Question about pet sitting?

Question

I was sitting a poodle. I understood the owner could not afford to take her, the poodle, to a groomer. She did it herself. I decided to take her, Jane, and get a nice cut, then buy her a pretty lavender coller. (she had a broken one that had been "jerry rigged")

The groomer cut her lower eye lid. She took her to the vet and the vet said he could stitch it or we could just leave it alone and it would heal

I decided to have them leave it alone.

Now the owner is upset and has taken her back to the vet. The bill is $2000. The owner wants me to get the groomer to pay for it. The groomer, according to the owner, is not returning her phone calls.

What do I do.

I sure could use some soothing words. Maybe I don't deserve them, tho

Answer 1

This is why I stopped trying to do good things for people ...it always blows up in my face....the groomer hurt the dog ...the groomer should pay the bill...

Answer 2

well the best thing you can do is get the owner to pay for it, or you pay for it

Answer 3

now it seems your the one being tramatized.i sure hope the owner isn't mad at you.this is a bad situation and i hope all works out well for you.don't frett over it and you have yourself a goodnight>>

Answer 4

You tried to do something nice and it completely backfired.  I'm so sorry :(

OK... when you accepted to pet sit, you accepted all the responsibilities that went with that.  I realize that you wanted to do something nice for the owner and her dog, that was your choice too.  When the groomer cut the dog, that became your responsibility as well.

1.  You are responsible for the vet bill and the owner has every right to ask for the money.  However, that total seems far fetched to me.  That needs to be addressed.  Did something bad eventually happen to the eye making the bill so high?  I would ask to see that itemized bill.

2.  The groomer needs to be sued in small claims court.  You can't sue the groomer until you are out money yourself, it called you being diminished.  The owner would have to sue you first, then you go after the groomer.  Remember the owner can sue the groomer directly as well or both of you at the same time.

3.  Do you have a letter from the original vet that states what you said here?  This would help your cause.  Do you have an original bill of how much the stitch would have cost?  Disproving the $2000 possibly bogus bill.

What I think is going to happen, you ultimately will be sued by the owner for the vet bill and in turn, you will have to sue the groomer.  Your best outcome would be if the owner sued both you and the groomer at the same time and the judge determines who was at fault.  This would give you the best chance of not having to pay out if the groomer is found negligent.  I would call a local attorney and ask for his expertise.  The first 1/2 hour is usually free.

Answer 5

Well, you probably don't want to hear this, but since you decided to take the dog for a cut, and since you decided to NOT have stitches put in at the vet's, you should be responsible for the consequences.  This dog was not yours, and a cosmetic groom (if that's all it was) was purely your decision.  You didn't mention that there was a need for a professional groom other than that the dog's owner did it herself because she couldn't afford a groomer.  Unless there was a medical reason to have the dog groomed, you shouldn't have taken it to be groomed.  And the dog's collar, unless it was causing discomfort to the dog, didn't need replacing either.

Different people keep dogs in different ways.  Just because you didn't approve of the dog's "home-done cut" and "jerry rigged" collar doesn't give you the right to make the decisions you did.  

$2000 does sound a bit steep, though, unless some sort of infection was present or surgery was required.  If you wind up paying the bill, I'd be sure to ask for a detailed bill from the vet.  Get this from the vet, not the owner, because $2000 sounds a little suspicious.

I am sorry you have to deal with this, but do the right thing, and learn from your mistakes.  I would also not pet sit for this lady again.  A nice person wouldn't expect you to foot the bill on your own seeing that you were trying to do something nice for his/her pup.

Good luck.

Answer 6

go to the groomers store and make her pay...Everything will be okay god will lead you through it if you ask him to..

Answer 7

Well, since the groomer provides a services and charges for it she has to have insurance. Go to the shop in person. If she still doesn't respond, call a lawyer. She is responsible for the damage she did to the dog. 2000.00 worth.