Photos prove nothing. People steal photos all the time.
I want to write about what I've been experiencing lately. With new canine companion acquisition for our family on my "to do list;" I've been looking and looking. Along with breeder research I have begun to check out rescues and re-homes. I want to discuss what I have discovered while looking for a second hand dog via private re-home.
Researching canines looking for a new home; I have learned that not all are on the up and up. Expanding my search, I landed on many different sites that listed re-home dogs. After contacting several listing that caught my attention, I was once again disappointed. People. Money, money is what it came down to. Did the dog even actually exist? I will never know, because I will not send money to these people.
I contacted a few via email; asking all the right questions with regard to the dog that they had listed. A young puppy, older puppy and young adult were listed on separate sites but they all revealed the same results. Sketchy answers. No real information was shared but a clear request for funds was demanded.
Two people that I spoke to wanted to just send me the puppy once I'd paid. They started out with a seemingly heartfelt need to find a great home; someone who would love the puppy that they needed to re-home. Before long, a few back and forth emails, and they were willing to ship to me site unseen. When I pushed to go visit the puppy and meet them I was given a story that they were busy, busy, too busy. If I wanted the puppy they would ship to me. Anymore pushing from me to see the dog ended the conversation, done.
Another person I contacted only contacted through a few word sentences. They would not disclose any real information about the dog or why it was being re-homed. If I wanted the dog, send money. Hmmmmmm?
Intrigued and dismayed by my discovery I dug in further. I searched for more alleged re-homes. What I found was more of the same. Yes there are unscrupulous people out there. Folks who are looking to get your money with nothing in return. I do know that there is a big criminal aspects now in stolen dogs being resold. Were these stolen dogs or did the dogs even exist?
Just a few weeks ago my son had someone try to scam him out of money. A common scam when selling things online. Luckily I'd read about the scam and let him know. This puppy/dog re-home seems to be the same sort of scam. Send money and then wait for your puppy to arrive...
Do your research. There are legitimate re-homes out there; sadly there seems to be far more scams. Research, research, research.