How To Spot Scam Kitten (and puppy) Sellers
I grew up in a world where puppies and kittens were advertised in magazines, newspapers, word of mouth and we got to know breeders at the shows.
Lately, I have been coming across all kinds of obviously (to me) fake ‘breeder’ websites and I have been seeing a huge amounts of posts on social media from people who have been scammed. I understand that folks who did not grow up in the breeding/show animal world don’t typically know how to recognize a bad breeder or a fake ‘breeder.’
In the 80’s, 90’s and even the 00’s, scammers selling nonexistent puppies and kittens were rare, now they are everywhere. This is extremely heartbreaking for buyers who lost money and the lost out on a puppy or kitten whose picture they fell in love with. This is also extremely frustrating for actual breeders because people no longer trust that we are who we say we are.
Always get proof that the ‘breeder’ you are buying from is a real breeder and actually possesses the kittens (or puppies) they are advertising.
- My photos and video are watermarked to prevent scammers from using them. You can search Google for the images you see on my website and see for yourself that they originated here.
- I personally wrote all of the text content on this website (unless otherwise credited as someone else’s work, I don’t plagiarize!) And you can verify that my content originated here by using plagiarism checker tools on Google Chrome Browser.
- If your application is approved, I will provide you with the name and address of our veterinary clinic at your request. You can look them up, find their phone number listed online and call them to verify that I am their client and they have seen my cats and kittens.
- I have an account with Animal Transportation Worldwide, which is based here in Ohio. So, you can call them, verify that Beloved Kittens – Lynn Brown has an account with them and you can talk to them directly about pet transportation.
- If your application is approved, and you request it, I will give you references from other breeders whose websites have been around for 10+ years and know me personally.
- I don’t do questionable transactions like Moneygram, Western Union, Zelle, Cash app, etc. I accept payments online with Venmo (owned by PayPal), Stripe, or in-person cash-only.
- I do not require payments for anything above the price I advertise online and on my website. There is no additional fees for crate or shipping insurance or anything else except actual transportation cost, if you chose to not pick up in person.
- I don’t sell to just anyone, I don’t have ‘buy now’ options for my kittens and I never will. I only sell to those whose Kitten Applications I have reviewed and approved, I do my best to match kittens to the right homes based on kitten’s personality and what someone is looking for.
The Better Business Bureau did a study that concluded that 80% of online puppy ads and websites were scams. Fake ‘breeders’ outnumber real breeders 5 to 1.
These scammers steal photos that were posted online by real breeders and owners. They also duplicate the text from real websites.
Google Chrome provides tools to help you figure out if an ad or a website is fake. You can add a plagiarism checker to your Chrome browser. You can also right-click on photos and click on ‘Search Google for image’ to see if the photo is on other websites. Whichever website domain name is the oldest (can be checked on Whois.com) is likely the original poster and owner of the photo or text in question.
Scammers often have serious spelling and grammar errors. (Mine is not the best either, but certainly better!) Because they duplicate the content of other websites, their websites usually have a lot of inconsistencies, like mentioning ‘puppies’ when they are supposedly selling kittens. They also steal photos from a wide range of breeders, so the ‘look’ of their kittens (or puppies) can be vastly different from each other. Very different backgrounds, different breeds, wildly different facial structure. Also… no consistent theme to how they name their kittens. Breeders almost always stick to some kind of naming theme. Each breeder is different in what kind of theme-naming they chose. Some name their litters alphabetically (this is what I do.) So they may have an A-litter, B-litter, C-litter, with each kitten or puppy name starting with the letter of their respective litter. Other breeders chose to do TV or movie themes, current national/world event theme, seasonal/holiday themes, etc.
They advertise their litters as ~50% off… Sorry, No REAL BREEDER Does This!!! Kittens, or any pets, are not inanimate products to be carelessly put on ‘clearance’ or ‘bargain deals’.
It’s rare for breeders to ‘discount’ their babies!!! Some do for military, seniors, first responders, etc… and even then it’s a small percentage. Sometimes a breeder has an older kitten that they will take a loss on and sell for less, or a kitten might have a lower price if it has a defect (which should always be disclosed upfront.) Most breeders I know will give away their special needs babies to people they personally know, or they keep them as their own pets! Otherwise, NO RESPECTABLE BREEDER ADVERTISES BIG DISCOUNTS FOR THEIR KITTENS! (OR PUPPIES!) We would rather keep them ourselves and just stop breeding entirely if we have to. The time and expenses we pour into our breeding programs cannot be discounted, otherwise we’d all be destitute and not breeding anyways because we couldn’t afford it!
You should also know that there is no ‘Same Day Delivery’ that scammers often tout. In the real world, delivering a kitten or puppy is almost impossible to happen on the same day as purchase, or even in the same week, certainly never by using a website and doing a ‘buy now’ purchase. The only way to have your puppy or kitten on the same day that you purchase them is either to go to a petstore where the puppies and kittens almost always come from mills or by actually visiting the breeder in person.
These two websites can help you investigate if a website is a scam.
Scams Go Both Ways! Breeders Deal With Thieves Too!
The most common ways that breeders are scammed by ‘buyers’ is:
- Fraudulent checks
- Buyers who pay for and receive puppy or kitten and then falsify illness/death and demand return of money
- ‘Buyers’ who show up at breeder’s home and steal puppies or kittens. Breeders have had entire litters stolen, homes ransacked and even been murdered by fake ‘buyers’.
Because of these things, I have to be careful too about who I let purchase my kittens or come to my home.
We do not accept checks. If a medical crises happens with a kitten you purchased from us, we absolutely require that we must speak on the phone with the veterinarian who treated the kitten AND also our own veterinarian must speak with the veterinarian who treated the kitten. We must receive documents with attending veterinarian’s letterhead and signature as to diagnosis and treatments. We go above and beyond to raise the healthiest kittens we possibly can. Our kittens are examined by a veterinarian several times before they leave us, so that we are assured and you are assured that they have no congenital issues and have a clean bill of health. If we are made aware of any kitten that is not healthy, we will not sell that kitten. Because of our commitments to our babies, our contract is very strict as to what we will and will not guarantee so that we are not scammed by fraudulent buyers.
Any buyer who elects to come to our home to pick up their kitten will be required to send us a photocopy of their government issued photo ID first and must have a paid deposit before we will set up an appointment. This is done for our assurance that a buyer is not planning to harm us or steal from us.