Ring camera footage of a Rover dog walker coming to tell a woman that her dog had just been hit by a car while out for a walk has garnered 1.8 million views on TikTok.
The video shows the walker running to the woman’s door and knocking furiously. When the dog’s owner, @raleighann, opens the door and the Rover walker makes her aware of what’s happened, they both rush to the dog’s aid, carrying him back his owner’s apartment.
The same video later shows her dog, alive but with some scrapes, bumps, and fractured ribs. Its text overlay reads: “When your dog walker on Rover accidentally lets on of your dogs get hit by a car.”
Her dog, Kevin, has since fully recovered, according to a follow-up video. In the video, his owner says she had not intended to put the dog walker on blast, as she knew the situation was wholly an accident. Kevin is also a special needs dog that is vision impaired and deaf, according to his owner.
“Thankfully he is OK, as I said in the video, the only issues he had were fractured ribs, the cuts and bruises that you saw under his nose and on his face and on his leg,” his owner said. “He did get a few staples. The only ongoing issue is that he does have some acute lameness that flares up from time to time on the side that he was hit. Other than that he’s very healthy and happy.”
Both dogs had reportedly still been on their leashes when the accident occurred, and the walker had stayed on the sidewalk, she said.
“I think it was just a freak accident and I hold no animosity or ill feelings towards the girl,” @raleighann said. “She was obviously very young. I do think she handled the situation pretty well, all things considered.”
She said she would later provide an additional video to share what had happened since the accident. That video has not yet been posted. In her comment section, she stated that Rover covered around half of the expense of Kevin’s medical care.
Commenters shared their support for Kevin and his owner @raleighann, writing that they wouldn’t be able to bear a similar situation with their own pets.
Others debated the use of the app and criticized the woman, stating that they would rather walk their own dogs. Kevin’s owner told her viewers in her follow-up video that she had used Rover to have her dogs walked while she was in back-to-back Zoom meetings, and wanted to make sure her two dogs got the exercise they needed.
“Wait… you’re home and you hired someone to take your dog for a walk?” one commenter wrote.
Others supported her choice, and pointed out that shaming people for using dog walking services is ableist.
“This comment section is wild,” one commenter wrote. “I commend you for actually hiring a dog walker instead of letting your dogs suffer like others who don’t take the time.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @raleighann via Instagram DM, as well as to Rover directly regarding the incident.