At first glance, it looked like an Israeli department store had decided to start selling dogs.

On the website of Mashbir, one of Israel’s best-known department store chains, visitors were met with listings for purebred dogs carrying price tags of thousands of shekels.

A poodle was “offered” for 7,499 shekels ($2,500) instead of 8,900 ($2,967).

Animal lovers were furious.

Many questioned how a major retail chain could treat dogs like products to be added to an online shopping cart.