TRADE TALK | PET GAZETTE | 9
ORPINGTON PET SHOP TARGETED BY
SCAMMER SENDS OUT WARNING
The scam, which involves people asking for more change than they are owed, was carried out on
young women working in the store
A pet shop in Orpington has sent out a
warning after scammers conned teenage
shop workers out of £27 from the till
According to store manager James
Brown a man in a black cap entered the
store in a cocky manner “throwing his arms
about” and “complimenting the girls on their
tattoos and whatnot”.
Brown says the man bought a small
packet of fish food priced at £2.15, but
when money was handed over he confused
the girls by repeatedly claiming he had
been giving the wrong change and by
exchanging a series of notes and change.
When Pet Gazette asked Brown if he felt
they were targeting independent pet shop
owners who may not be as aware of the
scam he said: “I don’t know really, it’s only
happened once in the nine months I’ve
been here. I used to work in Pets Pantry in
Eltham, and it got done there once when I
was there.”
Brown said this was the first time that
he knew of the Orpington store being
scammed. He thought that the store had
probably been targeted because the
FAMILY FACE £10,000
LEGAL FEES AS CATS
PROTECTION WRONGLY
REHOME CAT
A five year old’s cat was wrongly rehomed in
Scotland after a Facebook group handed it in
as a stray
workers on the day were “young girls”
who the scammers “thought they could
intimidate”.
He said he told the girls present on the
day of the scam: “If anyone is acting in that
manner, wanting to dictate what they want
off of you, just shut the till and say I’m just
going to go and grab the manager.
“This usually it puts the frighteners up
them,” he added.
‘WE CAN’T COMPETE WITH ONLINE
PET SALES’, CLAIMS CHARITY
In the UK a new dog for sale advert is created online every two minutes
Battersea Dogs & Cats Home is appealing
to the public to choose to rehome a rescue
dog or cat as it reveals a growing number
of people are turning their backs on
homeless animals – and logging onto the
internet to find a new pet instead.
In the UK, a new dog for sale advert is
created online every two minutes, while a
new cat for sale ad is created every four
minutes.
Battersea’s deputy chief executive, Peter
Laurie, said: “Our dog rehoming has been
declining for years – last year we rehomed
eight percent fewer dogs than 2016.
“Now we are seeing similar trends for
cats too. We were rehoming growing
numbers of cats until last year when
numbers fell 16 percent, as we and most
animal charities struggle to compete with
the mammoth platform of online sales.
“You can buy a pet with the click of
www.petgazette.biz
a mouse, often with no idea if you’re
going to get the same animal as the cute
photograph that caught your eye and
with no real idea of its background or
personality.
“It’s animal rescues that then pick up
the pieces. In the first three months of this
year alone, we’ve taken in more than 100
dogs bought online, whose owners can no
longer care for them, often due to veterinary
problems or behavioural issues they didn’t
know they had.”
Precious, a five year old girl’s cat was wrongly
rehomed by Cats Protection in Glasgow, 22
miles from the cat’s home in Falkirk.
A Facebook group called ‘Harvey’s Army’
that aims to help with the rehoming of stray
cats picked the animal up despite it being in
good condition and having a collar, and took
it to Cats Protection in Glasgow.
Now the only way the family can hope to
see Precious returned is through the courts,
with legal fees that could cost up to £10,000.
The family had called Falkirk Cats
Protection with no luck but didn’t think
of calling the Glasgow branch due to its
distance from their home.
The charity contacted the cat’s new home
after hearing about the situation, however the
new owners are not willing to return the cat.
Cats Protection then told the family that there
was nothing more they could do if the new
family wanted to keep the cat.
A statement put out by Cats Protection
said: ““Cats Protection keeps stray cats for a
minimum of two weeks before finding them
a new home, to allow reasonable time for
owners to come forward and claim them.
“As no one came forward to claim her
during this time, she was adopted by a new
family on February 26.”
The family however claim this is incorrect as
they contacted Cats Protection just days after
the cat went missing.
Cats Protection also used the opportunity
to promote the importance of having cats
microchipped and sai d: “We would urge
all owners to microchip their cats and keep
their details up to date as it will increase the
chances of a happy reunion should they go
missing.”
The family have continued their fight
for Precious, despite claiming a lack of
communication from the animal charities
involved. They have also appealed for greater
protection for pet owners.
May 2018