Dogs identities are being stolen by their owners now!?!

Somehow I am more outraged at the fact that this guy has a credit card in his dog's name. Isn't that fraud?

delinquent dogs. why can't they pay on time like gerbils and chinchillas?

at least they're not as lazy as cats. Sit around all day ordering catnip off the home shopping network...

It's funny...I guess...but couldn't he run into other problems by having an active charge card for his dog? Also he really shouldn't complain or be surprised by this, seeing as how the dog has the charge card.

That dog looks like Nick Nolte's mug shot.

How did Andy get the credit card? Every application I've ever seen requires a social security number to process. Unless she's added Andy as an additional card holder, which means that Verizon is really grasping at straws when they use contact information from a telemarketing list to track down their former clients.

Sure, Andy's owners, Steve Fanell and Shawn Donovan, say that Andy has never been a Verizon customer, but should we believe them?

Absolutely not. These guys are trying to game the system! Somehow.

Perhaps the Amex Card comment is sarcasm?

Looks like one o' them long-hair-ded hippie-type pinkos to me.

@JamieSueAustin: I was wondering how the dog got a social security number as well.

And then WHY would you get your dog a charge card, and how does he sign the bill?

AFNI diligent about verifying debts? That's a load of bull. They've tried a number of times to get me or my wife to pay non-existent debts with companies we settled with years ago when we were having financial difficulties. We'd made settlement agreements with a number of companies for less than we owed - and each company discharged our debt and listed us as paid with zero balance with each credit reporting company. But every now and again either I or my wife will get a collection letter from AFNI regarding a debt with a company we'd long settled with for the amount of the difference between what we originally owed and what we settled for. AFNI is one of those companies the FTC should shut down for good.

I knew I was a cat person for a reason.

I, for one, don't think that dog is cute.

You can get an additional card on your account with any name you'd like. You can get a card for Santa Claus, for all AmEx cares, as long as you (and your SSN) are responsible for the bill.

I resent 'fluffy' in the title. Consumerist, you continue to add inflamatory descriptives to your headlines.

Are you saying that dogs that are not fluffy are somehow more fiscally responsible? A pug is better credit risk than a poodle? Your smug fluffphobia is disappointing.

In 2008 can't we simply celebrate canine furry diversity from afghans to bichons?

My weiner dog, although a bit of a fashionista, carries no long term debt.

BAD DOG! GO LAY DOWN! NO MORE CELL PHONES FOR YOU!

@MissTicklebritches: Swung on and belted!

Kinda odd that someone can get a cc in their dog's name. Shows again how broke the system is. As a person I have been denied a cc because of lack of credit history, but this does not go for dogs apparently. Well, 5/3 bank, you have treated me worse than a dog.

@Audiyoda: AFNI has a call center right here in town ... diligent isn't the word I'd apply.

I never had a Verizon account either, yet they still managed to sell TWO debt collection agencies information saying I did.

@SkokieGuy: my pug is way more fiscally responsible than a poodle. never trust a poodle...

So... how exactly is the dog's owner, who I am guessing has a different name than the dog, is able to legally place charges on a card that does not have his/her name on it? Is this not fraud?

Maybe taking the girls to lunch "on Andy" is not a good idea.

@Nepkarel:

You can get a card with anyone's name on it as a secondary cardholder, without submitting their SSN.

I assume that Andy is a secondary cardholder. It's very weird, but OTOH, as these guys appear to use it merely as a joke and apparently pay Andy's debts, it seems harmless. Wonder if Amex would be as amused, though.

I can't be the only one who thought of The Simpson's episode where Santa's Little Helper got a credit card.

Man, my cat is pissed. I told her she couldn't get a cc until she got a job.

@picardia: I'm pretty sure even a secondary cardholder has to supply them with an SSN.

Ahhh AFNI - I have a letter from them and the registered letter I sent right back for an $800 Verizon bill in my hubby's name from an address we never resided at. Verizon had no recollection of it either. After many phone calls and a registered letter I haven't heard a peep from them. My amusement was them trying to collect on 9 yr old debt with on previous attempt to contact!

Geez, why does this have to be so sensationalized? The fracking dog had a card in his own name, courtesy of his lunatic owner! Still a mistake, to be sure, but when I first read the headline I thought they'd ship the clowns at Verizon off to the funny farm for sure!

or the debt collectors, rather

@GirlCat: Hey, you just tell her that as long as she's under your roof she has to follow your rules. Then threaten to make her an "outside" pet. She'll straighten up.

@goodywitch: Ah, yes... Santos L. Halper! "Occupation: Butt Doctor. Income: Whatever I finds, I keeps!"

I was always tempted to fill out a credit card application that way, just to see what would happen.

I'm trying to visualize the dog signing a CC reciept without opposable thumbs.

@SkokieGuy: What about the notion that the dog is responsilbe because he's white? :)

make that "responsible"

Hey, I just got a Verizon "debt" letter from ANFI. I also have never been a Verizon customer. I called them up, they verified that the last 4 SSN digits didn't match, and I didn't hear from them again.

I presume that they take the name of the person on their list and their city of residence and spam everyone with a similar name in the area.

@smythe: Haha silly, he signs with a paw print!

@smythe: He wrote "SEE ID" on the back of the card. For an ID, he uses his dog tags.

I would never get my dog Sophie her own credit card. She is far too wreck-less and would just end up spending all the money on male hookers and blow.

I blame the OP. Shouldn't have had a dog in the first place.

Oh.. yeah, those new comment rules. Whoops. ;)

I must say, the lead sentence about the dog being a deadbeat made me actually laugh aloud.

However, that dog looks like a jerk. Look at him laying there, all snooty in his Hawaiian shirt, thinking he's the s***. Just because his credit card probably has a higher limit than mine. Stop judging me, dog!

I'd like to say something witty, but all the good lines have been taken so I'm left with providing a fact.

As of April, when we added our kids as secondary cardholders to an AMEX account, AMEX required SSNs for each kid and ran some sort of check while I was on hold with the CSR.

Buh? How does a dog qualify for a credit card? I'm starting to see why the economy's in the crapper.

ANFI, I think that is the one that put a bogus Verizon debt on my credit report and sent me nasty notes until I sent them a letter demanding the provide proof of the debt. I still can't get it off my credit report, Experian swears it is verified.
I would love 5 minutes alone with the person who runs this company.

a) why does the dog have a credit card?

b) why is the owner still allowed to charge things to it when it's not his and not a human being's card?

c) '"It's an active card. From time to time I take my girlfriend's to lunch on Andy," Donovan said.'

from the article. DAMN I HATE APOSTROPHE MISUSE.

(and the shift key)

Well some kids grow up only to learn that (thanks to mommy and/or daddy) they have WAY past due utility bills. The fact that Fidos and Boo-Boo Kitties are receiving cards fraudulently doesn't surprise me.

Just goes to show you Verizon is just another pile of Shih Tzu. I wonder if the Big 3 have Canine Credit Scores. Regardless, I ask you, what's the difference between Deadbeat Andy and a Pit Bull humping your leg?

The Pit Bull gets to finish.

I'm fairly certain the dog credit card thing is a joke...