Craigslist rant

Let me start by saying almost all my pets are from Craigslist. The reason? Simply because I get on there are feel so sorry for the pet that is being "tossed aside." I can't even count the number of times I have seen the posts saying "please get or I will have to take to shelter." Here are the most common I see and my opinion of them (feel free to add yours) Please notice I use family member and not pet...this is what they are.

"moving next week and can't take dog"
Really? First of all you just NOW figured out you were moving and couldn't take a member of the family with you? You wait until you have 7 days to find a suitable home for him? Secondly, there are no apartments or houses or trailers available in your city that you can have your family member join you?

"my kid wanted him and now won't care for him"
This one ranks in my MOST hated. You got your 5 year old a corn snake and really thought he would be able to properly care for it on his own?????

"no longer have time"
does this mean when you have to work overtime you find a home for your child too?

and this one I saw today and was
"my son wants a new pet so we have to get rid of our..."
WOW really???? Because you got this pet for your child when he wanted it, and now he wants another you are throwing away the first!?!?! And when you want a second child are you going to throw away the first????

Ok sorry had to vent...share yours please, I want to know I am not alone in being angry at invisible people on Craigslist.

I agree with you that those Craigslist comments are disgusting. Pets are not a product that you own and discard when you grow bored of it.

Getting a pet is like adopting a child. You wouldn't say "This child no longer fits my lifestyle, so I'm getting rid of it." so you shouldn't say it about a pet that you implicitly promised to take care of forever when you bought it.

You're very kind to adopt these Craigslist pets from people who clearly don't deserve them.

Oh Pugskjj, you should try my local CL. It is a madhouse and if you are at all reasonable and try to spend any time on there you will pull out your hair. It is known as one of the WORST sections for pets on CL all the way around. Bad Breeders, flippers, people getting rid of their dogs left and right and the 'flaggers' who are so crazily agressive and even competitive with each other that it's constant screaming back and forth and nothing stays up for very long.

The 'flaggers' work very hard to wind up accomplishing what they say they don't want with their very nasty attitudes and even taking down legitimate rescue and shelter posts if it isn't one they want to see up. It doesn't matter who you are or what your purpose is it is a very unpleasant experience with nothing but frustration and heartbreak to watch it all happen, not to mention the floods of hate mail if you try to post ANYTHING. Speak reason and with actual knowledge and you are toast from all sides. It is a sad, sad place to be.

I suppose if the people do not want to take care of them, giving the pet away to a better home is better than the pet being neglected by its current owners. I'd rather they give up the pet than leave them chained to a tree all day by themselves with no food or water, or stuck in bad weather with nowhere to go for shelter, while they're off at work or out partying.

That's how we got our second dog, it's original owners never took care of her and let her run loose all the time. She wound up getting hit by a car and they were like "we don't want her" and would probably have just let her die that day because they wouldn't take her to the vet.

Yep! This really bothers me when I read these posts. It just shows how many people are irresponsible, unethical and do not have any feelings over live creatures. I don't understand how people can act like this. I can't imagine why these individuals can do such things and can never think of doing this to our cats or my old dog. Bah!

It is awful so many animals get caught I these kinds of traps. People like this are not "animal lovers of a lifetime". They are infact "animals I think I want right now, losers". I agree the reasons some of them give just blow my mind. It's not were talking about someone, who got a kitten or puppy and a few days later find out the are allergic or a little old lady who can't take care of herself much less her cat. There needs to some kind of screening system even for rescue through the paper or craigslist. I'm not sure what the answers are, besides people thinking before they act.

Unfortunately we live in a throw away society. Sometimes it's humans and sometimes it is the animals. The animals are thrown away more in so many cases. Offenders need to be punished or at least made to answer, why. More public awareness needs to be made concerning these matters. It burns me to no end that our country collects money for other countries needs. Help with this and help with that. Sure I do feel sorry for people in other lands. But before we help others shouldn't we take care of and fund things in our own back yard, programs for animal safety, preventing neglect and abuse and better shelters.

We get a lot of the same excuses at the animal shelter I work at. "Moving and couldn't take him/her" is a big one.

Here's the worst one I've seen so far - Just a few weeks ago, we had a family bring back a cat they had adopted from us because "he wasn't a kitten anymore." Such a sweet, beautiful cat, too! Fortunately, a really nice guy adopted him about a week later.

