The photo trick used by puppy farmers to fool buyers: Image on a pets for sale website appears to show a baby edited into the snap to make it look like the dog comes from a family home
- Anonymous British woman accused a dog seller of Photoshopping their advert
- She posted a screenshot of the advert spotted on Pets4Homes on Mumsnet
- Responses were torn, as many argued the child had been edited into the photo
A woman has accused a dog seller of editing a photograph used in their online listing in order to disguise that the canines were bred on a puppy farm.
Posting anonymously on Mumsnet, the woman who lives in the UK, shared a photograph from an advert for a dog that was posted on Pets4Homes.
The image came from a listing for Fox Red Labrador puppies, showing an adult dog with a man holding it on a lead while a toddler bent down to grasp at its tail.
She accused the seller of using Photoshop to create the illusion that a child was playing with the dog, and said other photos showed puppies in a barn-like setting with a heat lamp.
Weighing in on the now removed advert, many responses agreed that the dog looked like it may have been bred on a puppy farm and accused the seller of doctoring the photo to fool prospective buyers.
A British woman sparked a Mumsnet debate after spotting a listing for a dog that seemed to use an image (pictured) that has been edited
The woman accused the seller of editing a child into their photo to disguise that it had been taken at a puppy farm
Sharing a screenshot of the advert, the woman asked if they thought 'this kid has been Photoshopped on to the photo to give the appearance that the dog is not on a puppy farm?'
She continued: 'Other photo on the add shows the dog with puppies in a barn style setting with a heat lamp.'
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A stream of responses analysed the photograph and agreed something didn't seem right, with some questioning if the dog was even a Labrador.
One person wrote: 'I'm leaning towards Photoshop because the line of the face against the bricks is too "crisp".
A stream of responses to the post claimed the child looked like it had been edited into the photo from a different snap
'If it has been done, the person knew what they are doing because that's the only clear tell from the resolution of your shot. There might be more 'tells' on the original.'
Another said: 'You can clearly see the remains of a pale shoe/floor at the end of the child's toes.
'The child is also in a completely different amount of light to the adult, not only that but the light on the child would cause a hefty visible shadow behind her. Thirdly she is far too big, if she stood up she would be huge!'
A third added: 'Photoshopped. They've used the bricks to match it up, but if you look at them, particularly the right of the sill (?), you can see that it's two different pics'
Others argued the photo hasn't been edited and any inconsistencies could be caused by poor lighting.
'Bad lighting, bad photo and rubbish camera but it does not look Photoshopped (looked at the ad pic). Doesn't mean it's not a puppy farm though,' wrote one.
Another said: 'It doesn't look Photoshopped at all to me. Probably a case of perspective - or maybe an older toddler with short hair - my eldest had short hair when she started school!
Many others argued the child hasn't been edited into the photo, but the seller may have adjusted the brightness of the image
'The grass is fake hence no indent where the feet are. Not disputing the fact this may be a puppy farm, which is deplorable but a bit lot to be slagging off a toddler's appearance.'
A third added: 'I work with Photoshop and I would suggest it isn't. If you look at the hair around the crown of the child's head and the fringe it is very fine and it's is really difficult to cut that out, which is why you quite often get Photoshopped people looking like they have Lego hair as the edges are too sharp.
'I would suggest the photo lighting has been played with to make the dogs coat look more red and then the while thing has been brightened which has made the child look luminescent! Agree, it all looks a bit dodgy though. Not the photo I would have used to show off the dog.'
