I've been trying to rehome Goldy and two of her kittens, but haven't had much luck so far. When I first looked at petfinder.com I thought only nonprofit organizations were allowed to post animals for adoption. After reading some of the posts here I checked it out again and finally found the area where I could post the kitties for adoption.
I put up three separate ads for Goldy, Lion, and Cali. Within a few hours I got this email.
Hello
My name is Mr Jerry Morgan, Am a businessman and i reside in BAKERSFIELD,CALIFORNIA.... I went through your advert on Petfinder.com and i will like to adopt the pet to my lovely family, so i will like you to get back to me with the present condition of the pet and tell me the asking price including the Pics of the pet and i dont want you to be bother of the shipping fees, so i will be glad to hear back from you..
I Awaits Your Quick And Sincere Response,
My Regards,
Mr Jerry Morgan For The Family.
There are several red flags here for me. 1) I got exactly the same email for Goldy (twice), Lion, and Cali. No comment such as "I see you have three cats and I would like to adopt all three". 2) I didn't specifically say that the cats are healthy but I did include information about shots and spay or neuter. 3) I posted a picture with each ad. 4) I very clearly stated the adoption fee in the ad. 5) The wording and tone of the message is very similar to other emails I've gotten in relation to my photography business, which I assumed were scams.
My question is, how should I respond to this? I don't want to ignore it entirely just in case it's a real person wanting a kitty. (I know, highly unlikely.) I will reply from a yahoo email account that I set up for the specific purpose of keeping spam away from my real email account.
Do I respond in good faith and answer his questions? I also have a list of questions that I ask any prospective new owner. Do I send my list of questions and point out that his questions were already answered in the ad? Do I say I think it is a scam?
Any suggestions?
I put up three separate ads for Goldy, Lion, and Cali. Within a few hours I got this email.
Hello
My name is Mr Jerry Morgan, Am a businessman and i reside in BAKERSFIELD,CALIFORNIA.... I went through your advert on Petfinder.com and i will like to adopt the pet to my lovely family, so i will like you to get back to me with the present condition of the pet and tell me the asking price including the Pics of the pet and i dont want you to be bother of the shipping fees, so i will be glad to hear back from you..
I Awaits Your Quick And Sincere Response,
My Regards,
Mr Jerry Morgan For The Family.
There are several red flags here for me. 1) I got exactly the same email for Goldy (twice), Lion, and Cali. No comment such as "I see you have three cats and I would like to adopt all three". 2) I didn't specifically say that the cats are healthy but I did include information about shots and spay or neuter. 3) I posted a picture with each ad. 4) I very clearly stated the adoption fee in the ad. 5) The wording and tone of the message is very similar to other emails I've gotten in relation to my photography business, which I assumed were scams.
My question is, how should I respond to this? I don't want to ignore it entirely just in case it's a real person wanting a kitty. (I know, highly unlikely.) I will reply from a yahoo email account that I set up for the specific purpose of keeping spam away from my real email account.
Do I respond in good faith and answer his questions? I also have a list of questions that I ask any prospective new owner. Do I send my list of questions and point out that his questions were already answered in the ad? Do I say I think it is a scam?
Any suggestions?