Despite animal rescues and animal welfare agencies advising people against rehoming and selling dogs through Craiglist, the online classifieds website continues to be a popular platform for pet listings.
In recent years, Craigslist has also had its fair share of animal rescuers posting open letters to neglectful or abusive dog owners.
There are also the occasional posts that shock readers. Like this poster who wanted to rehome their child to make way for a new puppy.
The ad read:
“Please help! After two long years of being on a waiting list for an exotic rare breed dog, we were finally notified by the breeder that at long last, our number has come up, and… WE’RE HAVING A PUPPY!
We must IMMEDIATELY get rid of our children now, because we just KNOW how time consuming our new little puppy is going to be! Since our puppy will be arriving on Monday, we MUST place the children in new homes this weekend!!!”
It continues:
“They are described as:
One male, white, blonde hair, blue eyes. Four years old. Excellent disposition. He doesn’t bite. Name is Tommy. Temperament tested. Current on all shots. Tonsils removed already and very healthy condition! Tommy eats everything, is very clean, house trained and gets along well with others. Does not run with scissors and with a little time and training, he will do well in a new home. One female, strawberry blonde hair, green eyes. Three years old. Can be surly at times. Non-biter, thumb sucker. Her name is Mary. Temperament tested, but needs a little attitude adjusting occasionally. She is current on all shots, tonsils out, and is very healthy and happy (mostly.) Gets along well with little boys, but does not like to share toys. She is house trained, and would do best in a one child household.
We really LOVE our children, and want to do what is best for them. I hope you understand, that ours is a UNIQUE situation, and we have a real emergency here! They MUST be placed by Sunday night at the latest or we will be forced to bring them to an orphanage or have them put to sleep. We are asking a reasonable fee of $750 per child but will do $1200 if you take both.”
It turns out, the ad is not real, but a satiric message directed at irresponsible pet owners. The ad ends with:
“You wouldn’t do this to a child, it’s not acceptable to do to an animal! If you can’t dedicate 10-15 years to a animal, don’t get one. Giving an animal up should be a last resort action, based on unforeseen circumstances beyond your control or ability to change. Animals are not things to be disposed of like a toy that no longer interests your child, a hobby that takes too much time, or a family member that all the sudden is inconvenient.”
The writer’s point being that if you are thinking of getting a pet, know that there’s a lot of responsibility that goes along with caring for a life. Of course, there are life circumstances where rehoming a pet may be in the best interest of the pet, but they should not be discarded or gotten rid of in lazy, irresponsible and cruel ways. The post has since been removed from Craigslist, but it has popped up on social media channels.
This Craiglist post reminds me a lot of this one from a woman who was preparing to move and had her cat and dog to consider.
What do you think?
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