Adoption Options: Buying Animals Online

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between an animal shelter, a rescue, and a breeder? Have you heard of puppy mills but don't know what they actually are? Wondering if it's safe to buy a pet online? Are you considering bringing a pet into your family, but don't know where to look? This series is for you! Welcome to part 5 of our 5-part series, Adoption Options.

So, what's the big deal with shelters vs rescues vs breeders vs buying animals online? Many people have strong opinions on this topic, but we aren't here to convince you one way or the other. We're just here to provide information on the subject. This series is here to educate people about the main forms of obtaining animal companionship so folks can make their own, educated decisions on what's the best fit for their lifestyle, family, and situation.

Buying animals online

Image by Fran Patel from Pixabay

Is it safe to buy an animal online?

Buying animals online is like the Wild West of pet adoption. There aren't set rules or regulations, and there are no guarantees  it's risky.

There's no single, established adoption process for buying animals online like there is with shelters, rescues, and breeders. People don't have to be honest about things like age, health, breed, or pedigree when they're advertising an animal online.

Similar to the process of searching for a reputable breeder, if you choose to buy an animal online, you're signing up for a lot of work if you want to do so in a responsible, risk-minimizing manner. You'll need to learn how to navigate around scams and dishonest sellers online.

With scams, the animals don't even actually exist, and you can get charged exorbitant miscellaneous fees for "veterinary bills" or a "special shipping crate". In other situations, some animals have serious illnesses and/or behavioral issues, and that's part of the reason an individual or family can't house them anymore. They don't have to be up front about that when they're advertising the animal online, however. Unless you have the time and resources, fiscal and emotional, to be able to deal with a sick/poorly trained animal, you're going to want to be careful.

There are also genuine people online who are trying to rehome their animal   the trick is finding out who's being honest.

Photo by Ihsan Adityawarman from Pixabay

Why should I be careful?

Beyond being swindled out of your money for an animal that never existed in the first place, there are a few other things to consider. Things like behavioral problems can take months or years to correct, or even a lifetime of behavioral management. Mental and physical health issues can be chronic and expensive to treat, and if you adopt an animal, you are responsible for their medical costs.

When you're adopting from a shelter, a rescue, or buying from a responsible breeder, you should be told about all issues anyone is aware of with the animal up front. You'll have access to known health records, and the animal will have been to see a veterinarian before you bring them home. You also have a chance to meet the animal first, before making any commitment. There are many advantages to the aforementioned forms of adoption.

Image by Pixabay from Pexels

How to avoid scams

If you wish to pursue buying an animal online, there are some guidelines that can help you dodge scams:

• A good website design or great photos do not mean a company or individual is legitimate. Conduct a reverse-image search to see if the same photos show up other places online. Do some research on the reliability of the website you're on and see what other people have to say.

• Be skeptical if the price is well below what you'd expect for an animal of a particular breed. Doing some initial research on what reputable breeders are charging can help determine the price range you should expect.

• Look up the seller's contact information and see if people have complained about being scammed by them before. Check their name against watchdog lists like PetScams and the International Pet and Animal Transportation Association. You can do the same with companies/websites as well.

• Some scammers have been known to even set up fake tracking websites to seem more legitimate, and this is where extra fees often come in for the inevitable imaginary problems that will crop up.

• Some scammers pose as animal shelters and charge exorbitant "adoption fees". The adoption fees at animal shelters are purposefully low, to encourage adoption. Thankfully, it can be pretty easy to figure out if they're a legitimate animal shelter or not with quick online search and/or a phone call.

Image by rony michaud from Pixabay

There are also some behaviors to be on guard for when you have begun communicating with a seller or website:

• The person selling the animal refuses to allow you to pick the animal up in person or meet them first and insists on shipping them to you.

• The payment for the animal must be a wire transfer, a gift card, or a prepaid debit card   no credit or debit cards allowed (because that protects a buyer in case of being scammed).

• The shipment of the animal keeps cropping up additional costs like vet care, food, a special shipping crate, insurance, etc.

• The seller refuses to speak over the phone. (There are a small number of situations where this makes sense--a seller who doesn't have the use of their voice, for example, or if they don't share a spoken language with you. Most of the time, though, this is a sign that someone is trying to keep their identity a secret, and anyone trustworthy generally doesn't have a need to do that.)

• Email communications have poor spelling and grammar. (This can also be legitimate--sometimes people just don't share a first language, and that doesn't mean they're automatically a scammer. Some people aren't great at writing, too, and that's okay. If someone is running a professional website, typically they would at least try to hire someone fluent in the language of their target audience to write or edit their communications. Evaluate other aspects of your communication if you come across this and make the judgement call yourself.)

