Dog Owner Warning Central New York Residents After Scary Encounter

A warning to dog owners in the Mohawk Valley area after a man had a scary encounter while on a daily walk.

Chris Goodding lives in Litchfield and walks his dog regularly. While on one of his daily walks, a car with New Jersey plates pulled up beside him. "I had a white/silver SUV pull up alongside me on Townsend Road and there were five people in the car of Latino-American descent," Goodding wrote on Facebook.

Goodding says the driver asked if he knew anyone in the area who sold dogs. "When I said I didn’t know anyone he immediately zeroed in on my dog and asked me how much I wanted for her."

The dog wasn't for sale. "He got insistent and said he’d pay $3 thousand on the spot for her," said Goodding. "I said no and he grew even more insistent."

To get the men to leave, Goodding says he had to openly threaten them. Now he's warning others to be on the lookout for possible dogfighters. "This sort of behavior is commonplace for dogfighters. They drive usually on country roads looking for dogs that are unattended and will steal them, or offer obscene amounts of cash for a dog that they use as bait in a fighting circuit. The dog is then locked in a kennel after the fights are done and abandoned on backcountry dirt roads to die."

Goodding notified State Police after the encounter and wants others to be careful. "Keep an eye out for these scumbags and please spread the word."

It's not just in the Mohawk Valley. This type of thing is happening all over the country. More than 70 people shared encounters similar to Goodding when a dog owner asked, "Have you ever heard of someone offering to buy someone’s dog, despite it not being for sale?" on Quora.com.