Scammers are brutally shaving kittens to pass them off as expensive hairless sphynx
- 7 years ago
EDMONTON, CANADA — An animal lover who paid 700 Canadian dollars for a highly-prized hairless sphynx cat said she was horrified when the kitten later sprouted fur.
JoAnne Dyck from Red Deer, Alberta posted her story on social media. It prompted others who’d been similarly duped to come forward, suggesting there is at least one rogue trader out there shaving cats and passing them off as sphynx.
Dyck’s catastrophic experience began when she agreed to buy Vlad the kitten from an online vendor living more than 300 miles away in Calgary, CBC News reported. No problem, the seller insisted — a friend would drop the little guy off.
But when Vlad failed to get along with JoAnn’s other cat, she sold him to another owner.
Vlad’s new owner was sad to see he hated to be petted and spent a lot of time crying, so she took him to a vet. The vet said Vlad had cuts on his skin, caused by razor burns or hair removal gel, and his tail had become infected.
The woman took Vlad home and about a week later, he’d grown a full coat of orange hair. But she kept him anyway.
Calls to the original seller went unanswered because the number was now out of service.
Two other women, both from Edmonton, Alberta, said they too had fallen victim to the hairless cat scam, CBC News reported.
One of the women said she thought she was getting a bargain when she bought a purebred sphynx for $650 because they usually go for almost twice that. But within a few weeks the kitten was covered in black fur.
The women warned that their tales should serve as a lesson to others and advised potential buyers that if a seller won’t let you come to their house, then the deal is probably too good to be true.
JoAnne Dyck from Red Deer, Alberta posted her story on social media. It prompted others who’d been similarly duped to come forward, suggesting there is at least one rogue trader out there shaving cats and passing them off as sphynx.
Dyck’s catastrophic experience began when she agreed to buy Vlad the kitten from an online vendor living more than 300 miles away in Calgary, CBC News reported. No problem, the seller insisted — a friend would drop the little guy off.
But when Vlad failed to get along with JoAnn’s other cat, she sold him to another owner.
Vlad’s new owner was sad to see he hated to be petted and spent a lot of time crying, so she took him to a vet. The vet said Vlad had cuts on his skin, caused by razor burns or hair removal gel, and his tail had become infected.
The woman took Vlad home and about a week later, he’d grown a full coat of orange hair. But she kept him anyway.
Calls to the original seller went unanswered because the number was now out of service.
Two other women, both from Edmonton, Alberta, said they too had fallen victim to the hairless cat scam, CBC News reported.
One of the women said she thought she was getting a bargain when she bought a purebred sphynx for $650 because they usually go for almost twice that. But within a few weeks the kitten was covered in black fur.
The women warned that their tales should serve as a lesson to others and advised potential buyers that if a seller won’t let you come to their house, then the deal is probably too good to be true.