Whoa - Posted ad on craigslist this morning for a free dog, got 6 replies already

Unbelievable! One of my bosses told me that was THE way to find a home for a small dog.

Some of them asked for pics, so I will take some tonight and update my ad. Looks like I will have a choice of good homes to give the little beast away to.

I caught her destroying tomato plants this morning. That was the final motivator to get me to do something I have needed to do for about a year.

but, it doesn't sound like you care much for her to begin with...sigh.

I care about the dog enough to see that she gets into a caring family.

I will be careful not to give her to someone who is looking for a laboratory animal.

Seriously, that happens more than people would like to think. I would have gone with PetFinder, personally. Good luck.

I am just surprised at the volume of responses I've gotten in such a short time.

Please e-mail me at m_vick@gmail.com.

:rofl:

they have people sometimes go pick the animals up for them. If she is a purebred a breed rescue might be a better idea.

One is from a woman who says she used to work as a veterinary tech and is looking for a small dog so her young son can have one of his own to walk with the family.

If it's true. that is exactly the kind of home I am looking for. The dog is very sweet and I want her to be happy. My place is not set up adequately for a dog - Plenty of outdoor space to run around in, but I have too many plants and things I don't want torn up, and I really don't have time to give the attention a dog needs.

for the simple reason that giving an animal away free is DANGEROUS. You should also not give him away without visiting the home.

I feel sorry for your "little beast". He could be going from bad to worse - another home that shouldnt' have an animal and cares more for the plants. And every time this happens the dog gets older and less adoptable.

I knew my post would bring out a flood of scolding people who weren't there when I asked for advice earlier.

I feel sorry for your "little beast". He could be going from bad to worse - another home that shouldnt' have an animal and cares more for the plants.

Thanks for your kind words of support in my difficult situation.

:eyes:

No good deed goes unpunished. I took the dog in as a favor to a neighbor who couldn't care for her. I could have declined to do that, and she would have gone straight to the county animal shelter.

I've given her a good environment, high-quality food, kept her clean and walked her. Now I am screening people who have responded to my ad in craigslist. I will not give the dog away to a random stranger or someone I haven't checked out.

http://www.craigslist.org/about/PETA.html

I will take great care to ensure that the adopting family doesn't own any 20-foot Burmese pythons or salt water crocodiles.

that I was harsher than I should have been. But look at your OP. You call her a beast. You say the tomato plants were the final straw - as if they were more important, and as if you couldn't put up a barrier between her and some plants. Then you say you should have done this a year ago, which suggests you haven't liked her for a year.

Then in other posts you say you've read PETA's warnings, but apparently you decided to give the dog away free to strangers anyway.

Can you blame anyone for getting the idea that you weren't doing right by the dog?

If I had seen you ask for advice earlier I would have answered. I do have a life outside DU ;-)

Anyway, I hope you do find her a good home.

It carries a lot more nobility than pet or critter, and terms like companion animal make me gag. The full names of my two cats (I recently lost a third one BTW) are Unit 3 the Terrible and Samantha the Beast. My desert tortoise is named Bonus the Bad.

The tomato plant thing was the last straw in the sense that it got me to end my procrastination in finding a better home for the dog. The tomatoes are an important source of clean, nutritious food for me - more importantly the represent a large investment of my scarce free time. The original plan was for me to keep the dog for a few months until her previous owner got into a living situation where she could take the dog back. That never happened, so what I intended as a short-term favor was slowly boiled into me being a dog owner.

The problem wasn't my dog, the problem is my life-long difficulty in motivating myself to take on a non-trivial task among many things that are more pressing in my day-to-day life. When I am not working I tend to daydream. I get overwhelmed by my ongoing home renovation project, the need to maintain basic household sanitation, trying to keep a vehicle on the road, the garden, the pets, commitments to family and friends, and being on call 7/24 for my job about four weeks out of every six.

Can you blame anyone for getting the idea that you weren't doing right by the dog?

I attribute reactions like yours to something I find negative about the culture of many dog owners, and it goes to the heart of the difference between dog people and cat people: People who prefer dogs have a strong need to control things, a difficulty trusting others and just letting things that are out of their control go.