• The seller appears to be a family who is being "forced" to give up their animal for "free"   save for shipping costs. (Not to say that every case of this is illegitimate, but this is a common scam to keep an eye out for.)

• The seller threatens you if you try to back out, telling you the animal will die (the animal very likely does not exist) or that you'll be charged with animal abandonment (a real crime, but not one you can be charged with in this situation). They really just want to make more money off you.
• And of course, if you see any signs that the seller might be running a puppy mill, make sure to report them!

Image by Brett Sayles from Pexels

Questions to ask a seller

Once you believe you've found a legitimate seller, there are some important questions you can ask to try to make sure you are making a wise investment.

• Does this animal have separation distress?

• How energetic is this animal?

• Is this an indoor or outdoor animal?

• How does this animal do with cats, dogs, children, other animals? What about their interactions with other living creatures in unfamiliar situations? (For example, maybe Peanuts gets along really well with the kids he's living with right now but showed signs of aggression towards other kids at a birthday party.)

• What kind of training has this animal had?

• What is this animal's demeanor? (For example; playful, shy, protective, etc.)

• Do you have any references I can contact? (This is generally more specifically for breeders, so you can talk to others who have bought animals from this breeder and get more information and determine their legitimacy. You can also ask for a reference from the veterinarian the animal you're interested in has allegedly been to see.)

• Can I see this animal's medical records?

We can't guarantee that if you follow our advice, you'll avoid every scam out there, but hopefully you are better equipped to avoid the perils of seeking a pet online.

Image by Cong H from Pexels

A couple of notes on Craigslist and Nextdoor

One of the more common places people might look for animals online is Craigslist, an "American online classified advertisements website". Basically, you can view and post advertisements for free.

The tempting thing about Craigslist for many folks is the affordability, the fact that there's no waiting period, and the general lack of requirements for adopting the animal. You know the old adage; you get what you pay for? That absolutely rings true here.

If you're looking for a purebred animal, know that it is highly unlikely that a reputable breeder is selling their animals on Craigslist. Craigslist has a certain reputation for not being reliable.

This isn't to say it's impossible to find a healthy, well-adjusted animal on Craigslist   just be careful.

Image by minka2507 from Pixabay

Nextdoor is an app for connecting with other people in your neighborhood. People can find others in their neighborhood and post local information, offer up services, or sell goods. The sale of pets is prohibited, though folks are allowed to "re-home" their animals and charge a "re-homing fee" of up to $50, according to the app's website. Their website suggests listing specific expenses one is trying to cover if one requests more than that amount.

One of the potential upsides of Nextdoor is that if you're helping to rehome an animal from someone local, if there are any problems, well, they're pretty close by (unless their reason for rehoming is because they are moving).

Image by Ilona Ilyés from Pixabay

An interview with Abriana Iwanski, adopter of Annabelle, Chloe, Jazz, and Lex (all from Craigslist), as well as Athena (newspaper ad) and Oliver (got from a landlord)

What made you decide to get a pet?

"Our first animal from Craigslist was Annabelle. We got her because I'd had cats living at my grandparents' home, and I really missed having a pet. I got Annabelle after browsing on Craigslist for pets, not necessarily looking, just dreaming. I found her and she needed a home, and she was so cute.

Chloe, we got off Craigslist. We had already gotten Annabelle that way, it was an easy option. We couldn't afford adoption fees otherwise.

Jazz was because I'd always wanted a Corgi because I thought they were so cute. It was a hobby of mine to look at pets on Craigslist. At that time, I realized some people got on Craigslist looking for free or cheap pets for nefarious purposes like dogfighting. I looked for unwanted pets. I happened to find Jazz. She's a corgi and was living in a person's yard, chained up and only 6 months old. The person who bought her was getting a divorce and moving out and couldn't take the dog with her, so we took Jazz home.

And then Lex was many years later. We had gotten a cat named Ozzie off Craigslist who died, we had to put him down because we couldn't afford a bladder surgery and there was no guarantee the surgery would work. His life was miserable. After we put him down, I was really sad about it, perusing Craigslist, when I found Great Pyrenees puppies. We drove down to someplace outside of Springfield, a 3-hour drive. They had 2 puppies that were older and a new litter. We took one of the older puppies."

Annabelle really likes talking with people.

How did you decide on your adoption method?

"It's affordable, we could be saving animals that would otherwise be adopted by people with bad intentions, and with a pet rescue there's a whole application process and waiting period."

