Craigslist is the latest place bad pet owners are dumping their animals. Newspaper or Pernnysaver classified ads are also risky unless the advertiser is very careful to screen people who respond to the ad.
One kind and responsible way to find a home for unwanted pets is with the help or advice of one of the many animal shelters or rescue groups or via www.petfinder.com. Any legitimate way to rehome a helpless pet does require patience (it may take awhile) and the use of an adoption questionaire or at least the name, address, email and phone number of the adopter or buyer. And these must be checked. A few other questions to ask the potential adopter: where will this animal be kept? Will the pet be spayed or neutered if it is not already? What restrictions will be put on the children? Will the animal be allowed to run free? Will there be an annual vet visit and who is your vet? These questions can attempt to make sure the animal is going to a good kind home.
Animals given away for free can, and unfortunately often do, meet gruesome fates. They can end up in the hands of a sicko whose aim is the torturing and killing of animals. Don’t think that people like this are easy to spot. They often bring children with them so people would be comfortable handing over their animal(s).
Then there are those “bunchers” who obtain animals illegally from random sources to sell to research facilities for profit, and who often acquire animals by answering “free to good home” ads. Small animals advertised as “free to good home” are sometimes acquired by individuals who intend to use them as bait in training other animals to fight. Gerbils, rabbits, hamsters, and young kittens are often acquired to be used as snake food.
Animal dealers (again, not easy to identify) who may come to your home are the source for the about half of the animals scientists require for experimentation.
Rescue groups are starting to monitor Craigslist, which allows people in 450 cities to post classified advertisements for merchandise and jobs, as they’ve been noticing ads for “free” dogs, often purebreds Some of these animals turn out turn out to be old or sick.
If people monitoring the site even suspect you are selling, they will flag your ad and it will be removed without question. One can, however, put a small rehoming fee in the ad but the same screening applies to those who answer the ad as described above. Give some thought to the fact that dog fighters can afford a dog advertised for anywhere from $50 to hundreds of dollars and can also afford to buy bait dogs and other animals of all kinds and sizes.
In 2005 nearly two dozen Bay Area shelters and pet rescue groups asked Craigslist online bulletin board to ban postings that advertise certain animals for sale, saying casual transactions encourage backyard breeding and irresponsible adoptions.
Animal advocates led by the East Bay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were monitoring Craigslist postings for several months. In one month they found at least 183 unneutered pit bull puppies for sale. Pit bulls are often used by drug dealers as well as dog fighters.
They believe Craigslist’s free classified section is fertile ground for uncertified breeders who are trying to sell pit bull puppies for anywhere from $50 to $2,000 with no accountability for how they’ve bred the dogs or who they sell the pups to.
Backyard breeding can be tragic for dogs and humans. People who end up with difficult dogs often abandon them or drop them off at the shelter, where they may be euthanized.
Many area shelters have more pit bulls than other breeds. In Berkeley, they account for as much as 90 percent of the shelter population.
Craigslist does ban sales or other transactions involving illegal animals, such as endangered species. EBay, a more tightly regulated online marketplace, does not allow animal sales on its site.
Anyone who wants to have an effect on these ads can go to Craigslist in their area or any other area and flag ads that don’t seem right.
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