A woman has shared her story about being scammed by a breeder—who sold her a dog that had been dyed brown.
On her TikTok account called Porterpooo, the woman posted a video of her dog Porter, which began with an image of a red-brown puppy.
Text overlaying the footage reads: “When you get scammed by the breeder and find out your dog was dyed.”
Various photos show Porter getting bigger—and the brown hair slowly growing out to reveal a white coat.
The video, which can be seen here, has been watched a whopping 12.8 million times since it was posted on September 2.
More than 20,000 people have left comments on the clip.
One TikTok user, Martha, wrote: “This actually makes me so upset and angry. It’s because of people buying dogs from breeders that dog theft is so common.”
Another commenter, Maddie, posted: “That’s on you for shopping when there are thousands of dogs in shelters that need homes.”
However, some people felt thought the change of fur color could be natural. Alyssa Myers commented: “That looks like his puppy fur. I was there when my poodle was born and his fur is drastically lighter now.”
But in another video, which can be watched here, Porter’s owner explains the whole story—and provides more adorable photos of her pet.
The story begins: “My family surprised me with a dog for my birthday last year. She was supposed to be a male red-brown maltipoo.”
A maltipoo is a cross between a Maltese terrier and a poodle, but when the woman brought the puppy home she began to grow suspicious. “We were told she was 8 weeks old, but I thought it was weird that she was really frail and slept all day.”
She revealed that the breeder had promised to send over the puppy’s vaccination records, but then stopped answering the phone. Porter’s owner “started freaking out” so brought the puppy to the vet.
After Porter was examined by a professional, she learned that the dog “was a girl, most likely not a maltipoo, only 4 to 5 weeks old and had not been vaccinated.”
The dog owner added: “I was so mad you have no idea, but we got lucky because she is healthy.”
She then gave a warning to viewers considering buying a dog, saying: “I later found out that there are many puppy traffickers selling sick puppies, often dyed to make them appear to be another color and breed, and also sold with fake vaccination records.
“Many of the puppies died days after purchase. If I had a choice in this I definitely would have adopted.”
According to PETA, it can be dangerous to dye a dog’s fur because “dye jobs can cause dogs to have a serious allergic reaction or stress them out. Some animals may even sustain burns or be fatally poisoned by the toxins.”
Although there are some dyes that are safe for pets, these can still change the way the animals smell and appear to other dogs.
Newsweek has contacted Porter’s owner for comment.
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