Beware of This Callous Service Dog Scam

After his beloved service dog Abby died, Air Force veteran Joe Jacobs was keen to get a puppy that he could train to replace her.

A Facebook group for German Shepherd enthusiasts seemed the logical place for Joe, 64, and his wife Ann, 63, who live in Conneaut, Ohio, to connect with a breeder.

AARP Membership— $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal

Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine.

Join Now

Joe’s wife Ann was delighted to see a posting about puppies for sale, negotiated a $500 deal with the breeder and sent the payment via Zelle. The breeder said they’d deliver the dog to them at the Erie Airport, but as the date approached things started to get fishy.

The breeder asked for more and more money for various reasons, getting Joe and Ann to pay little by little until they had sent a total of $800. On the day when the breeder was supposed to deliver the puppy, Joe and Ann waited at the airport in vain.

They never received a dog or any of their money back. It’s likely the “breeder” didn’t even have a dog. “I fought hard for this country,” Joe told Cleveland 19 News. “Overseas and everything. Just that people will do this and take advantage of you hurts. It hurts deeply.”

Service dog scams are common

“It happens very often,” Nicole Rossman, owner of LandShark German Shepherds in Pierpont, Ohio, told AARP Experience Counts. “I’ve seen it a lot as a breeder.”

She heard about the Jacobs’ plight and gifted the couple a black German Shepherd puppy, Kaylee, along with 50 pounds of dog food and service dog training. “They’re local to us and we wanted to help,” she said.

Joe and Ann shared their story in the hope of preventing others from being scammed.

Rossman, the Good Samaritan in this case, has some advice for avoiding dog scams:

Trust but verify

Check whether the breeder you are dealing with has a kennel license in their state. It’s okay to buy from a breeder who isn’t local to you, but make sure they are a legal business.

“Most legit breeders are actual, licensed businesses,” said Rossman. “I’m registered with the state of Ohio. I have an LLC. My name is trademarked. There’s a lot of accessible information to check and see that we are who we say that we are.”

Also ask your breeder for references and check with local and state police to ask if the breeder in question has been associated with any scams that have been reported. Another option is asking the breeder if they are a member of a local group affiliated with American Kennel Club.