More Free to Good Home Cautionary Tales

[CyberKitten]

My only comment on the last observations is that many humane societies keep pets for 72 hrs and then kill them so that is not such a hot option in many parts of North America - it depends where you live. (But most humane societies will not take cats or dogs that are bred at home, they only will take rescued animals. And I don't believe ppl should show up and lie and say they found 6 kittens by the side of the road!)

Most of these ppl are byb - even if some of them occur because it was not meant to be. I do not include people like Frenchy who certainly did not plan on a litter of 6 puppies but those who did not bother to spay or neuter their pet and then voila, she has babies! That is their responsibility to find good homes and free kittens means you are saying these babies have no value to you and you are opening your world to bunchers who will sell them to labs, people seeking snake food and other nefarious sorts. And I am very serious - this does happen!!!! Sadly!!!! Bunching is a big business and the free to good homes allow several ner do wells and bad people to live off the stupidity for want of a better word of these back yard breeders!

I could go on but there is so much documented research out there, I'll let you read on and find it.

[Prin]

Yeah, the no puppymills Canada site says that in the US more than 2/3 of the dogs out there are from bybs, not puppymills. We think puppymills are the worst (and the conditions are horrendous in them, no doubt about that), but they're actually not producing as many dogs as the bybs. Sad, eh?

http://www.nopuppymillscanada.ca/back_yard_breeders.htm

[Jim Hall]

I had inherited a cat when i moveed into my new apartment
Unfortunatly Gimpy ( so Named cause she was missing a back leg}
suffered a heart attack . My girlfriend insisted I find another so I contacted the rescue orginasations in my area .

At first I was ticke off cause of all the questions they asked until one sympathitic worker told me of all the horror stories.
I dont understand people sometimes.

anyway if you ask for money ( my new cat down under cost me$200 US after fees and vet visit}]
The chances are that whoever ponies up that kind of money will be interested in keeping thier investment healthy.

[dudabug]

I can relate to the free pet ads. I ran one! Stupid Stupid thing to do!!!!!! In November 06, a family who lived across the street from my mother moved and left a mother cat and 4 kittens. Well, I started feeding them and naturally they started hanging out at moms. After a couple of weeks, I decided to try and find them a good home. I had 3 cats myself and didnt want to take in anymore (mistake). So I asked my vet for any ideas. They said run a "free to good home" ad. So I did. I received several calls and met w/ most of them. I turned down the 1st few.. just didnt feel any vibes. Well to make a long story longer, I finally met a husband and wife who were animal lovers and really seemed like good people. She wanted 2 of the kittens. She picked a lil black and white who we named Patches and a lil calico with one blue eye and one green eye who we named Sasha. She was my favorite. We thought everything was fine so couple of days later I thought I'd call to see how they were adjusting and found out that the second they got home both kittens escaped !! They said they kept food out for them hoping they would come back. I spend the next several days driving up and down their street with my arm hanging out the window shaking a box of food but with no luck. I felt like crap. I thought I was doing the right thing. But NOT! Needless to say ..I didnt take anymore calls for the other 2 kittens, they are now part of the family. I just hope Patches and Sasha made it ok.

[phoozles]

The Freecycle Org here in Chatham Ontario does not allow pets to be offered on the site, which I think is very commendable, considering most other freecycles do.

I adopted my kitten Alley from a rescue shelter (www.kittenaideprogram.com) and expected to be bombarded with questions. But nothing - she didn't ask me a thing about my household - just asked me to sign a sheet and hand over $25.. I would have thought they would have had a better screening process than that. Plus they got the sex of my kitten wrong and she came home with a cold that she gave my other cat, but that's besides the point.

It wouldn't stop me from adopting again, however.

[gatorsmom]

that animals are not toys, that they have feelings and minds, and all they want is to be loved. People need to check out the people that are wanting the kittens, puppies, etc. Why do so many people think animals are expendable? They need to stop using animals in lab testing, instead use the people on deathrow. We have to pay for them anyways might as well put them to good use.

[Love4himies]

Originally Posted by gatorsmom

They need to stop using animals in lab testing, instead use the people on deathrow. We have to pay for them anyways might as well put them to good use.

Ha ha, Canada doesn't have deathrow, but I do like your idea. We do have violent criminals that should be giving back to society, maybe this is a "good citizenship" way of doing it.

