FALSE WAG-VERTISING Pet owner files suit against the ‘Uber of dog walking’

Let slip the dogs of war — on Wag.

A Long Island dog owner on Monday filed a $5 million lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court accusing the “Uber of dog walking” of false advertising, and alleging a coverup of “serious problems of deaths and thefts” of the pets it services.

Barbara Meli alleges the dog walking app Wag! hires untrustworthy people to walk the four-legged clients — and in the Battery Park City case of a purloined shih tzu-yorkie called Benny (inset middle), dispatched actress Olivia Munn (inset right)to quiet the bad press.

“Wag has generated over $360 million … in venture capital to take advantage of a multi-billion dollar dog walking industry,” said lawyer Sufree san Chana Lask, who in her time is an animal rights activist.

“With their huge profits, they have actress … Munn to appear and quiet down the bad press by talking to the grieving pet parents,” she said.

Munn is not part of the lawsuit.

According to the suit, on the same week Benny was snatched, a yorkie-terrier mix named Whiskey (inset left)was struck by a vehicle and killed, and her crystal necklace and other property stolen, while in the custody of a Wag dog walker.

The lawsuit also lists the dog horror case involving an Long Island dog named Buddy who disappeared while in the care of a Wag dog walker — and Wag’s alleged attempt to “buy the owner’s silence to avoid unfavorable media coverage.” And the Wag walker for Duckie the dog from Brooklyn failed to put a leash on him during a walk — ending in his being hit and killed by a car, the suit claims.

According to the lawsuit, “over 11 dogs and counting are dead and abused by Wag’s walkers” — though Wag claims to use a “robust vetting process that includes application and verification process, a third party background check, an online test covering dog safety.” They also claim only 10% of applicants make it through the rigorous checks.

Nassau dog owner Meli, who has three pet dogs, got suspicious of the service after trying to hire a walker for July, but found very little information about who’d be on the other end of the leash, the lawsuit states. She then hired Lask to investigate.

In an interview with the Daily News, Lask said only regulation “at the local, city and state levels” will address the problems, “starting off by mandating that all dog walkers and sitters are licensed, trained and bonded before they knock on the door.”

Lask, in a statement, decried the lack of “trustworthiness” of the app, “as reports of dead, abused, stolen and lost dogs increases every year” and “has climbed to over 11 dogs, and two were killed and one abducted by a wag walker just in one week of June 2019.”

“Wag reaps huge profits in this new age of a mostly unregulated gig economy where lives are sold for profit, at a cost of silent deaeaningless in this technological business model.”

A spokesperson for the LAbased company declined to comment on the suit.

“Ensuring the safety and security of all those who use the Wag! platform is of utmost importance to us,” the spokesperson said, adding: “Accidents and incidents are rare, but we know the impact even one can have on the family involved.”