Started with an advertisement for a two month english bulldog pup posted online by an individual who said she had just moved to the UK from NY, and her new job as an auditor kept her from taking proper care of her pups. She said she would take care of the travel arrangements and the charge for the pup was $350. Her "name" was Coletta Martinez.
She sent an email saying she had delivered the pup to the travel agency and to be expecting to hear from them soon.
We sent the money via zipzap to the travel agency. The next day we got an email from the travel agency that said the travel crate that the dog arrived in was not adequate, and we would need to purchase one from them-for $500. But the money would be refunded upon arrival of the pup. We sent $500 via zipzap.
The next day, we got another email stating the dog had not gotten past customs in France because it's pet travel insurance had expired due to the delay in flight (caused by the last minute notice of a need for a different travel crate). The email stated that if the insurance ($1,200) and shots ($300) was not paid within 24 hrs, the dog would be quarantined and possible animal cruelty charges would be levied. It went on to say that the $1,500 (total) would be refunded upon arrival of the dog to the final destination airport. I looked online and found that the pet insurance company who "underwrites" the policy does indeed exist, but nowhere in its website did it mention refundable travel insurance or travel insurance of any kind. (Praetorian Insurance Company brokered by PTZ Insurance Agency, a subsidiary of Pet Health Inc.)
After emailing the lady (Martinez) to let her know what we had been told, I got another email from Pet Travellers that thanked me for my $1,000 payment, but that the final $500 was still due to keep the dog out of quarantine. (We did not send that payment) So I emailed the lady (Martinez) to ask if she had sent them money. She said, "Yes." and implored that I try to come up with the rest because she was worried about losing her new job if she was charged with animal cruelty. I used the phone number at the bottom of the email to contact the company, which turned out to be a message. But somebody called back within an hour. The man was difficult to understand with some sort of accent. He said the dog had 22 left before going into quarantine.
The next day, I did some research online about pet quarantine laws in France and found that they do not quarantine animals coming from the UK. And there was no mention of a need for pet travel insurance whatsoever in their laws regarding quarantine.
I wish I had seen this site prior to sending the initial $350. Or the additional $500.
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