After a Massachusetts family said their beloved French bulldog died while in the care of a dog trainer they hired online, a 27-year-old woman from Haddam, Connecticut, has been charged in the "scam," police said.
The family of the purebred frenchie, 3-year-old Charlie, said they continued to receive photos and updates of training sessions, days after, police believe, the dog died, Bart Hanson, of North Reading, Massachusetts, told Newsweek in an email on Wednesday.
"He was really the sweetest dog in the world," Hanson said.
North Reading Police Department [NRPD] has obtained a criminal summons charging the dog trainer, identified as Josephine Marie Ragland, with larceny over $1,200 by false pretense and obstructing or misleading a police officer, NRPD Chief Mark Zimmerman said in an online statement Tuesday.
Newsweek reached out via email on Wednesday to the NRPD for comment.
The last time the family saw their pet alive was when Charlie was picked up by Ragland on the morning of September 1 to go to her residence for his training session, Hanson said.
Zimmerman said the "dog training scam" investigation into the Connecticut trainer started September 16 when the Hanson family reported that their dog hadn't been returned following a two-week training session, according to a police report obtained by Newsweek.
"The dog died on or around September 4 and Ragland sent the owner photos of what was purported to be training after that date," NRPD detectives said in the report.
Charlie's body was found "dumped on the side of the road," Hanson said, adding that his family found out from NRPD on September 20 that their pet had died.
The University of Connecticut performed a necropsy on Charlie's remains and determined that the dog was emaciated when he died.
When Charlie still couldn't do basic commands like "sit" and "come," Hanson said, they decided to find a trainer and used the app, Thumbtack. He told Newsweek that his family had used the app four times for various services around their home and never had an issue. The family agreed to pay a fee of $2,250 for the two-week training session, noting that Ragland had been operating under the name "Lily" when they found her, Hanson said.
Ragland was also investigated in California in the disappearance of a German shepherd named Scott she was supposed to be training. Scott's owners allege Ragland brought them a different dog in the place of their beloved pet and that the trainer "stole" their purebred German shepherd, local outlet Palo Alto Online reports. Ragland was not charged in the probe.
Scott's owners said Ragland also advertised dog training services online through Thumbtack, and said she was "verified."
A spokesman for Thumbtack, a home-services website and app that allows users to search for, rate and hire professionals for various services, told Newsweek in an emailed statement on Tuesday that the company is "actively investigating" the incident.
"We take the integrity of our platform seriously and will continue to take action in the best interest of our community," the statement reads.
The investigation into Charlie's death led to the discovery of four other dogs, who had all lost a "significant amount of weight," at Ragland's home. Those dogs were safely returned to their owners in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut, NRPD said.
The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is assisting police with the investigation, which is ongoing, according to NRPD.
Ragland's case will be heard before a district court clerk magistrate "at a later date," NRPD said.
Update 09/28/2023, 12:15 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and comment from Hanson.
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