Pets are great friends and companions for people of all ages. This is carried over into adulthood and, at one time or another in life, almost everyone has a dog or cat. However, this kind of sentiment for pets can lead people to be scammed.
Puppy mills are held by several con artists around the world. These animals are shipped, through brokers, to various sellers. It is the sellers who will use various means of advertising, including the Internet, these puppies for sale.
On the Internet they will often show a picture of a very attractive animal. They’ll claim that the dog is a championship breed and charge a lot of money. You’ll always have to pay up front in these situations. Unfortunately, when the animal arrives, if it arrives at all, it is not the same animal at all.
Pet scammers will claim that the animal is fully up on their shots and are in good health in their ads. However, the dogs buyers get often die not long after they get there. Buying from any source that is not certified is not a good idea.
In many cases the pet purchaser sends the money for an animal pictured on the Internet. However, the buyer receives no dog and they can’t get their money back. People have lost hundreds and thousands of dollars in this way as purebred champions are very expensive. Stay aware of this potential problem and always take the time to check with a service such as ip-who.com/221/index.py to verify the person who calls you is truly who they say they are.
One of the favorite pet scams is to advertise that they will be shipped from overseas and all the buyer has to do is pay the shipping costs. Of course, after the money is sent they never arrive. Unfortunately, the buyer has no recourse in getting their money back.
Be prepared for many legitimate sounding stories from the pet scammers. Sob stories abound about pets who were abandoned and are just looking for a good home, which you might provide. There are other stories about people who go overseas and have to abandon the pet they own. Of course, all of these situations require money up front.
If you want to keep from getting scammed, verify the original owner of the pet, or its location. Try to get to where you can meet the pet face to face, or trace the lineage of the dog. The idea of buying any unknown animal, either overseas or here at home, is setting yourself up for trouble. Reputable breeders are known by other people, and it should be easy to check them out. Don’t trust any sort of transaction that asks for money before the product.
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