You can lease Rover just like a Range Rover, but the cost is often higher than advertised
Adorable purebred puppies and cute little kittens can often cost thousands of dollars, potentially deterring customers who can’t afford to shell out the cash all at once. WAGS Lending says it can change all that.
Based in Reno, Nevada, the company is part of a growing niche market that has dramatically broadened the range of things people can lease, per Bloomberg. Essentially, WAGS Lending rents out dogs, cats and other animals to buyers, oftentimes families who don’t quite understand what they’re agreeing to and end up actually paying far more than they expected.
Proponents of these companies say they make pet ownership a possibility for those who previously could not afford it. They also claim their business model allows people without much credit to build up their scores.
“We are giving people the opportunity to budget out the purchase of a pet… Though it’s built on a leasing model, we don’t anticipate people will return the pet,” WAGS Financing spokeswoman Brooke Rose told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
But critics argue that WAGS Lending and other companies like it mislead buyers and often end up charging exorbitant interest rates that make the final cost of the pet far higher than expected.
“I have never heard of leasing a dog in my life,” a disgruntled customer, Anthony Claessens, told the Union-Tribune. “We were under the understanding we were purchasing a dog… I feel that we were swindled.”
According to Bloomberg, multiple other customers reported thinking that they were paying anywhere from $1,700 to $2,400 for a pet, only to later discover that they were expected to make monthly payments that would add up to $4,000 or $5,000. And even then, they would still not actually own the animal.
“I asked them: ‘How in the heck can I owe $5,800 when I bought the dog for $2,400?’” Dawn Sabins told Bloomberg. “They told me, ‘You’re not financing the dog, you’re leasing.’ ‘You mean to tell me I’m renting a dog?’ And they were like, ‘Yeah.’”
WAGS Lending, however, is not the only company that leases out dogs. Hannah the Pet Society, a Portland, Oregon, business, operates under the same model, and like WAGS Lending, its founder claims leasing animals is the future of pet ownership.
“What we’re doing with Hannah is trying to help people have a better life,” veterinarian Scott Campbell told the Willamette Week.
However, Hannah the Pet Society and Bristlecone Lending LLC, the company that owns WAGS Lending, are unaccredited and have less than sterling ratings from the Better Business Bureau. Hannah the Pet Society has also been accused of euthanizing dogs without justification.
And while both companies have insisted in media reports that the terms of every lease are clearly stated in each contract, Bristlecone’s CEO, Dusty Wunderlich, told Bloomberg that he likes to lease products in markets “where we’re dealing with emotional borrowers.”
What that means is that a potential pet owner may not read the contract thoroughly because they are blinded by their excitement at getting a dog or cat. Bristlecone also leases wedding dresses, among other products, and Wunderlich once even considered leasing options for funerals.
Even if customers are able to keep a clear head, WAGS Lending partners with individual pet stores, where employees may not fully understand the leasing process or may present it unclearly. That’s what one customer in Missouri complained of after discovering that he would have to pay more than $6,400 to rent two dogs for several years.
“I signed all this stuff and (the salesperson) went through it so fast, she’s just like, ‘Sign this, sign this,’” Anthony Cook told 41 Action News.
However, once a person has signed a lease agreement for a pet, they have to make their payments or risk defaulting and doing damage to their credit score.
This story was originally published March 1, 2017 at 6:31 PM with the headline "You can lease Rover just like a Range Rover, but the cost is often higher than advertised."