We’ve now been accused of scamming people to make money on their dogs.
About a week ago, I received the following email. (Please forgive the horrid spelling and grammar. I’m posting it all as I received it.)
I just received a six month old Shiba Ina from a Ohio breeder last Thursday. The dog will not eat or drink water. It hasn’t deficated since we received it. It hides befind my livingroom sofa. I have placed numerous phone calls to her and she refuses to call me back. I just spoke with her vet and was told that the dog was introverted during the exam last Wednesday. I have three children and they are devasted by the behavior of this puppy. Would you be able to take him. I cannot keep him under these circumstances and don’t want him to waste away behind my sofa. Also, do you know if there is a group in Marion Ohio who could visit this breeder. From what the vet was telling me she could be a puppy mill. Many thanks for your help.
I emailed her back, very concerned that the dog wasn’t eating or drinking for several days. I didn’t hear anything from her. A couple days after that, the following showed up on craigslist.
6 MONTH OLD SHIBA INU NEEDS TO BE REHOMED. HE WILL COME WITH ALL HIS VACINATIONS INCLUDING RABIES. HE IS A VERY CUTE PUPPY BUT HAS NOT BEEN SOCIALIZED WITH PEOPLE. I PAID ALOT OF MONEY FOR HIM TO BE SENT FROM OHIO TO NY AND WHEN HE ARRIVED HE WOULD JUST HIDE BEHIND MY SOFA. THE BREEDER WILL NOT TAKE HIM BACK. UNFORTUNATLEY, I DO NOT HAVE THE TIME OR EXPERIENCE TO SOCIALIZE HIM. HE REALLY NEEDS SOMEONE WITH THIS KIND OF TALENT. I BELIEVE IT WILL TAKE A LOT OF PATIENCE AND TIME BEFORE THIS PUPPY COMES AROUND. SINCE HE HAS NOT BEEN AROUND CHILDREN THE BREEDER HAS SUGGESTED HE BE IN A QUIET HOME. HIS ADOPTION FEE IS $50.00 AND YOU WILL GET HIS MEDICAL RECORD FROM OHIO ALONG WITH HIS RABIES TAG. I WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH THE BREEDER’S EMAIL AND TELEPHONE NUMBER AS WELL AS THE VET’S TELEPHONE NUMBER IF YOU WANT TO SPEAK WITH THEM.
Emails were sent. Nothing. Our intake director and another board member managed to get in touch with the poster using the telephone number from the original email. Several long discussions were had. The woman seemed genuinely interested in surrendering the pup to rescue instead of selling him. We had a foster home all set up who was willing and able to work with him for however long it would take to get him socialized, healthy and happy. A transport time was arranged. And then canceled. And then… the board members talking to the owner received the following email from her.
I AM SORRY BUT I AM NOT GIVING THE DOG AWAY TO YOU. INSTEAD I WILL BE WORKING WITH SOMEONE WHO WILL SOCIALIZE THE DOG. IT IS A GREAT GIMICK TO TAKE A PURE BRED DOG AND GET SOMEONE TO PAY YOU FOR IT AND NOT PAY THE OWNER. I ALREADY LOST MONEY ON THIS DOG AND MY HUSBAND WAS ASTONISHED THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY GIVE THEIR DOGS TO YOU FOR YOU IN TURN TO MAKE MONEY ON. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT ME AGAIN UNDER ANY CONDITIONS.
The sad part is that it’s the dog who will lose out in this situation. 🙁 If anyone has any ideas, I’d love to hear them.
That is an extremely unfortunate situation for all involved.
Amazing how “careful” she is about finding a place for the dog now and how little work she did in finding the dog in the first place. Were we able to get the contact information of the “breeder”. I am curious if she really did contact the “so called” breeder or if she is really the one with the scam.
Yeah, I looked up the breeder when she first contacted us. Definite puppy mill. I doubt they give a rat’s @$$ about the dog.
Pity. But explain to me… how do you “work with someone who will socialize the dog”? Does she mean a trainer, daycare, a sitter? Cause at first glance, those professionals sound more like a gimmick then a rescue and this is coming from a trainer.
I’m not sure what that was supposed to mean. Maybe she’s going to a trainer. More likely she has a neighbor or friend who’s giving her advice. Or should made that up entirely. I think her husband convinced her we weren’t on the up-and-up and she was just trying to get rid of us. 🙁
We’re going to try re-contacting her and explaining what it means to be a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and how we are required to spend any donations we receive achieving our mission, which is to save Inus and educate the public.
Oh Jenna, that was so disheartening to read. It’s too bad that she thinks she can merely hire someone to socialize the dog, she needs to realize that she (as well as her family) will need to be the ones to do 99% of the hard work. If this is the mindset she has at this early stage in the game, this woman is already admitting that she doesn’t have the time, interest, and heart to care for the poor pup, I can only see it getting worse from here on. I’d be surprised if she followed through with socializing at all.
