Shanan Hilliary says she was desperate.
Her pugs, Sunny and Lucy, needed a dog sitter and she needed money. She couldn’t afford to board them as she worked two jobs – gone 13 hours a day – so she went to Craigslist.
"An actual dog sitting place was really, really, expensive and I couldn't afford it,” Hilliary said.
Her car recently broke down, so she posted an advertisement: she would pay some $100 a month, for 6 months, to take in her dogs. She would even pay for food.
“I didn’t know what else to do,” Hilliary said.
"I ride my bike home from work, so I don't get home till’ like 1 in the morning, so I wanted to put them some place where they can be taken care of,” Hilliary said.
She says a man responded to the ad and promised to take good care of the pugs. So, she says, she met him, and handed them over.
But when she wanted to come visit the pugs, the man had moved away and stopped taking her calls.
Tacoma Police took a report; they say there might not be much they can do, especially with no written agreement.
"My guess is he's not a kind, caring person and the dogs probably have already been re-sold,” said Officer Loretta Cool, with Tacoma Police.
Tacoma Police say that when it comes to Craiglist, let the buyer beware.
"It's a horrible experience and I would never do it again,” Hilliary said.
KIRO