I tried for over a year to feel like a part of the dog owner culture, but far too often I got ridiculed for having a small mixed-breed dog. My dog wasn't formidable enough or scary enough or macho enough for a lot of dog-owning men. Never mind that she makes a great loyal companion, loves to play, is gentle with children and other animals, is fun to walk, and learns quickly. Or that she rarely barks unless something unusual is going on in the area, which is exactly what I'd think a dog should do. I was subjected to way too many teasing remarks about her resemblence to Dorthy's Toto in The Wizard of Oz. It's not that I don't like the dog so much as I don't like the way a subset of dog owners treat their pets as some kind of status symbol (as many people do their children). I haven't rubbed elbows much with owners of valuable show cats, but it seems to me cat owners are a lot more universally accepting of other peoples' pets. Cat owners don't invest a lot of their identity in what type of cat they have.

And no, I didn't decide to find a new home for the dog BECAUSE of that strange treatment. It's something I have to do and have always had to do regardless of how other dog people accepted me.

I came to the DU Lounge looking for a little moral support from people who are at least somewhat like-minded, and what do I get? Chasitised by hand-wringing "experts" who take themselves far too seriously, proclaiming that I'm not doing it exactly right because I'm not doing it the way they would instruct me, and assuming that my 49-year-old mind couldn't possibly be sharp enough to figure out whether or not someone has a good chance of providing a decent home for an easy dog, or to detect someone who is looking for lunch for their giant Burmese python. Knee-jerk reactions by people who couldn't possibly have enough information to evaluate my situation or my state of mind. Unsolicited judgements of the soundness of my strategy and tactics. A paranoid belief that any pet offered on craigslist is likely to end up as fodder for medical research.

It appears my second candidate, the official from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, isn't going to work out because she has an elderly dog who would be uncomfortable with a little hyper friend. That, for your information, is the level of discussion I am having. Probably about what someone from the Humane Society would do had I elected to spend a block of three or four hours on a work day turning my dog over to them for placement. Finding a home for the dog on my own is something I can do without having to make excuses for not being at work during business hours.

This isn't rocket science. I think I am quite capable of doing this task.

Anyway, I hope you do find her a good home.

Thanks!

you should see what happens to people who realize they have made a mistake, and need to rehome a parrot. cat people do seem to be different.
that attitude, unfortunately, can make it hard to what is best for the animals sometimes. i tried to adopt a terrier, and the things they put me through! yeesh. i ended up buying.

good luck. sorry it didn't work for you.

They get so attached to their owners.

I am generally against keeping birds captive. But I think a flock of quail in a very large pen would be fun to have. Kind of like miniature chickens.

people probably think that because the giver never really tells the whole story to the givee. that plus a large dose of self aggrandizement, and anthropomorphism.
i understand your point of view, but the way things are going, it is aviculturists who will be the "noah"s that keep many species from extinction. in fact, they already are.
i have a small flock of budgies, and they are happy little critters who make a great addition to my environment. and my grey is a great friend. life is where you find it, whatever kind of creature you are.

"People who prefer dogs have a strong need to control things, a difficulty trusting others and just letting things that are out of their control go."

Ooooooookay. That's quite bizarre. And for your info, I have never once ridiculed someone for their choice of dog, nor did we choose ours for being macho, etc. They were chosen by personality and their need (third one was supposed to be a temp). If you are surrounded by people who ridicule you for having a small dog, maybe you need a better class of friends and acquaintances.

And if you don't want reactions by people who couldn't have enough info, don't post on message boards. And when you do, make it sound like you describe it now, not like you are just tired of the little beast and can't be bothered to give her the attention and time she needs.

it's all too permitted, a brand new nightmare. I read the free section of the one in my area every day, and in the past couple weeks I have seen a purebred sharpei and a pit bull advertised. If I see a purebred I will look up the local breed rescues and send them the contact info. It's heartbreaking to me, the most common one I see is "we are moving and can't keep this pet". What I want to say in response to that probably shouldn't be said in polite company. Another thing I see all the time is "if she isn't adopted by _______ (certain date) she will go to the pound and we all know what happens to them at the pound." People suck.

:argh:

She's been kind of fun and I'm glad I rescued her, but both of us would be better off with her in a more suitable home. I'm just too busy to give a dog enough attention. She tears up my stuff because she is bored.

