A man called her and asked how much the reward was. She told him $200.00. He said he had her dog and to transfer half the money via e-mail. She did, and then he demanded the other half. At that point she questioned him to prove he really had her dog. He threatened to hurt the dog. She sent the other half, and needless to say, did not get her dog.
At that point she called the police. Here is the actual news article.
Offering a reward for a missing pet is good, if a person found the pet and was thinking of keeping it, this can motivate them to do the right thing. Sadly, offering rewards has also created a problem of dog-napping; where people intentionally steal dogs for the purpose of collecting a reward. Note of course that it is illegal to just keep a pet you have found, you are suppose to call the local animal shelter and report finding it or can bring it to them.
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| author's pet cat |
If you have lost a pet and do offer a reward it should be small and never give the reward to anyone until you actually get your pet back. If somebody contacts you about your missing pet and demands a higher reward, or seems suspicious, call the police.
I do hope the dog, named Piper, is found and returned to his owner, and I also hope the man who scammed this woman is caught too.
This article was originally published by me on Bubblews.
