RSPCA and Dogs Home of Tasmania say puppy scams are rife across Tasmania

Tearful calls are coming in to the RSPCA every day from people who have experienced the keen loss of falling foul of a puppy scam.

Puppy scams are constant all year round, but the RSPCA has taken the opportunity to warn its Tasmanian members of more sophisticated scams originating from the state.

Prominent dog adoption services the RSPCA and Dogs Home of Tasmania has said the constant problem of puppy scams in Tasmania has shown its time for stricter legislation.

RSPCA chief executive Jan Davis said scammers were setting up their websites and social media pages to look like they were from Tasmania, which was tricking people.

"No one is going to bother coming all the way to Tasmania to check on a dog," she said.

According to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission data, Australians lost more than $2.5 million to pet scams in 2021. The scams were ramping up to take advantage of a shortage of dogs for adoption in Tasmania, following a huge surge in demand during the height of the pandemic.

"There is a shortage of dogs at the moment and the demand is high," Ms Davis said.

Ms Davis said other states had started to implement stricter control and legislation on advertising dogs and pets for sale and it was time Tasmania followed suit.

The RSPCA doesn't have any dogs available for adoption across the state. The Dogs Home of Tasmania said it was still experiencing strong demand for its dogs.

DHOT chief executive Michael Sertori said there was an increase in the number of surrenders in Hobart, but that wasn't being seen in the North or North-West.

He said the clients did not inform the Dogs Home of puppy scams, but they did hear about them through hearsay, but he said reporting usually happened to the RSPCA.

Mr Sertori said the problem of puppy scams had highlighted a need for Tasmania to introduce legislation that gave dogs and other pets the status of sentient beings.

By bestowing that legal status, it would give pets more rights than they do now, which treats pets as human property.

He said the Dogs Home, as well as the Companion Animal Network of Australia was behind a push to change that legislation.

However, the message from both the RSPCA and DHOT was simple: adopt, don't shop.

"We're here for the dogs, the scammers, they are there for the money," Mr Sertori said.