[lillibou]

I've responded to one of those ads b/c the gal who was given the 3-4 wk old kitten had no idea how to care for it(we're not sure of she is a she or a he--the jury is still out). If we hadn't, the kitten would've died due to her ignorance(the food she gave it made its feces hard as a rock and our vet had to give it an enema to clear it out). In fact, we've been given all our cats. But then again, I did volunteer work for a vet and we have a family vet. We also make sure any cat or dog we take in gets spayed or neutered by 6 months. Its a shame others don't care for animals the way we do.

[Bushfire2000]

So I know this woman who wants to find a new home for her dog. She offered the little dog to me but my husband said "4 dogs are enough. There's no way you can bring home another one."

So I've been trying to help her find it a new home. One of the things I've been trying to get through her head is the "Free to good home" tragedies. She thinks that by not asking for any money that she'll find it a good home. I've tried to tell her that at least if they pay something for the dog "Faith" they will start out valuing her more than if she didn't ask anything at all for her. There's an Auction saying "The more you pay the more it's worth." and I think in most cases this is the truth.

I don't think I can get this woman to listen to me. I've printed off all the stories and tried to scare her but short of taking the dog myself (and getting a divorce) I can't help Faith.

[yettiyodamarlo]

Thank you CyberKitten for the post.

I never even gave much thought to 'free to good home' ads.
I thought it was nice of them to offer them free, but now I can clearly see why that is NOT a good idea in any circumstance, and I finally REALIZE why the shelter I volunteer at charges high fees (apart from vacine costs.).

Anyways, thanks for the eye-opener!

[IluvZeus]

It is so sad to see that some people would be so callous towards another living being. We got Zeus for a pittance really, $40 bucks. However with vaccinations, vet costs and an unfortunate incident last week that resulted in him having to get his upper lip sutured (along with an overnight stay) It's come to considerably more than that. And I would pay whatever cost needs to be paid to keep him the healthy, happy 'little guy' he is. I guess my point would be that in some circumstances, people would rather give him away than pay the money to keep him until he/she's adopted. It's not always the best of circumstances, but it can be rewarding and good if a lot of research and information is had on both sides.

[kathryn]

A man in North Jersey was recently arrested and sentenced for the torture and killing of ATLEAST 19 cats/kittens he acquired from 'free to good home' ads.

http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/12844/NJ/US/

Appolonia, 50, of Aberdeen is alleged to have tortured and killed 19 cats given to him by animal rescuers when he answered their newspaper ads offering the felines for free to a good home.

In what police termed a chilling videotaped statement, Appolonia told Amato he would play with the kittens for a while, and then something would happen, Amato said. The cat would hiss at him, maybe scratch him. At that point, Appolonia would "throw the cat, beat, punch and break its bones. He would let it live for a little while, in some cases a day, in tremendous pain, and then drown it," Amato said.

Kittens would be drowned in the toilet bowl, larger cats in the bathtub, he said.

Yet people still don't believe us when we tell them free to good home ads are a bad idea

[bluebear]

I would just like to say free or 1500.00 it doesn't matter. My first 2 dogs were free and had great homes.

I just lost my 12+ year old dog and had decided to not get another as I still have blue. Then the neighbour brought over a great pyr. She was dirty scared and not socialized or brought inside. He thought she belong to us. The people paid 400.00 for her and just left her outside to die. The neighbour got tired of her barking and chewing the rope and coming to his house that he came back 10 day's later and asked if we would take her but there was one catch she was 400.00. I have never paid 400.00 for a dog as there are so many for free that I can have and take care of and give a warm loving home to.

Even though she is white and lots of hair. This is not the kind of dog I would have gotten or wanted. Yet I said yes. I remembered what she looked like and I just couldn't let her die like that. She had already at 14 weeks old, stones forming in her urine and lots of white blood cells and still has them by the way. She will have to go through heat before I have more test done and before I can have her spayed. I have paid more on vet bills for her than I paid for her and this is one reason why I feel free is not a bad thing. Vets are a lot of money and dogs need care. Whether you pay or not it all depends on the person not the price.

Personally I truly believe that if you have them sign a paper that you can come and see the animal later and they hum and huh over it. That is not the person you want to sell or give your animal away to. It's also good if they have one already and you can see it.

