Wallingford Animal Control is sounding the alarm and sharing a cautionary tale for pet owners, after someone falsely claimed a lost dog was theirs.
The worry is that this could be happening behind animal control’s back more than anyone might realize.
“He’s part of our family, I call him my second son,” said Ashley of Wallingford, talking about her Yorkie Poo named Gucci.
Nine-year-old Gucci ran out of the house on Thursday. Thankfully, a good Samaritan posted on Facebook that he found Gucci and brought him to Wallingford Animal Control.
Because of this good Samaritan’s help in bringing Gucci to animal control, he and Ashley were reunited only three hours after he went missing.
But what happened after Gucci was safe and sound ended up being much more alarming.
“I was definitely really shocked and in disbelief,” Ashley said.
Wallingford Animal Control said another person came into the office, trying to take Gucci home. They even went as far as allegedly providing fake veterinarian documents.
“They are known through animal control officers through the state as someone who tries to gain free dogs or tries to claim,” Wallingford Animal Control Officer Mitch Gibbs said.
Gibbs said people in Connecticut should have awareness that there are people out there who would take advantage of the dozens of ‘found dog’ posts that hit Facebook daily.
“If the animal changed hands via Facebook, you know, the owner might never really know and just think their dog is gone,” Gibbs said.
He said if you find an animal, bring it to animal control first. Next, you can share on Facebook that the animal is in good hands with animal control.
That allows the pet’s real family to reunite with their furry friend after the officers can verify the correct owners.
“It could have possibly gone another way,” said Ashley, who says this experience was eye-opening. “I just think the thought of them not being able to return home or someone claiming ownership to resell or whatever they’d want to do with the animal is really scary.”
She is updating Gucci’s tag with the correct information and encourages other pet owners to do the same.
Wallingford Animal Control also encourages pet owners to microchip their furry friends to help with identification, too.
Being mindful of pet scams is also something folks at the Connecticut Humane Society focus on.
Kathryn Schubert of the Humane Society said situations like this happen all too frequently if people exchange pets through improper channels without verification. While it’s helpful to share that you are missing a pet online, sharing that you found a pet can take some extra verification.
“The most difficult thing about social media is that it can act as a positive and negative and making sure that you are sharing the right things online and doing your research with anybody who, maybe steps forward with information is really important,” Schubert said.
In addition to reaching out to animal control, if you lose or find a pet, Schubert also recommends reaching out to veterinarians, rescue groups and groomers who might be in the know.
The Connecticut Humane Society also recommends filing a missing pet report, too.
Wallingford Animal Control said they’re gathering information for a case, with the potential of charges against the person who tried to claim Gucci as theirs.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
