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Beware Of Puppy Sales Over The Internet

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Many people find a new pet online but the Federal Trade Commission is warning consumers that not all of those websites are legitimate.

"We lost a dog on Thanksgiving," explained Dawn Rottsin while in tears.

Dawn still bears the scars of losing two of her family pets, Buddy and Storm, last year.

When she was ready to get a new puppy, she turned to the internet.

"We came up best friend huskie dot com," she said.

She was reassured by testimonials on the website.

"All of them said they would come back again and get another husky."

Rottsin picked "Simba" and sent the breeder in Minnesota $550 but the dog did not arrive as scheduled.

After sending another $905 for a special heated crate, she still didn't get her puppy.

"I finally realized that this is for sure a scam," she said.

Rottsin never heard from the breeder again and the website was taken down.

Experts say that thousands of people a year who just want to get a new puppy are getting ripped off.

"We get tens of thousands of complaints on this," explained Steve Baker from the Federal Trade Commission.

Officials say people are lured in by professional looking websites.

"I would never get a puppy sight unseen," said Baker.

That's because the pet you fall in love with on-line probably doesn't even exist. A simple google image search of a puppy shows the same dog showed up six or eight times in different places around the country, same exact picture, stated Baker.

Rottsin got another dog, but her anger at the scammer remains.

"He's an evil man that prays on people's  heart strings."

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