Its the flippers that really piss me off. One of my local CL's has a real problem with them. They have the "rescue" ads, then are selling the same animals later. I've actually got a list of phone #'s, emails, and addresses of a few confirmed flippers, and I flag those off when I can confirm who it is.

On an off note, I'm actually working on taking in a craigslist rescue snake at the moment. The owners admittedly haven't spent much time with her the last year or so, and are now scared of her because she's scared. She does look to be taken care of, from what I can see, but I haven't been over there yet.

(08-13-2012, 04:01 PM)ohiotom76 Wrote: I suppose if the people do not want to take care of them, giving the pet away to a better home is better than the pet being neglected by its current owners. I'd rather they give up the pet than leave them chained to a tree all day by themselves with no food or water, or stuck in bad weather with nowhere to go for shelter, while they're off at work or out partying.

That's how we got our second dog, it's original owners never took care of her and let her run loose all the time. She wound up getting hit by a car and they were like "we don't want her" and would probably have just let her die that day because they wouldn't take her to the vet.

I'm not complaining that they are giving them up (although in most cases they are charging breeder prices ), I am saying they shouldn't have gotten it in the first place, the same for the person who chains their dog to a tree. If you don't want to make a committment of at least 10 years then they have no business getting a pet

(08-16-2012, 11:21 PM)pugskjj Wrote: If you don't want to make a committment of at least 10 years then they have no business getting a pet

People's circumstances do change, though. Somebody may have been perfectly capable to make that long term commitment when s/he adopted the pet, but perhaps the person unexpectedly lost his or her job and couldn't afford the vet bills anymore. Maybe s/he developed cancer and couldn't give the pet the proper care (or the person's doctor insisted s/he give up the pet).

Granted, if it were me, I'd do everything in my power to make sure I could keep my fur and feather babies with me. In fact, when I did unexpectedly lose my previous job last year, having the money to care for my pets was my first concern. I don't have kids, though, so it was easier for me than for someone with a big family.

Even though many people have ridiculous reasons for giving up pets, I'd much rather see the pet given up than end up neglected, as ohiotom said.

I agree with Jenb completely. I actually have unofficial disaster plans for my animals, knowledge of how cheaply I can care for everybody, etc...

And there are certainly times where circumstances demand you must give up the pet, but nowhere near as many as there are people giving up their pets. To pugskjj's original point, the one that I just can't understand is "We've got a baby on the way", I know there are unplanned pregnancies, but really, if you are even considering a child or family, why did you get a pet a year
ago that you consider unfit around babies?? Just a complete lack of planning.

(08-17-2012, 03:44 AM)jenb128 Wrote: People's circumstances do change, though. Somebody may have been perfectly capable to make that long term commitment when s/he adopted the pet, but perhaps the person unexpectedly lost his or her job and couldn't afford the vet bills anymore. Maybe s/he developed cancer and couldn't give the pet the proper care (or the person's doctor insisted s/he give up the pet).

Granted, if it were me, I'd do everything in my power to make sure I could keep my fur and feather babies with me. In fact, when I did unexpectedly lose my previous job last year, having the money to care for my pets was my first concern. I don't have kids, though, so it was easier for me than for someone with a big family.

Even though many people have ridiculous reasons for giving up pets, I'd much rather see the pet given up than end up neglected, as ohiotom said.

This rant was not pertaining to the true emergencies like you mentioned. I do understand situations change, but you see the ridiculous reasons and you just have to shake your head. And giving the pet up is different than trying to make a $200 profit on a pet that you got for free from a friend...and yes I have seen that on there. And what is to guarantee that the pet would be given to someone who will take care of it? These people don't screen who they let their pet go with in 90% of the cases.

Animals don't have any rights in this society. It's sad, it's unjust but it's true. I don't like those people anymore than you do but I'm glad they're at least making an attempt to find them a new home and not just dumping them in the streets. We have so many abandoned dogs and cats around here it's ridiculous. I'd love to take them in but I can't. I don't have anywhere near the capability of caring for dozens of large and needy animals. As an afterthought, animal abandonment is one of the biggests reasons we have problems with invasive species. The python problem in the Everglades was caused by people abandoning their pet snakes. I could be wrong, but I think the snakehead problem was caused the same way, but that may have been for economical reasons, so I'm not sure.

I guess my family and I kind of have the opposite problem, there have been times where we found lost dogs and watched them for a day or two until we could track down the owner - and in the meantime I get attached and I'm half hoping we don't find them so we could keep the pet instead, lol.

