Video courtesy of Dave Gray
By GARRETT SAGER
Hays Post
When Dave Gray and his girlfriend, Gina Quiles, left Hays recently for a weekend, the last thing they expected was to come home and find items missing from their home — let alone have them allegedly taken by someone they hired.
But that’s exactly what he said happened after reviewing surveillance footage from the weekend while checking on the company hired to care for his pets, Bon A Pet Treat, 2202 Vine.
“The video is very shocking,” said Gray, an informatics instructor at Fort Hays State University. “It was an invasion of our privacy, and it really freaked us out.”
Gray said he and Quiles left for the weekend of Jan. 21 to 22 to visit friends in Salina. Since they were only going to be gone for 20 hours, they thought Bon A Pet Treat’s in-home sitting option was best.
“We have used their pet hotel service many times for when we go out of town, but never the in-house pet sitting,” he said.
Bon A Pet Treat recently added in-house pet sitting to its services in November.
Gray recalled only recently hearing about the service, but what resulted was a surprise.
“You don’t expect anything like this to happen. It’s shocking, and we just don’t want anything like this to happen to anyone else,” Gray said.
Gray has a Nest home security system installed in his home, which allows him to monitor his home from a mobile device. Gray said he checked on his phone while in Salina to make sure that the dogs were being taken care of properly. He wasn’t prepared for what he saw.
“I saw the footage and just could not believe what I was seeing,” Gray said.
After reviewing the footage, it appears the two individuals were unaware of the surveillance system.
Gray said the pet sitter arrived with a male to the residence later than the scheduled time. According to a Facebook post by Quiles, they were two to three hours late.
Initially, the duties left on a written note were carried out, but after, the pair began to deviate from those instructions, he said.
“They began going through our house,” Gray said. “They went upstairs, which there was no reason for that because the dogs were not up there. They went through our cabinets and went through my prescription medication that I have to take for my foot that I recently had surgery on.”
In the video, one individual can be heard saying “Are you looking?” to which the other responds, “I am.” Also clearly heard is one of the individuals saying “hydrocodone,” the prescription painkiller Gray takes for his foot.
After leaving, one of the individuals returned 20 minutes later, kenneling a dog that was left out and retrieving something from the table.
Gray said he had to call a neighbor to let the dogs back out of their kennels because the pet sitter did not arrive back for the next scheduled visit, leaving the pets in their kennels for 12 or more hours.
The situation is upsetting, Gray said, adding he believes the only thing missing was some of his prescription medication.
“We had to have the kids go through their rooms to make sure nothing was taken from them, and my girlfriend and I had to do the same,” he said. “The first thing we did before looking for what was missing was filed a police report, that way if anything new comes up we can just add it to the list.”
The Hays Police Department confirmed Monday that an active investigation into the incident began after the complaint was filed on Jan. 22. Detective J.B. Burkholder is the agent handling the case.
Hays Post also contacted Bon A Pet Treat, but received no comment.
Video and Facebook review go viral
Gray waited a week to post the surveillance footage, where it quickly found an audience.
“I posted it on YouTube simply to make people aware so that this will not happen to them,” Gray said.
The 35-minute video received more than 8,500 views in less than 24 hours. As of early Monday afternoon, the video had been viewed more than 10,000 times.
Quiles also posted a lengthy review to the Bon A Pet Treat Facebook. In the review, she said she wrote as a “precaution” for anyone who has used the in-home pet sitting services and urged them to check their belongings. She added she had never had any issues with Bon A Pet Treat in the past and “trusted” them with her pets.
The business Facebook page for Bon A Pet Treat was deactivated after Quiles posted the review. But Giles saved screen shots on her phone and later posted them to her personal Facebook page on Saturday.
“It’s a good thing that she saved her review, I guess, and was able to share because their Facebook page was quickly deleted. This is just us trying to share this information,” Gray said.
