Adult Dog For Sale on Gumtree

[DepartFromTheIllegitimateChild]

I am very dog broody right now so am often on here, or dog rescue sites, or old dogs wanting new homes Facebook pages. I had and have absolutely no intention of buying anything through the platform but today today I went on Gumtree (basically idle curiosity) and along with all of the extortionately priced puppies I saw an ad for a two year old nameless Jack Russell. Jack Russells are one of my favourite breeds and I really don't know why but I messaged the owner. Not saying that I wanted to buy the dog but rather that I was interested and wanted more information about him and his circumstances. Now the owner has replied and I wish I didn't know but it seems like the poor dog has had a really sad life, he's only been with the new owner (who is trying to sell him) for a month and is living outside as new owner isn't allowed dogs inside. New owner claims he didn't know this beforehand. I don't know what to do. Obviously I have no reason to trust anything "new owner" has told me. Ideally, I would want the lovely Jack Russel to go to a rescue and go through the proper checks and be taken care of and re-homed.

I should state here, that there is no part of me that has come here looking to be told that it's ok to buy the dog and take him home. I don't want to do that and won't do that. I guess the one thing I am thinking is, if I buy him and then take him to a rescue myself is that the best thing? Are there any other options that would ensure his safety? I'm also naturally thinking he could quite possibly have been stolen.

I need some wisdom from someone wise please. Do I just have to leave it? Can I report the owner some how? WWYD?

This has scam written all over it I'm afraid - just forget it, I doubt the dog exists.

Interesting. It didn't seem scammy in the fake dog sense to me as the seller didn't sell the dog very well. Said he'd been kept outside, used to be toilet trained but now wasn't sure etc

It seems extremely dodgy and very potentially criminal but surely if you were going to fake a dog you'd make it seem as undodgy and appealing as possible? And you'd use a puppy surely if it was totally fake?

This is reassuring though, much better if it's a scam than a real dog being kept outside, all scared and lonely.

Is it expensive? If he costs the kind of money I could afford to pay/lose, I would buy the dog, take him home, get him checked by the vet and if you are happy with what they tell you, keep him

I’d be tempted to say that you’ll offer the dog a fantastic home but you won’t be paying, and if they want to do the right thing for the dog they should be going through a rescue. And if they declined I’d probably tell them how shit they were (which wouldn’t get you the dog but would be true!). People like this do my head in. Selfish, brainless idiots. And in the meantime the dog suffers.

This dog is screaming stolen right left and centre. If the dog was new to them, giving them so much trouble, they are keeping him outside in this cold they would be likely ringing the RSPCA for advice or for them to be re homed rather than trying to make money out of it.

I bet if you offer to buy it they will only accept cash. If you ask to see it they will insist in meeting you at a car park.

Agree it sounds like a stolen dog. I read a very similar story about someone who bought a dog off the owner who had some sob story about how he couldn’t keep him. Said he wasn’t microchipped. The dog was eventually taken to the vet and had a microchip for a completely different person and had been stolen a short time before he was sold on

Perhaps find out if any JRs have been stolen within 50 miles of your home? Isn’t there a website for stolen animals? Maybe you could at least pass on the contact to anyone who has lost a JR.

I messaged the owner back (before all these replies) asking why they hadn't taken the dog to a rescue given the circumstances. I feigned naïveté rather than suspicion and just said that a rescue would be able to check the dog over and verify its health and chip status (original ad stated vaccinated and microchipped but no paperwork)

It's been blue ticked but I haven't had a response since and I doubt I'll get one again now (unless maybe I message offering to buy with no more questions asked)

I will do a bit of investigation and look out for stolen JRTs.

Oh and he's £650.

Oh that’s so sad, I hate to think of the poor dog. I did see a film made by an ex dog thief who said they tend to not use actual pictures of the stolen dog on online ads but will use a similar generic picture from online /another dog so as to avoid the dog being identified as stolen .

It might be worth passing the ad details onto a JRT rescue. I’m on a lab rescue Facebook group and people often flag up adverts on gumtree etc. Sometimes they are able to talk the sellers into doing the right thing,

Thank you all for the advice. I have sent a link to the ad and screenshots of the messages detailing the dog's history and living conditions to a JR rescue Facebook page I was already a member of. I suppose that is the most I can do. I have searched locally for missing dogs that fit the description and haven't seen anything so that's good at least, hopefully it's just a (really bad) scam.

Looking at all the lost/stolen dog posts has made me really sad though, there are so many of them - people are so awful!

You could also send details and pic to www.doglost.co.uk or register it as "found" dog (sighted only) on there. There are several great volunteer people who check those and try to match them with known missing dogs. It might just help someone get their ddog back. All info helps.

There are some lovely dogs on the "Oldies Club" website if you want to do a good deed, dog charities list t;heir over 8's on there. We have had two via the site, both lovely well behaved dogs who had become homeless through no fault of their own.