Freecyle - Advertising animals

Tiddlywinks

welsh_cake wrote: »

I feel people give up too easily these days. I have had some horrific times with my Charlie with aggression, behaviour, etc, but have never given up on him and never will. When i got him from the rescue i promised him that I would never let him down and so far i have kept to my promise.

I agree, some people want the perfect cute and cuddly plaything that desn't get sick or have 'issues'. If the animal doesn't quickly fit the bill or later becomes inconvenient then they just get rid :mad:.

I believe that whan you have an animal you should make a commitment to them for the long haul - in sickness/health/domestic probs etc - as the animal relies wholly on its owner for essential care and welfare.

Some could keep their animals with a bit of effort but seem to want to pass the 'problem' onto someone else - maybe it's better that they don't have animals BUT the trouble is that they will probably get a replacement and the whole thing will start again .

welsh_cake

I agree about the replacement. I once helped rehome a Bichon and the lady who was getting rid of the dog said that she used to have a labrador, but it was too big so they gave it to someone else. She didn't have a clue who the person was she gave him away to. Too big?!? Umm, did she think it was going to grow the size of a toy breed?!? It angers me so much. I am sooo not a confrontational person, but when it comes to animals who can't defend themselves or answer back thats the only time i lose my rag.

I don't go on freecycle, but if i saw any animals being put on there i would probably end up with a house full of pets, because i couldn't bear the thought of not knowing where the poor animals were going to end up. As my partner has always said, i let me heart rule my head!

katy2

I don't think it is right to generalise and say that everyone advertising pets on freecycle is uncaring or that anyone who takes on a pet via freecycle is unsuitable.

I got a kitten via freecycle 5yrs ago and I don't feel remotely bad about it, the lady with the kittens was lovely and I have given a cat a loving and permanent home. My old cat of 17yrs had died and I was looking for a new kitten, but I'm afraid I refuse to pay £50 for a moggie kitten, which is what the going rate seems to be in our local paper. I always have my cats speyed at 5 half months old and hate the indescriminate breeding of any animals, but what I will not do, is pay for a kitten and thereby encourage people to go on letting their cats have endless litters, because they see it as nice little money making scheme.

I also have a younger cat, but she was free from a friend.

Tropez

While I don't doubt that there are some people who advertise their pets on sites such as this who are doing so for all the wrong reasons I also feel that a distinct lack of education regarding keeping animals as pets is to blame for the overflow of now "unwanted" pets. We grow up thinking that pets are all cute and cuddly and best friends - all the pleasant stuff - but how many of us were taught by anyone other than pet-keeping parents/relatives how to look after a pet?

I was lucky. I grew up with dogs and my earliest memories are of my miniature shetland collie. I was taught from my very early years how to behave around a dog and how to look after it yet a friend of mine who comes from a affluent background recently said to me he was looking at getting a dog and when I asked him basic questions about dog care and what he was looking for he didn't know the answers - he's grown up believing that what comes naturally to me due to my upbringing is in any way easy and that all dogs will behave as mine do when it simply isn't the case. So many people buy dogs not even knowing how to properly toilet train them, instead opting to believe that old load of crap about rubbing puppies noses in their wee being a good way to get them to stop whizzing on the carpet. It is an awful shame but it is the case.

So we find that many of these owners who for one reason or another should not have been owners in the first place realise that the little bundle of furry joy they expected is a demanding nightmare and turn to websites like freecyle to try and off-load it. It isn't an entirely bad thing though as those that are capable of looking after pets will check these sites out too when looking for a new member of the family and some pets (although sadly not all) will find loving, lasting homes.

The only real way to stop this trend is to encourage people who want pets to actually do the research beforehand and discover just how time consuming and energy-sapping raising, training and providing on-going care for some pets are. Looking after dogs, for instance, is made easy by the people out there who know how to do it, which I would like to believe accounts for the majority of dog owners, but not all of them. While I am not necessarily fond of the idea of a pet being given away on a website like freecyle it is much the lesser of two evils than forcing a completely unprepared owner to continue to own a dog when they have no idea how to look after it properly and responsibly.