Every year we devote the month of November to the cause of adopting a senior pet. Adopting a pet, especially a senior pet, is a gift to be celebrated. Unfortunately, there are people who will take advantage of you if you are not careful.
Pet adoption or “re-homing” scams are widespread. With the advent of Covid-19, many people isolating at home decided it was a good time to adopt a pet for companionship. This only increased the number of pet adoption and rehoming scams.
When planning a pet adoption, you should always be aware of warning signs of a scam.
- A legitimate person, shelter or rescue will have significant information to offer concerning the animal up for adoption or re-homing. They will know the animal’s personality and behavioral traits well. They will have details concerning the health of the animal. Vague and limited information should be a warning sign of a potential scam.
- Run a reverse image search on the posted pictures. This will allow you to find out if the pictures of that adorable dog or cute kitty are stock photos or copies from another website. You can run a reverse image search by right-clicking on the image, selecting copy image address, go to image.google.com, select the camera icon in the search bar, paste the copied image address in the search bar, and select search by image. This will let you see if the image has been posted in other locations.
- Always visit the animal in person. A legitimate person, shelter or rescue will want to ensure that the match between you and the animal is a good one. Anyone avoiding an in-person visit should be avoided.
- Legitimate organizations are going to request a significant amount of information about you, the person looking to adopt. They will want to know many things about you, including but not limited to, things such as if you have had pets previously or currently, if you have children in your home, if your yard is fenced, who your vet is.
- Run a search online using the name of the person, shelter or rescue plus words like “complaint” or “scam” to see what other information might be available from people who have adopted or attempted to adopt a pet from them before.
- Be wary of anyone asking that you pay a fee using a gift card or wire transfer service. Legitimate organizations will never ask you to send money in this manner.
So, this November find a legitimate shelter or rescue and bring home a senior pet. Give them the gift of a forever home and give both them and you the gift of unconditional love.
____________
Federal Trade Commission Consumer Advice. November 2021. “Get the dog or cat instead of the scam.” https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2021/11/get-dog-or-cat-instead-scam. Last accessed October 17, 2022.