went through background checks, they went through training, they went through interviews to become a dog walker, so we thought we were pretty safe," Overholt said.
A surveillance camera captured the walker returning to the house. He handled an itch, then went right to the refrigerator, not noticing the camera mounted on top. He opened the fridge and rummaged through the kitchen cabinets.
"He drank what we think is milk out of the fridge and then put the milk back in the fridge," said the homeowner.
The man opened the refrigerator and cabinets a few more times. Then the camera also captured him taking a few shots of expensive bourbon right out of the bottle.
"If we didn't have the cameras in the house, we'd have no idea that he had his hands down his pants, his front, his back, touching all over the house, drinking out of our milk," Overholt said.
The man fills Pluto's water bowl, plays with him for a minute and heads to the fridge one more time.
"He knocked the camera down off the fridge once he realized that he was on camera and quickly got out of the house," Overholt said.
A spokesperson for Wag! released a statement:
"In this case, we've removed the walker from our platform, so that they can no longer provide services through Wag!, and our dedicated Trust and Safety team is in contact with the pet parent to address his concerns."
"From here on out, for us it's only gonna be friends or family or close people that we know to take care of our dog," Overholt said.
Overholt said he contacted Wag!, requesting reimbursement for the busted security camera and bottles of expensive bourbon that the dog walker can be seen drinking.
Overholt said he also plans to file a report with Streetsboro police, who told him they could consider criminal charges.