When you go to post and get the list of areas, it says NO PETS in the free section:

https://post.craigslist.org/nyc/S

https://post.craigslist.org/dal/S

https://post.craigslist.org/pdx/S

https://post.craigslist.org/chi/S

As far as I can tell, this page is the same for all.

the don't allow pet SALES and ask you to flag them, but they do allow you to advertise free pets

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/zip/

It must vary from region to region...you don't have to scroll very far to start seeing the pets.

edit: man there are some morons on this earth. This one guy I sent contact info for a pit breed rescue to yesterday. on this post he says that people actually contacted him about fighting the dog, actually ADMITTED it. Good god.

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/zip/400436364.html

(not that I buy that his dog ended up in good hands. You just NEVER know. :( )

https://post.craigslist.org/cha/S

Maybe we need to tell Craigslist to make that more prominent. It's only on one page and it's not a page you HAVE to visit before posting.

I'm uncertain why people are not flagging the pets unless it is accepted practice to give pets away for free. I have not been visiting craigslist long enough to know, only a couple of months. But if you look at the link I posted, it says "please flag pet sales" at the top. I think they should change it to make people ask for at least $10 or $15 per pet, and no more. Just not give them away like this. It's really horrible to think about what happens to these pets. It's not just an issue of people not going to that page, it's an issue of everyone thinking that craigslist policy is 'free pets are okay but no pet sales'. I don't think they should allow breeders to sell on there, but I'm curious why there is contradiction going on.

there is an add running currently I am going to flag with a question about this and see what happens.

edit: i just flagged it and sent them an message through the help section. I'll let you know if I hear anything.

away an animal for free. I'm just adding to what others here have posted.

http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/animal_adoption/free_pets.php

If you're going to do it this way (which I think is a mistake) please do so with the utmost care. As a rescue, when we rehome one of our animals, we have a pretty good screening process. We ask about family members and ages, current/past animals (including where the animals are/have gone), living arrangements for the animal and so on. We also take the animal to them, they don't come to us. We inspect the yard, etc, making sure it matches the application.

That said, I would strongly urge you to reconsider, and to maybe ask a local rescue for some help in placing the dog. You said that you've read all the warnings, etc, and I want to state that those warnings are all very real, and those things happen very often. Bunchers and baitmen will lie, cheat and steal for product.

:thumbsup:

Most of the other people who replied to my ad don't pass initial inspection.

"One is from a woman who says she used to work as a veterinary tech and is looking for a small dog so her young son can have one of his own to walk with the family."

I would only make two suggestions, here (as I would with a dog of mine going to this home, potentially):

1. Used to be a tech? Ensure it's "used to" for a good reason (better job/career, take care of kids) and not "had to" for a bad reason;

2. Ensure that this dog is for THE FAMILY and not just for her young son to walk for himself. Kids grow tired of "toys" and that can include their new dog. What happens to the dog if this does happen? Also, if it's for the kid exclusively, who takes care of the dog? Lastly, ensure that this dog won't be leverage against the kid. No potential for "if you don't do your homework, Scrappy is going to the pound!"

Thanks, flvegan. I hope the OP listens to your advice - you know of what you speak.

My ex-wife used to be a veterinary tech BTW. She gave that up when she learned to write software.

get her to sign a contract saying the dog will be returned to you if there are any problems where she can't keep it. Follow up in a week or two. If she says the dog was "hit by a car" or "ran away", you'll know your dog is probably in a lab, or at a fighting kennel. Sorry to sound extreme, but this story about the 'woman getting a dog for her son' I have heard before. Perhaps you can ask for references from her neighbors? Also as for the name of the vet she used to work for, and call them.

First candidate has two dogs and two cats already in addition to children. I will check her out personally.

Second candidate is someone with a prominent position at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, in charge of the Apex Marine Predator Husbandry Project. She's very visible, plus I have a lot of good contacts for checking out her reputation.

So far I received nine responses and replied to two.
































(Just KIDDING about the apex marine predators!)

:thumbsup:
Thanks.

For some reason, advertising a free pet will always get you quick responses. When my family's cat had kittens, we advertised them in the local paper and within two days all three were adopted.

Sorry to hear your dog didn't work out, but hope she's going to a good home.