Bit harsh aren’t you! I did read that she was going to watch them while they were out of town. But the next paragraph says she showed up and entered and the dogs were loose. It didn’t say they folks were already gone, or it was her first day on the job, or that she didn’t close the kennels properly from a previous days work. Basically it left a lot for this reader to guess at, like most news articles these days.
That’s where I got confused. So excuse the F#@& out me for causing you such irritation.
Generally the process is to do the Meet & Greet, get keys at that time. Next time you see the pet is on the first day of the visits.
But... and this is something a professional pet sitter might question, the dogs were likely barking like crazy before she opened the door. Knowing the dogs could be “crazy,” she should have known to not attempt entry. She should have called the owners for assistance. The dogs were to be kenneled, they were loose. At that point she doesn’t know if the house was broken into, if the owner’s were still home (happens), if neighbor had done an early visit and left the dogs loose because they refused to be kenneled by a stranger.
Whenever anything is off on the first visit or pre-entry of any pet sit, entry is delayed until confirmation from the owner’s of what the situation is.
In this case was the dogs were to be kenneled, there was a big red flag waving before she unlocked the door. Even with these particular dogs kenneled it would have been a dangerous situation. Some dogs like this will refuse to go back in their kennels or even come back in the house with a strange handler. Sadly many professional pet sitting companies often refuse these types of situations.
These owners are liable as the dogs were known to be problematic.