Family Stung in Designer Dog Puppy Scam
Published on August 13, 2008 by Ryan O'Meara · 2 CommentsA mother is warning others to be on their look out after she was duped out of £700 in a US based designer puppy online scam. She is cautioning others to be aware of buying pets online.
Tina-Marie Kirman paid £250 up front to a Texan who she met via the internet. She was seeking to purchase a Shih Tzu.
Mrs Kirman saw the dog advertised online and paid her deposit of a quarter of a thousand pounds.
However things took a turn for the unusual when the seller then demanded a further £400, which he advised would be returned to her at a later date.
Mrs Kirman paid the money by wire transfer which took the total amount paid to £700.
She was then told to pay a further £500 as the puppy ‘was stuck in quarantine’.
Mrs Kirman contacted police when the seller asked for a further £500, claiming the puppy was stuck in quarantine.
Police in Humberside are investigating the fraud.
Meanwhile, Mrs Kirman told her local paper the puppy would have made an ideal pet for her children.
She said: “I feel really stupid that I have been conned. I believed that I would get the puppy.
“My mum has a shih tzu and I told the kids they would have a puppy just like the one their nanna has.”
She added: “This guy was really clever and convincing. He knew exactly what he was doing. He even supplied me with information about transportation.
“I am really angry and upset that I have been taken for a ride. I want to warn others.”
Humberside police wrote to Mrs Kirman with more bad news: “Unfortunately, at this stage no evidence has come to light, which would support a prosecution.”
K9 Magazine says:
What in the blue hell is anybody doing spending £700 trying to bring a Shih Tzu from the United States to the UK on the back of a chance encounter on the Internet?
It’s very, very difficult to have any sympathy. The Internet is a great communication tool and it is also a very useful device for linking potential dog owners with quality breeders, dog rescues and most importantly ADVICE on how to buy a puppy and how to research dog ownership. In amongst the countless reams of advice on acquiring a dog, it is highly unlikely one will find a chapter on buying a dog from the United States by wire transfer.
It’s an expensive lesson to learn and it must be upsetting for the family. But come on people, DO YOUR RESEARCH! If you have access to the Internet you have access to the many, many sites that advise on puppy farming, puppy scams and the folly of falling for anything related to so-called ‘designer dogs’.
The UK has many quality breeders of Shih Tzu dogs. They might be more expensive than £250. In fact the very notion that a person could expect to obtain a quality pedigree puppy, have it shipped from across the Atlantic and it arrive in good health and high spirits is naive at best, downright incomprehensible in reality. It’s just not going to happen.
A lesson learned. But let’s be realistic, there can be little sympathy for anyone who could honestly expect to receive a puppy to have come all this way for £250 who would NOT have come from a commercial dog dealer.
We really, really do need more compulsory education for anyone who is thinking of acquiring a dog. Sadly, when there is a level of naivety on this scale about actually acquiring the dog, is it unrealistic to assume there would be an equal level of misunderstanding as to what it will require to maintain this animal?
End puppy farming. http://dogs-r-us.org/
Introduce a dog ownership suitability test. http://www.dogownershiptest.co.uk
Highly Recommended: This could be the most important link you EVER click as far as your dog’s life is concerned – see why….!
Tags: Animal Welfare, designer dogs, puppy farming, puppy scam
Completely agree with Ryan’s comments. Do we not have enough Shih Tzu’s in this country that someone thinks they have to import one from Texas?!!
There is enough information out there for people to get clued up about buying a pup, its obviously selfish and ignorant people who don’t choose to use it.
This makes my blood boil
“I told the kids they would have a puppy just like the one their nanna has.”
I’m afraid I have little sympathy. There are plenty of shih tzu breeders in the UK, she could have picked up a paper and gone to see a litter properly. She should have known better than to try to buy a puppy over the internet.