Dubious breeder

Styrian woman sentenced for fraud with “pedigree” puppies

Fluffy Newfoundland puppies turned out to be mongrels - no less adorable, but sold under false pretenses. (symbolic image)

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Evdoha - stock.adobe.com)

A woman from eastern Styria probably sensed a lucrative opportunity to make extra money by selling Newfoundland puppies. What the buyers did not know at first, however, was that the dogs advertised as purebred were mixed breeds. On Friday, the 49-year-old was convicted of aggravated commercial fraud.

"I had a Newfoundland before, but this one was completely different. Different build, different coat and much more active", described a witness at the Graz Criminal Court. She had bought a supposed Newfoundland puppy from an East Styrian would-be dog breeder for 1800 euros. Like nine other buyers, she soon had doubts about the purebred nature of the dog. And a genetic test proved the buyers right: They were Newfoundland-Landseer mixes. 

Breeder claims to have known nothing
The seller's dubious puppy trade earned her a charge of aggravated commercial fraud. She earned a total of 19,800 euros from the sale of the animals. She had traveled to Bavaria with her Newfoundland bitch in heat to have her mated. She paid 1000 euros for this and claims not to have known that the stud dog was not a purebred, but a Newfoundland-Landseer mix. 

"You didn't talk to the male dog's owner about his purebred status and didn't ask to see his papers?" asked judge Andreas Rom. "No. We were late and it all happened so quickly," explained the 49-year-old. 

The German dog owner and his wife disagree: "We made it clear from the start that he is half Newfoundland and half Landseer. And it's also on the vaccination papers we showed her." 

Dog breeding "so that I have something to do"
The woman from Eastern Styria insists she knew nothing about it. Asked by the judge why she had her dog bred, the housewife with no professional training explains: "So that I have something to do". - "You could have gone cleaning somewhere, but you won't earn 19,000 euros so quickly. Let's be honest, you did it for the money," says the judge.  

When the woman also claims that it was just a "hobby litter", the judge replies sharply: "That was an income that you should have reported to the tax authorities. So it was a black sale." - "That's news to me," replies the defendant. 

The tax office will help her with this point. The public prosecutor's office is forwarding the case to the authorities.

The 49-year-old has already paid compensation to her customers following civil claims. She also received a fine of 1,200 euros and five months' conditional imprisonment at the regional criminal court. And another piece of good advice from the judge: "Stop breeding dogs."