A family have hit out at Amazon for sending them a £25 dog bed as an ‘apology’ after their dog was run over by a delivery driver – despite being left with £1,200 in vet bills.
CCTV footage shows the moment the white van driver run over Molly, a 12-year-old German Shepherd, as she sat on a driveway in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
The delivery driver can be seen reversing with Molly still trapped underneath, before she manages to escapes from under the wheels.
Molly was left with extensive tissue and ligament damage and may need to be put down if her condition does not improve.
Her owner Steve Cockerham, 54, has been left £1,200 out of pocket after forking out for urgent vet bills.
The father-of-two reported the incident, which happened on September 21, to Amazon’s UK complaints department and he was sent a £25 dog bed as an ‘apology’.
Mr Cockerham accepted the ‘gift’ after the retailer told him they would not pay out anything until Molly’s treatment was complete, which ‘could be years’.
Since posting the footage on social media, Mr Cockerham has been contacted by a senior executive from Amazon USA who told him they ‘need some time to figure out how to put this right but they are working on it’.
He said: ‘It would have been better off not gifting the bed at all as it felt like a slap in the face. Our youngest dog Skye, who is only two years old, has since destroyed it.
‘Molly has never known a second’s worth of cruelty until that driver came up the driveway.
‘All she has known is kindness. We all think the world of her. I am very angry with Amazon and feel let down as it seems they have drawn a blank.
‘I find it unacceptable considering we had already spent £1,200 and there was no sign of getting any of that back.
‘Molly’s treatment could take months or even years. It has left us out of pocket and they have done nothing about it having caused the problem.’
Mr Cockerham said he didn’t see the incident happen but knew something ‘wasn’t right’ when he noticed Molly was in ‘quite a lot of distress’ later the same day.
It was only the next day, when he was investigating Molly’s discomfort, that he came across the CCTV, saying that he was ‘shocked’ by what he saw.
‘It wasn’t until the next day that I checked the CCTV,’ Steve said.
‘I thought to myself “this explains everything now”. I was working on my dad’s tractor when I heard a yelp from one of the dogs.
‘It was loud enough to make me stop what I was doing. I thought something was a little off with how fast the driver was clearing the drive.
‘It just didn’t look right as they were clearing off hastily. I was furious, shocked, and heartbroken when watching it.
‘It felt like my heart nearly jumped out of my chest over concern for Molly’s injuries.’
Mr Cockerham called the vets who took Molly for an X-ray to find out the extent of her injuries.
The incident has also been reported to West Yorkshire Police.
A spokesperson for the force said: ‘We can confirm we are investigating following a report of an incident whereby a dog was injured by a vehicle outside an address in Otley on September 21.
‘Local NPT Officers have been in regular contact with the owner of the dog and the investigation is ongoing.’
A spokesperson for Amazon confirmed they were ‘aware of the incident involving one of their delivery service partners’ and said that the ‘parties involved were working to resolve the matter as quickly as possible’.
