Emily Walker
Since puppy scams statistics have hugely increased and many people have fallen for a puppy scam operation, people have become aware and afraid to buy a puppy online. Some people will decide to buy a rescue dog.
Besides having a new companion, getting a puppy from a rescue dog group has a noble purpose.
It is to rescue a dog from abuse, neglect and death.
But the sad news is, some rescue dog groups blurs the line between saving and selling puppies.
According to the manager of The HSUS’ Puppy Mills Task Force, Justin Scully, there has been an increase in puppy mills posing as “rescues”.
There have been many reports to the HSUS about puppy mill operators introducing themselves as the “ rescue groups” to the public, so they can keep selling their puppies and run their businesses.
The puppy scammers that use this tactic (selling a puppy from puppy mills) will talk about how the puppy was rescued from a horrible environment to grab the consumer’s sympathy. They will be led to believe they are rescuing an innocent and adorable puppy.
However, the truth is they just purchased a puppy from puppy miller.
Though there are plenty of legitimate rescue dog groups, people should be aware that puppy scammers are using this tactic as their cover to keep selling puppy mills and gain more profits.
How to identify this deceptive puppy mills tactic
It’s common knowledge that a dog that comes from a puppy mill has poor health conditions since the breeder doesn’t really care about their health.
The puppy miller only care about profits.
That’s why you should avoid buying a dog from puppy mills at any cost, or you will regret it.
Since puppy mills began to identify themselves as dog rescue, you should educate yourself on how to identify legit dog rescue groups from a puppy millers.
Before you purchased, make sure to ask detailed questions, such as:
Do they have constant puppies for adoptions and no adults?
Puppy mills have a constant number of puppies with fewer adults since the breeding females have to breed continuously to boost their profits.
However, dog rescue groups have no constant puppies like puppy mills and have more adults since they are rescuing dogs not breeding dogs.
Are the puppies spayed or neutered or vaccinated?
Dogs from puppy mills are living in horrible, dirty and unsafe environments. The breeder won’t pay attention to their medical condition. The breeder won’t even consult the veterinarians, nor the vaccinated, spayed or neutered.
On the other hand, dog rescue groups keep their puppies in a healthy living condition and pay attention to their health.
Will you help if the dog gets sick?
Reputable dog rescue groups will be happy to assist you and help you when the dog gets sick. They also provide follow-up assistance, dog training classes, behavioral counseling and pet parenting.
However, puppy millers will disappear once you purchase the puppy since their objective is only to sell the puppy.
Do they have an overall mission?
When you talk to reputable rescue dog members, you find that they are determined to rescue dogs and passionate about it. They don’t even really care about the money and go above and beyond to interact with the dogs.
Puppy millers don’t care about the dogs, they just focus on profits. Though they can pretend to care about the dog, love and passion can’t be fake, and you will notice.
Summary
It’s hard to resist an adorable puppy especially when you need a companion in your household. Deciding to adopt/buy a puppy from a dog rescue is the best option since it’s also saving a dog from an abusive environment.
But some people use this opportunity to deceive warm hearted people by disguised as puppy rescue groups while they are puppy millers that only care about money.
You should educate yourself before buying a puppy so you’ll know whether the seller is a legit breeder/reputable dog rescue group or just scammers that only want your money and disappear once they receive your money.