Dog stealing in Mt Pleasant

A woman called me tonight to report that there are at least 2 men (could be more) by the names of Bill Conner and Greg Pravett from Hillsboro Iowa (a very tiny town), who are going around the Mt. Pleasant area, and stealing dogs.

She knows of many people in the area who's dogs have disappeared mysteriously. Apparently they sell the dogs to some sort of a flea market in Rutledge MO. where there are horror stories as to what happens to the dogs sold. Lab testing and things like that. I thought you should send this out to your extensive list in case you did not know about it already.

This woman by some miracle got her dog back and found out where it was. Please spread the word. This is a big thing going on and needs someone to investigate it also. These men are dangerous and the local police advised her not to press charges as they might harm her other dogs or children.

We will certainly add their names to our do not adopt list but I think they would never bother to adopt but rather just drive around and steal them. They do it when the person lets the dog out to go potty she said or they take farm dogs that live outside.

From a reliable source

The Internet lost and found dog web site FidoFinder.com reported today that some of its web site users have been exposed to a new twist on an old scam. It has been reported in recent years that people have preyed on owners of lost dogs by using information from lost dog posters to demand reward money for the return of their dog.

Unsuspecting lost dog owners have been coerced into wiring cash to individuals who promise to return their dog by flying them back home in a pet carrier only to never receive their pet or hear back from the caller.Now this scam has spread to the Internet.

A FidoFinder.com user, was contacted by an individual who said he found her lost dog. The individual demanded a $1,000 reward for the return of her dog, she was publicly offering a $250 reward. she was smart to inquire about the characteristics the found dog, where he was found,and how the finder got her number and she was able to outsmart the crook. "I asked him a number of questions, some of which he could get from the information on the posting (on Fido Finder) and the picture. The other information was what helped me ascertain that it was a scam and he did not have Bailey at all." The scammer claimed that her dog was found with a Fido Finder identification dog tag on his collar, a specialized tag that the web site sells to help return lost dogs, and that this tag was how the individual knew to go to FidoFinder.com to contact the owner. But her dog did not actualy have a Fido Finder identification dog tag on his collar when it went missing. The caller was exposed as a scam artist.

Fido Finder has released a notice on its web site about the newly formed scam to prevent anyone from being tricked into wiring money. Wes Cutshall, the founder of Fido Finder, urges all dog owners to be cautious of this scam as people can be vulnerable if they have a missing pet and are emotional about their loss. Internet users must be careful as old scams revolve to the digital age.

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(1) Another way to protect a FOUND animal is never to disclose his/her data. Let the person who responds describe the animal thoroughly.

(2) Never put the animal's name on her/his collar tag - if they get lost an ill-intentioned person can call them by their names and they, in their confusion because they are lost, will respond to the wrong person!