How did you find a website/listing that suited your needs?

"I wasn't even really looking for anything in particular, especially for Annabelle and Jazz and Chloe. I was just kind of looking at the Craigslist pets page, checking it a couple time a week because I really missed having pets. I did look for Lex's breed specifically  I wanted a big dog because we'd only had small dogs."

What did the listings look like?

"Basically, they have a description of what breed they are, when the puppies were born (if they know), and a rehoming fee sometimes, usually pictures. I don't think I did any that didn't have pictures, that's what made it click for me was seeing the animal in the picture. I would text people if they had a number available; otherwise, I'd send an email."

Chloe doesn't care how big you are, she's in charge.

Were there any interviews or paperwork?

"Nope, we just set up a time to meet the animal(s). With Chloe and Lex, there were multiple puppies to meet. We'd go and pick out which puppy we wanted. With the other two, it was a setup of time and a place to meet, almost always a public place. Lex and Jazz were not public places. Jazz was just at a local house in town, and with Lex we went out to their farm to get him. No interview process or paperwork, just show up with cash and take the dog home. There were no requirements."

Were they vaccinated/spayed, or did you take care of that?

"I took care of all that. They were all pretty young."

What was the fee like?

"Annabelle was free, Chloe was $75, Jazz was $100, Lex was $150. We had to get stuff for them, food bowls, food, vet bills, that kind of stuff."

Was the listing truthful?

"Mostly. For Lex, we think they said he was younger than he was to try to get rid of him. The vet told us they thought he was older than what we were told. That's something people do sometimes, so people will buy the dogs. We think Jazz might be mixed with something; the person who we bought her from said she was a purebred, but she didn't have any papers. We think it was ignorance, not deceit. Jazz is pretty big for a corgi."

Jazz loves to receive pets, the more frequently the better.

Did you have any initial concerns over buying a pet online?

"The one I was most concerned about was Lex because we had to drive out to this farm in the middle of nowhere and we got there after dark and it was creepy and it seemed like a really good deal for a dog of his breed, they're not normally that cheap. It was slightly concerning, but the others I wasn't worried about. Jazz was also very cheap for her breed, but the situation made sense because they needed to get her out and the money to move."

Would you recommend buying an animal online to someone else?

"Yeah, I think with caution. Maybe don't be like me and make sure you meet in a public place, and just understand that it may not all be true like what we encountered with Lex and Jazz. You're not likely to get a purebred show dog or anything off of there, but I think it's worthwhile to look at Craigslist as an option for pets. That's kind of where people go if they don't know their options for getting rid of pets, and it saves some animals from being left by side of road or picked up by people who wanna use them for bad purposes. And it's easier if you don't wanna deal with the hassle of adoption. Dogs at shelters don't have homes, but they're also being taken care of."

Is there anything else you'd like people to know?

"I think we got very lucky that all of our animals get along. You're bound to have some that don't get along or don't like kids when you have as many as we do. They coexist really well, they like my kids, except Chloe but she tolerates them. That's something else to consider. We did have a time where we had animals that didn't get along, when we had Ozzie. He and our other cats did not get along. Annabelle and Athena took a couple weeks to get acclimated to each other and then they were inseparable. They hated Ozzie because he was a kitten, and they were old ladies by that point."

Lex likes to go exploring, often in the muddy local pond.

Conclusion

Buying animals online is not the most reliable method of adoption, but it is possible to find animals truly in need of a loving home online. Be wary of scams and mistruths. Do your due diligence if you decide to go this route of pet adoption   try to meet the animal first, ask the right questions, and evaluate if the animal is a good fit for your lifestyle and living situation.

All adoption options have benefits and drawbacks. Countless animals have found their forever homes thanks to people adopting animals online, so it's not impossible. Just exercise caution, and make sure to shower whatever animal you adopt, no matter how you adopt them, with love and care.

Sources:

“Avoiding Scams.” Craigslist, https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.

Gerdeman, Briana. “Avoid Scams When Buying Pets on Craigslist.” The Woodinville Weekly, Eastside Media Corp, 13 July 2020, https://www.nwnews.com/news/avoid-scams-when-buying-pets-on-craigslist/article_eef67cde-621d-5a14-bc6b-f390860e3d08.html#:~:text=The%20ASPCA%20adds%20that%20some,not%20only%20those%20involving%20pets.

“Pet Scams.” AARP, https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2019/pet.html.

Thank you to Erik Streck, Shawn Cruze, Gloria and Howard Atkison, Abri M. Iwanski, and the Fox Valley Humane Shelter for their information and assistance with this series.