‘It was a gut punch:’ HHI pet owners mourn dog’s death under care of Marine house-sitter

The “heartbroken” owners whose dog died under the care of a Beaufort Marine pet-sitter have opened up about their experience, claiming the 20-year-old woman they hired — now charged with multiple felony counts of animal cruelty — had been sending the owners misleading updates while failing to visit the animals for multiple days.

“It was a gut punch,” said one of the Hilton Head Plantation pet owners, who was granted anonymity because he is the victim of an alleged crime. The couple had hired the woman through Trusted Housesitters, an online pet-sitting platform, to house-sit and watch their two dogs and three cats for nine days in early September while they vacationed out of the country.

Victoria Spencer, who is stationed at Beaufort’s Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS), was arrested at the base on Sept. 28 on five counts of animal cruelty and released hours later on a $5,000 bond. Using footage and data from the homeowners’ Ring doorbell camera, Beaufort County police accused the woman of leaving the animals unattended for several days, leaving one dog seriously injured and the other dead from dehydration.

“We’re heartbroken over the loss of one of our pets, and it was also heartbroken to see our other dog in that condition,” the owner told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.

When choosing a pet-sitter, experts recommend picking candidates that are certified by a trusted organization, such as the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters and Pet Sitters International.

A timeline of the ‘terrible incident’

After another sitter canceled on the homeowners about three weeks prior to their trip, the couple interviewed Spencer over the phone and agreed to let her house-sit. They invited her to the house for dinner the night before, they said, and left a two-page set of instructions for the pets’ care. The owners also provided Hilton Head Plantation with two additional gate passes for two other Marines at Spencer’s request.

For the first five days of their vacation, the owners received daily updates and pictures of the pets.

“And then I put my guard down,” the Hilton Head man said. At that point, he later realized, the updates began coming exclusively through texts — no pictures. But the home’s doorbell footage showed no one entering or exiting the home for at least a three-day period while updates were still being sent, he said.

On Sept. 14, Spencer arrived at the house to find the pets in bad shape. Both dogs’ kennels were “cluttered with feces” and tattered bedding, according to a Sheriff’s Office report, and one dog — Stryker, a six-year-old Australian shepherd — had died of dehydration. The other was suffering from severe dehydration and had visible hair loss, with injuries to its snout, paws and nails from trying to escape its cage. The dogs had reportedly been left in the kennels for several days with food and water in their direct line of sight, said Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Maj. Angela Viens.

Left to roam inside the house, the owners’ cats were not visibly injured but their food and water bowls were empty, police say. Their litter box was “completely full,” with feces and urine found throughout the house.

After discovering the scene, Spencer went across the street and notified a neighbor, telling them she “needed to get to work” before leaving, according to the owners. Neighbors then rushed the dogs to Hilton Head’s Plantation Animal Hospital, whose staff later transferred the surviving dog, Roxie, to New River Veterinary Specialists in Hardeeville.

At first, vet staff weren’t sure they would be able to save Roxie, the owners said. The dog’s sodium levels were “sky high” and a blood test indicated life-threatening measures for several different parameters.

Fortunately, Roxie pulled through, the man said, and is now close to a full physical recovery. He commended the work of the two vet services: “They really saved Roxie. I have nothing but great things to say about them.”

In a phone interview, Spencer told police she had fed the animals and given them water daily, and that there had been “only one day” she didn’t visit the home. She deferred further questions to her lawyer or her chain of command. In the police report, a deputy notes Spencer’s attitude during the call was “defensive and abrasive.”

An MCAS spokesperson said the Marines cannot comment on ongoing investigations but are “cooperating fully” with the Sheriff’s Office.

While the owner’s feelings about Trusted Housesitters are “mixed” — their vetting process likely needs updating, he said — the pet-sitting service reimbursed the couple for all vet bills and the autopsy and cremation for Stryker. A spokesperson with the company also quickly reached out with a message of condolences, the owner said.

At 20 years old, Spencer falls below the 21-and-over requirement to become a member of Trusted Housesitters, the owner also noted.

“We are incredibly sorry to hear of this terrible incident,” a spokesperson from Trusted Housesitters wrote in a statement to The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette Friday morning. “We have offered our deepest condolences and our fullest support to the owners and we are liaising with the Sheriff’s Office to provide whatever assistance we can in their investigation.”

The statement emphasized that pet safety is the company’s “absolute priority” and that team members will be reviewing the incident “to ensure that our systems and vetting procedures are as strong as possible.”

According to their website, Trusted Housesitters requires all sitters to complete an intensive background check, including criminal history, ID checks, external references and email and phone validation. Spencer’s account was removed by site administrators following the incident, the owners said.