A Colorado dog sitter hired through a popular app stole a half-million dollars worth of irreplaceable jewelry from one of her clients — selling $30,000 of it to pawn shops who melted it down, police said.
The victim, who declined to give her name for safety reasons, told CBS Colorado that she met the alleged thief, Azure Foster, 36, on the popular dog walking app Rover.
“She dog sat for us a couple times and eventually we started using her just to come to the house and water the plants,” the woman said.
Foster took items piecemeal over several months, the victim said, in the hopes of avoiding detection. Months went by before the homeowner noticed that her precious items were missing.
“She stole diamond necklaces, diamond tennis bracelets,” the woman told the outlet.
“There had been no break-ins, no unusual people at the house,” she added.
The victim contacted police and investigators were able to track the devious dog walker down through pawn shops. They poured over transaction records that contain fingerprints and photographs, detectives told Colorado CBS.
Foster allegedly pawned roughly $30,000 of stolen jewelry, detectives said.
Some of the pieces were one of a kind and cannot be bought again, according to court records.
Police arrested Foster and charged her with felony theft. She could not be reached by The Post.
Foster’s next court appearance is in July. She had no felony criminal history in Colorado, according to a database search.
A representative for Rover called the theft “shocking” and said Foster’s profile was removed from the app after learning of the accusations.
“They have not been able to offer care through Rover,” Dave Rosenbaum said. “Should we be contacted by law enforcement, we’ll work with them to the fullest extent of our ability.”
Rosenbaum added that all sitters who join Rover — which also offers doggie day care, boarding and house sitting — must pass an “enhanced background check.”
More than two million “pet parents” across 17 countries have booked care through Rover since it was launched in 2011, according to its website.
Locally, requests for dog walkers in the city spiked last fall as more and more employees were forced to return to offices and needed to outsource their dog care to apps and companies, The Post reported in October.
“People being in the office, they need walks or day care,” Lauren Michelson, a dog walker for Rover, said. “I’ve received maybe 40% more [requests].”
That squared with data from Rover itself. Bookings for dog walkers in NYC, which range in price from $10 up to $250 per walk, spiked 25% from July through September 2024 year-over-year.
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