Craigslist Dog Adoption Scams

A scammer on Craigs List Facebook or E-bay is selling a purebred puppy or kitten often for free or at a deeply discounted price for the breed.

Craigslist dog adoption scams. I support a small nonprofit that works to put puppy mills out of business by educating the public about pet shops and where they get their puppies. While Craigslist officially bans the sale of companion animals in reality such sales are common on the platform with sellers often using the term rehoming in order to skirt the ban. The eager adopter pays the breeder and then gets a notice saying the pet is being held at the airport because it is required to have insurance in order to travel.

Part 1 Im writing this blog to warn people who use craigslist looking for pets especially popular dogs such as yorkies chihuahuas pugs pitbulls golden retrievers and labradors. While the pet shops might claim to buy only from USDA licensed breeders or family breeders the industry people claim to not understand that the issue is that ethical. Do consider adopting from a local shelter or rescue group instead of buying a pet online.

The thieves almost always ask the victims to pay to ship the pet by air and they will send victims to bogus web sites of pet transportation companies set up. These reports are collected and posted. They collect the animal either for free or for a small fee then immediately offer it.

REHOMING FEES and ADOPTION FEES ARE N E G O T I A B L E. While many times these fake listings appear on websites like Craigslist some scammers find ways to position themselves as reputable breeders by stealing personal info from them. However if a very young puppy is advertised as the last of the litter but is still a young age a discount may be suspicious.

Because of the current circumstances and unusual ways of doing business right now potential pet owners may not worry about buying a pet they have not met or seen yet. Heres how the scam works. Scams are widespread with unethical breeders and dealers frequently selling animals who are sick stolen or even nonexistent.

These are definitely backyard breeders that. An unusually high proportion of victims of online pet scams are in their late teens or 20s according to the BBB. Its all a scam.