Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WEST VALLEY CITY — West Valley police are looking for victims in an alleged puppy sales scam.
Since April of 2014, police believe at least 14 people were promised husky puppies, even paying hundreds of dollars to secure their pick of the litter. But they never received their animal or a refund, said West Valley police spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku.
Police believe Chad Nielson, 30, and Brittney Moore, 26, are responsible. As of Tuesday, neither Nielson nor Moore had been arrested or charged.
Moore's own husky gave birth to at least two litters since 2014, according to West Valley police detective Joseph Goodwin. She and Nielson would sell those puppies for $350 each online, and actually meet face-to-face with potential buyers to show off the dogs and collect deposits, he said.
Some victims were offered the "pick of the litter" for larger deposits, and some were asked to pay more money for needed medical attention to a puppy, according to police.
"In the end, the victims would never receive their puppy at all. When it came time to pick up the puppy, the victims say they couldn't reach the sellers and if by some chance, the victim did get in touch, the suspects in the case would say that the puppy had died and promise a refund that would never come," Vainuku said.
Goodwin said it was still unclear Tuesday whether some people received puppies and some didn't, or if no one ever received a puppy.
"That's what we don't know. They claim that they did give dogs to certain people. However, we have numerous victims who never received an animal. So it's still unclear whether anyone got a dog out of this at all," he said.
Anyone who attempted to purchase a dog from Nielson and Moore is asked to call police at 801-840-4000.
