Police officers in Los Angeles are warning residents about a new pet-abduction scam that is now spreading in the area. Two people, dressed in official-looking uniforms, showed up at someone's house, showed him some paperwork that also looked legitimate, and told him they were there to take his dog away. they women told the pet owner that they had received complaints about the dog being neglected, and he had no choice except to surrender the dog to animal control.
Even though he know that his pet was not in any way neglected; he believed that he was forced to let them take the dog.
After they left with his dog; he called the number from the flier that they had left, and it turned out that the "officers" were fake, and the animal control knew nothing about the people or the dog in question.
These kinds of things seem to spread rapidly, so regardless of where you live; be sure to call and verify that anyone who says they are there to take your pet, is actually an animal control official.
This is horrible - to think that someone would pose like a legitimate official shows the lengths that these sick individuals go to. I feel like without raising awareness of this issue, a lot of people would think the same thing -- that they had no choice other than to surrender their pet to these so called officials.
I have some family members and friends living in Los Angeles so I'm going to share the article with them and see if they can spread it around to their friends. Times like this definitely make me see the benefits in social media, as it's relatively easy and fast to get the word out about terrible things like this happening.
I appreciate you sharing the article. Knowledge is power in situations like this!
That's nuts. I have never heard of a pet stealing scam before. My neighbors had several cats get stolen, but that was obviously someone grabbing the cat, taking the collar off (they found the collars unbuckled) and driving off with the cat. I would never think someone would do something so elaborate to steal a pet. I wonder if they are targeting expensive breeds.
Several years ago, a friend of mine had a littler of puppies from her little Yorkie, and she had advertised them for sale in the local paper. One couple came out and looked at the puppies, and picked out the one that they wanted; but they told my friend that they didn't have money along with them, and they had to go to the bank and get the money. They explained which bank they used, and said they would meet her there in an hour if she could bring the puppy and meet them at the bank.
So, she loaded up the puppy and went to the bank, but the people were not there yet. She waited and waited; but they never showed up; so she finally gave up and took the puppy back home.
When she arrived back home, she found that they had gone to her house and stolen all of the puppies, as well as the mother dog; so she not only lost the puppies, but the mother, who was her beloved pet.
The people obviously had intended to do this right from the beginning, and as soon as she pulled out of her driveway; they probably went to her house and got the dogs from her back yard dog run.
It seems like there are all kinds of scams that people will use to steal dogs and puppies, especially purebred ones that can easily be re-sold.
The audacity and pure cruel coldness of the people who do this just sickens and disgusts me. These aren't possessions, they are pets and are beloved family members! It's no different from kidnapping, in my opinion. They aren't just property so I don't think it's theft. It's kidnapping. Laws need to be more strict on this and as pet owners we should be more cautious and more vigilant about this.
