There are lazy parenting decisions, and then there are those that sound so irresponsible that you will refuse to believe they happened in real life. Most people booking a pet sitter are trying to make sure their pets are cared for while they are away. They are definitely not trying to stylishly outsource the care of an entire child.
A pet sitter walked straight into a nightmare when she went for what was supposed to be her first day at a dog-sitting gig for a new client. Instead of a furry friend and a wagging tail, she found a 7-year-old girl waiting in the house, who told her that her parents had already left for their vacation and that she was now her responsibility.
More info: Reddit
Most hire pet sitters to take care of their pets, not secretly cover childcare
Image credits: The Yuri Arcurs Collection / Magnific (not the actual photo)
This woman arrived for a normal dog-sitting booking and realized something was very wrong
Image credits: TriangleProd / Magnific (not the actual photo)
She met a 7-year-old who calmly explained that her parents had left her home alone to go on a trip
Image credits: 8photo / Magnific (not the actual photo)
The sitter then learned she was expected to care for the kid, handle meals, school runs, and after-school care
Image credits: anon
It got even more outrageous when the little girl revealed there wasn’t a dog
The Original poster (OP) thought she was starting a routine pet-care job, three visits a day for two weeks to look after a client’s dog. Instead, the first thing she saw upon entering the home was a little girl. When she called out for the parents, the child casually explained that they had already left for their trip.
The girl, who was only 7, told the sitter to hurry up and make her breakfast so she could get to school. The woman was shocked and started asking questions, hoping there had been some kind of misunderstanding. Apparently, the mom had booked the pet-sitting company to come and take care of the little girl, feed her and take her to school.
As if that wasn’t outrageous enough, the sitter found out there was no dog. The brazen, manipulative mom had apparently borrowed the neighbor’s dog just long enough to fool the company at the meet-and-greet and secure two weeks of what she clearly hoped would be cheap childcare.
The poster called her boss immediately, CPS was contacted, and the little girl was taken into protective care after her parents couldn’t be reached. The next day, the mother left an angry voicemail threatening to sue because her vacation had been ruined, but the company shut that down fast. They had agreed to care for a dog, not clean up after a deranged child-abandonment scheme.
Image credits: fpphotobank / Magnific (not the actual photo)
Child safety experts generally warn that most children are not ready to stay home alone regularly until they are much older. The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that kids under 11 are not mature enough to safely handle emergencies on their own.
The US Children's Bureau also emphasized that parents should think carefully about a child’s age, maturity, and ability to respond to emergencies before leaving them alone, because inadequate supervision can put kids at serious risk. This situation is really bad, as the mom appeared to have built an entire vacation plan around a 7-year-old being left in the care of total strangers.
This helps explain why the owner went straight to CPS instead of treating the situation like some bizarre scheduling mistake. The Administration for Children and Families says that child neglect can include failing to provide proper supervision. The whole stunt the mom pulled is exactly the kind of reckless setup child welfare agencies are meant to handle.
Readers were horrified by the mother’s brazen scheme and applauded the company for immediately calling CPS rather than getting dragged into what could have been a major disaster. What do you think? Was calling CPS the only responsible move, or would you have handled this fake-dog childcare scam differently?
Readers were stunned by the mom’s fake-dog scam and praised the company for calling CPS
