Owners devastated after their dog was allegedly shot by New Jersey pet sitters while the couple were vacationing on the New Jersey coast

HUNTERDON COUNTY, New Jersey — A New Jersey couple is experiencing a pet owner's worst nightmare after their dog sitter shot and killed their beloved pit bull, police said.

The couple, Lindsey Scalera and Andrew Beifus, took Remi to a dog sitter in Readington Township before heading off on vacation to the New Jersey coast earlier this month.

The vacation was interrupted by two calls from the dog sitter. The first call claimed Remi was aggressive towards another dog. The second call shocked the couple deeply: The dog sitter, Craig Cooke, called and said he had shot the dog and claimed Remi had attacked his pregnant wife.

“I hear it over and over again. He said, 'I just put a bullet in your dog's head. He was after my pregnant wife, come and get the body of your (expletive) dead dog off my property,'” Scalera told New York ABC affiliate WABC.

Cooke has been charged with animal cruelty, but Scalera and Beifus say that is not enough to ease the grief of their sudden loss.

They adopted Remi six years ago after New Jersey Pit Rescue rescued the dog from an overcrowded kill shelter.

“When we first met him, he just burst through my arms, licked my face and that was it. It was love at first sight,” Beifus said.

The couple found the dog sitters through a website for dog lovers in Hunterdon County.

On the website, several people tagged the name of Kalli Cooke, who offered pet grooming services through the company Rover. Kalli Cooke is married to Craig Cooke, the man accused of shooting the dog.

“We met her personally. Our dog got along well around her and she assured us that she was insured and had liability insurance,” said Beifus.

Less than 36 hours after his stay, problems arose. Remi and another dog got into a fight.

Scalera told the dog sitter they were ready to return from the trip to pick up the dog. The couple said Kalli assured them everything was OK and Remi was locked in a crate in a room.

The babysitters then sent the couple pictures of Remi hanging out with Craig.

A short time later, Scalera received the second call: Remi had been shot.

“He ran over our dog. And shot him twice in the head. For no (expletive) good reason,” Andrew said.

Beifus called the police, who worked with animal control to recover Remi's remains.

Craig Cooke was charged with second-degree weapons possession and third-degree animal cruelty, police said.

Rover announced that they had banned the Cookes from their website and released the following statement:

“The safety of pets and people on our platform is our highest priority. As soon as we learned of these heartbreaking allegations, our 24/7 Trust and Safety team removed both care providers from the platform, canceled future bookings, and helped all affected pet owners find alternative care through Rover. We will continue to cooperate with law enforcement to the best of our ability,” the statement said.

WABC reached out to the Cookes but received no response.

“It was just a tragedy that we could never have imagined,” Scalera said.