I have read that story before and it breaks my heart that animals are not taken care of and abused.

Also I will add something cool. Blue, Dakota and I seen a cougar this morning. It was cutting across the property. I shined a big light in it's eyes and they just shined big. It was beautiful.

[Zarathustra]

Wow, those are some pretty scary horror stories...

On the opposite side of the fence, let me tell you about what happened when we responded to a 'Free To Go Home' advertisement...

Sway, our German Shorthaired Pointer, was living on a large property with a family of two adults, two children, another dog, several sheep and a goat. Sway was in heaven there, loved it entirely.

However, her owner could not keep her. We responded to the advertisement and took her right there and then... well, we had to wait until Wenesday, but my point is we took her, she is adorable, and was then especially.

From the two week mark, our troubles started. Peeing in the house. Every night. Not just accidental, but deliberate. Time moved on, we pulled our hair out trying to figure out how to stop her. Rarely, she'd have phases where we'd go a few weeks with no pee... and then it would start up again.

We eventually moved to a house with a much larger yard, thinking this was part of the problem. Oh, no. Sway started peeing and... you get the idea, in the house. Every night.

Sway was also rather disobedient at first, very, very skitterish. Flinched whenver we went to touch her. At one time, we thought she'd been abused.

Now, we were told she was being given up because the woman who owned her, her mother was dying and was coming to live with her and she couldn't cope with everything else. I wondered if she was going to give her kids up at one point. We still don't know whether or not that was the real reason Sway was given up.

But let me tell you, that first year, there were many, many times we almost gave up. We'd gotten ourselves into a situation we'd never, ever anticipated.

With perserverance, however, Sway is now a fantastic dog. We have another dog, Tilly, and the two of them are best mates. We go to the park daily, feed them a 100% raw diet and Sway just gets better and better each day. It almost seems like it was an overnight transformation, but I still think it was every single day of the past year that my partner and I put into her progress that sees her where she is today.

I guess my point is, for those of you who have replied to a 'FTGH' advertisement and wound up with what you think is a little devil, have hope!

[sirilucky]

Thats a very sad touching story in simple words. Sometimes i think if pets could talk aloud!!!

[sandyrivers]

Hi
I take care of several feral cats, most of them are fertile males and females...
A lot of them are abandonned by their owners, who move away, leaving them behind...
A lot of them are born (in the alley),to those who were abandonned by their owners...
A lot of them are kittens that people taught...''my cat is cute, and i want her to have kittens like her...''

I live on the island of Montreal, and I would LOVE to see a free spay/neuter clinic in my area.
I would have several cats to bring over!

It's sad to see that people will adopt a pet, and not consider that spay/neuter is a MUST with every adoption...

I contacted several universities in my area, in the hope that graduating vet students would give of their time and knowledge to host free spay/neuter days... Unfortunatly so far to no avail...

I challenge any vet students to offer such a service, in any city they are in!

Sandyrivers

[Equla]

I am a volunteer at the Nevada SPCA in Las Vegas. Not all shelters euthanize. We don't. Unfortunately, that means that there is a lot of overcrowding and unfortunately, we have to turn away many people who want to leave their pets with us.

What I would suggest is to foster the kittens for the shelter you are working with. The foster parents that work with my shelter care for the kittens during the week and then bring them to adoption events on the weekends. It really makes it very easy for the shelter to say yes to helping you without putting too much strain on them to house a litter when they are probably over-run already.

In the end, they are more likely to go to a good home because of the background checks the shelter does. For instance, if the owner has ever surrendered an animal, they are banned from adopting an animal from my shelter. I've also seen the adoption councilors call landlords and such to ensure the animal is even allowed at the property. On top of all of that, there is an adoption fee for any and all animals that leave the shelter.

Huge added bonus... the shelter I work for also spays/neuters and updates all shots and the animal is given a clean bill of health. They won't adopt out kittens that are too young to be spayed/neutered.

Unfortunately, there are many kill shelters in every city in the world. The bright side is there is usually a no-kill shelter floating around somewhere too. Aside from the "specialty" shelters that deal with specific breeds (and there are a lot around me), there are (off the top of my head) 4 no-kill shelters and only one (sadly) high-kill shelter. You just have to do your research and look around. Find the ones that will keep an animal to the bitter end no matter what.