{"id":805,"date":"2015-04-08T17:27:50","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T17:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/petcarefacts.com\/?p=805"},"modified":"2015-04-08T17:28:44","modified_gmt":"2015-04-08T17:28:44","slug":"beware-of-scams-when-someone-calls-about-your-lost-pet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/care-and-safety\/beware-of-scams-when-someone-calls-about-your-lost-pet","title":{"rendered":"Beware of Scams: When Someone Calls About Your Lost Pet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"scam<\/a><\/p>\n

Losing a dog<\/a> or cat can be stressful and traumatic, rendering the pet owner ragged with emotion after many days of searching and hoping. \u00a0Though you may be praying every day to get that \u201cI found your pet\u201d phone call, be shrewd in how you deal with people and have a plan in advance about how to weed out the authentic calls from the false alarms. \u00a0Remember that not everyone in the world has good intentions, and that advertising a contact number on a poster for a vulnerable person, could potentially also put you<\/em> in danger. Learn how to navigate properly so that you can safely retrieve your pet.<\/p>\n

Tips and Precautions<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Be cautious:<\/strong> There are con-artists who want to scam people to make money, and there are teenagers who have nothing better to do than make mean prank calls. \u00a0Stay hopeful, but don\u2019t be taken in or discouraged by people who may be looking to hurt you.<\/li>\n
  • Make a plan<\/strong>: \u00a0If someone claims to have your dog, think of a very specific feature that your dog does NOT have (such as a red spot on her front left foot, and a black spot on her right one), then ask if they have it. \u00a0If the person says yes, then hang up immediately since they are obviously lying and could be dangerous.<\/li>\n
  • Look out for blackmail: <\/strong>Some pet finders have tried to weasel more money out of the pet-owners for the dog or cat\u2019s \u201csafe\u201d return. \u00a0If you sense anything such as blackmail or a threat, agree to meet them in a public place. \u00a0If you are worried about the nature of their blackmailing, or if you feel threatened, unsafe, bullied or badgered for more money, notify the police and have them accompany you, staying hidden until the pet is brought out. \u00a0(If the blackmailer sees police nearby, he might guess what has happened, and decide to leave and not meet you at all.) <\/em>The police can oversee that neither you nor the pet are harmed or pressured.<\/li>\n
  • Meet in a public place: <\/strong>The world is full of wicked people who prey on the bereaved and the vulnerable. The pet finder might try to lure your to his home by saying something like \u201cIt looks like your dog may have gotten hit and is too unstable to move\u201d to try and get to go to their house. \u00a0No matter how sweet or innocent they sound (that sweet old lady might be a hire fronting for a criminal).<\/li>\n
  • Pay the reward. <\/strong>Some cat or dog owners feel indignant with the way their pets are returned to them, and can be tempted to go back on their word about giving the person the reward. When you have already committed to paying, do not fail to do so even if you think the person may not deserve it. \u00a0If you have had your dog returned, you owe them that money.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Finally, be safe!<\/strong> \u00a0You don\u2019t want a missing dog to turn into a missing person scenario! \u00a0UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE should you meet the pet finder privately or in their home. An honorable person will agree to meet you in a public place, even at their own inconvenience. Though you love your animal and just want him back again, remember that losing your pet is not to be compared with losing your life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Losing a dog or cat can be stressful and traumatic, rendering the pet owner ragged with emotion after many days of searching and hoping. \u00a0Though you may be praying every day to get that \u201cI found your pet\u201d phone call, be shrewd in how you deal with people and have a plan in advance about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[25],"tags":[19,21],"class_list":["post-805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-care-and-safety","tag-cats","tag-dogs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5xKys-cZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petrofile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}