(08-22-2012, 06:56 PM)ohiotom76 Wrote: I guess my family and I kind of have the opposite problem, there have been times where we found lost dogs and watched them for a day or two until we could track down the owner - and in the meantime I get attached and I'm half hoping we don't find them so we could keep the pet instead, lol.

Now, these kind of CL posts make me melt. People like you who take in strays to find homes for are the best kind

I don't like the wording either on Craig's List. I think that if people would just think about what they are saying and how they say it, it wouldn't be so bad. I just think that people need to stop and think, that's all.

I got my dog on Craig's List. He is sweet and kind and he's a lovely breed. He is a Tibetan Spaniel. He is beautiful.

My question, and I think someone mentioned this, is why are these people getting pets in the first place? Did they not understand what taking care of a pet entails? Too many people think of pets as a novelty, and when the novelty wears off, then off to Craigslist to get rid of them. I'm glad that they actually try to find the pets a home instead of dumping them on the side of the road. The pup we rescued was never placed on CL or anywhere else. The poor guy was just left alone all the time and when the owners were home they were mean to him. Nevertheless, there is still no excuse for people to get pets, tire of them, and then toss them on Craigslist.

Oh, wow! I am appalled that people have the audacity to think these things much less put these thoughts into an ad. I spoil my pets beyond belief and cannot imagine just tossing them aside like that and not feeling an ounce of remorse. How people like this sleep at night is beyond me! It's too bad there can't be laws passed that you have to pass certain tests to adopt a pet. Then again, people do the same and worse to their own children and there are no tests for people to check their mental capabilities before they bring a life into this world. It's a darn shame!

Often people don't realize what a responsibility a pet is and how much attention and love a pet needs. I think people should spend time volunteering at an animal shelter before they adopt or buy a pet. Personally, all my pets have been from an animal shelter, adopted from an unwanted or unexpected litter or strays. I will never buy a pet. There are just too many unwanted pets who need homes.

I admit that these ads look awful and those posting them should really think about what their saying, because its not being interpreted too well. But there is a bright side to this, at least these people are out there trying to find a home for their pet and not just abandoning it somewhere. I have actually seen these situations where pets were abandoned to fend for themselves. Somehow I think a vile and stupid ad on Craiglists is a little more humane an action by the previous owner then doing something like this.

I don't use Craigslist (it's too disorganized for me), so I've never seen the pet section. This breaks my heart though. It's one thing to be in a serious situation where you can no longer take care of your pet, but these excuses are pathetic. Your kid wants a new pet? Gee, it's not like a dog is the last years bestselling toy.

I had an online friend who moved a few years back. She gave her dog away because it was too hard to move with a dog. Then, after they settled in they got another dog. I really wanted to tell this person what I thought. I can't see how people replace pets so easily.

I hope the dogs on Craigslist have found good homes with people who are prepared for the commitment.

I'm kind of torn because I had two friends who had to give up their pets because of life changes. My first friend got a sudden promotion for a new branch at work and couldn't find an apartment that allowed her dog or had pet rent under $200. She couldn't afford to keep her pet and couldn't afford to give up her promotion for her pet. After shopping around for an apartment that she could afford and would take her pet, she finally had to settle for a small studio. By the time she had come to that realization, she had about a week and a half to get rid of her dog while she packed and made plans to move. Lucky for her, her brother took her dog since he lived out in the country but still, it was a hard separation.

My other friend had a dog that was hyper and sort of aggressively playful. He was a burly guy so the dog's rough play was fine before he got married. It was still fine until his first child. Even after taking the dog to some classes trying to train his dog to play nicer and adding an extra long walk, the dog just wasn't safe enough to be around the baby. The dog would get into the baby room and bark and hop up against the cage or try to jump in. And his wife never felt safe letting the baby swing in the baby swings or play on the ground because the dog might pounce or roll the baby. So they ended up selling the dog on Craigslist. It upset him but ultimately the baby's safety had to come first.

The second and the last reasons for putting their pets for adoption are infuriating. I can understand that you love your child and you basically would want him or her to grow up being responsible but you have to consider that the animal will suffer too because you wanted to spoil a little child. My son wants a dog but I never really took him seriously because he changes his mind a lot and putting a life in his hands is a huge responsibility. If the parent doesn't have any love for the dog, that can be worse once the child doesn't want it anymore. If you are a parent, you must lead by example.