A nightmare: You leave your pet for one week and never see it again.
An influencer's husky has died after being left in the care of a professional dogsitter, with the body unceremoniously handed back in a garbage bag. The owner is claiming neglect.
Tragedy Strikes for Junyo "Eleven" Li
Junyo “Eleven” Li from Brooklyn left her husky Jiacheng – known as JC – with professional dog sitter Fahmida Sultana, while she was away from New York.
Li hired Sultana to look after JC for several days while traveling to China. Contact was first established through the platform Rover, with the final arrangements made outside the platform.
Li began fearing the worst during her trip; the sitter responded to only a few of her requests for updates and with short, vaguely worded answers. She sent Li photos of the dog, in which he appeared thinner and unkempt, prompting her to ask whether the animal had been playing in the mud.
At one point, Li mentioned that a friend of hers would be in the area the following day and wanted to see the dog, but there was no response.
When Li returned, JC was dead. Shortly before the two parties met, Sultana admitted that the dog had died the previous day. As if that alone were not already horrific enough for a pet owner, Sultana brought Li her animal companion in a garbage bag, which she had stuffed into a suitcase.
Unclear Cause of Death
Sultana asked for the handover to take place at a vet's office, but when the vet on site examined the body, they found signs of muscle atrophy and advanced decomposition. It was evident that the animal had died earlier than the previous day. However, a clear cause of death could not be determined.
Sultana explained that she had found JC lifeless in the morning and had been overwhelmed by the situation. In a statement on social media, she repeatedly emphasized that she had not poisoned the animal, but Li is still pushing ahead with a civil suit.
Outrage & Pain for Li's Fanbase
The death of an animal can be emotionally distressing, and Li's fans seem particularly affected. They're out for justice and aren't giving Sultana the benefit of the doubt on this one.
But this isn't a case proven beyond all reasonable doubt, at least not yet (unlike the streamer who recently threatened to kill his dog on stream). For now, we await further developments in the case.