Maybe the best thing to offer this woman is advice for the future. Tell her that no dog comes socialized or trained, no dog comes equipped with the habits and knowledge of how to live with humans, UNLESS SOMEONE HAS CONSISTENTLY TAUGHT THEM THESE THINGS.
If she’s looking for a socialized dog with a certain personality, she should ADOPT an older dog. She can go to the shelter/foster home, play with the pup, have her kids interact with him, etc so she knows what she’s getting into. Really, if she doesn’t have the patience for it, like she said, she shouldn’t be looking for a dog anyway. I would say it’s even a stretch that the gov’t let’s her have kids. Ok, sorry. I’m just really mad.
Mayas last blog post was Struvite Saga
She’s on crack. I feel bad for the dog though. She doesn’t understand the $ that goes into caring/feeding/and housing the dog till it finds a home. AND AND AND… MONEY is the main thread in her mind. So the dog is nothing more than an article of clothing and a toy to amuse the kids. If the dog isn’t eating you have to wonder a few things — what are they feeding it, how are they feeding it, and do they even know how to help a shy pup come around?!?!
Obviously not. If we see them on Animal Cops, don’t be surprised.
Even more unfortunate is it sounds like the pup is one of those new designer “mini shibas”. At 6+ mos he’s a 9 lb cream shiba. I’m really too disgusted about the situation to really add much more(at least anything productive at this point), but if she ever said $$ was the issue I would have PERSONNALLY given her the %&$*@&# $50!
Jenna~thank you for letting me vent
Wow.. truly sad.. could anyone actually be THAT ignorant about rescues? has she been living in a cave where puppies come perfectly trained?
i think she’s upset or her husband is upset that she gave money to a puppy mill and got something other than what she felt she purchased. there may be a ray of hope of she actually reads up on what rescues do.
i think she’s looking for compensation most of all.
poor shiba baby.. and a designed mini? how very very sad.
It never fails that these people who are so concerned about their dogs that they want to get rid of them, are also so concerned about getting reimbursed for their stupid, ignorant mistake of taking in a dog they can’t and aren’t willing to handle. It also never fails that I hate them.
Have her explain to me just exactly who is making money. Is it our great volunteers who give up their time, gas and tolls to pick up your dog? Is it our fosters who pay for food and toys for your dog? or is it the rescue who pay to vaccinate, chip, neuter/spay, and provide all the supplies for your dog?
Unbelievable. Sounds like this person was ok with a rescue, then someone has changed their mind. I don’t think there will be anything you could do to change them, unfortunately. They obviously have no clue about reputable rescues. Hopefully that pup will go into a much better home!
It’s amazing what people will do and say when they are absolutely sure they are right…without the research and information to back it up.
She should have carefully researched the breeder and researched what healthy traits and characteristics a healthy pup would have. She should realize that while some breeders take steps to get puppies used to being handled and in a home environment – at 8 weeks they are far from socialized. I would definitely be concerned about the pup refusing food or water and not deficating.
Maybe someone who didn’t know anything about the rescue program spoke to her and changed her mind, and she didn’t take into accounts the facts: 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Either way, it seems she has good intentions but isn’t making sound informed decisions. That combination paves the way to a very bad place for the poor pup. 🙁
That is really upseting. I feel so bad for that dog. I hope everything turnes out ok. AHHHHH!!!!! SO annoying that she would think that! She needs to get up, go to the book store, buy a dictionary, go home, give her dog a hug, AND LOOK UP THE WORD RESCUE!!!!!!
What she really needs to look up is “non-profit.”
I’d like to create a new definition for rescue and let Mike define it, listing all the ways we give of our time and money to do what we do.
Wow! I just read this. How sad. Obviously, the lady has been misinformed about NYC Shiba Rescue.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to educate people. Most people operate on media bites only. And some get very angry when you point them to factual sources.
And unfortunately, there are non profit animal rescues that do make a lot of money by obtaining and selling pure bred dogs. These rescues usually will only take highly adoptable dogs–not adults with problems. Most of the income generated from the sale of these dogs goes to the executive’s own salaries and to sophisticated marketing agencies–not to the dogs.
Because most people simply will not do any type of research, they will adopt either one of two views: (1) All animal rescuers are saints; or (2)All animal rescuers are opportunists.
Animal rescue organizations are just like all other organizations. Some are good and some are not.
M
That’s very true, Monica; there will always be good and bad of everything. Research and education is so important. There are many rules governing non-profits, that the groups you’re talking about are violating (if not the letter, at least the spirit), but I’m sure you know that. Unfortunately, many of the worst offenders are HUGE and are more about politics and money than about actually helping animals.
Here is the email that I eventually sent to the woman referenced in my post. I never heard back from her and I don’t know what happened to her Shiba.
Well said, Jenna!