I have to stay away from...

[gingersmom]

...the pet classified in my area.

Once upon a time I would look at them, dreaming of the day when I no longer had feathered friends and instead would be seeking a furfriend as my companion. I never thought twice about all the ads listing free kittens - I was just jealous of those who could take advantage of them and bring home a kitten for themselves!

Things have DEFINITELY changed in my way of thinking, however.

This weekend I bought the local paper in its printed version (I usually read it online every day) and decided to take a look-see at the Pets section. I was horrified to see SO MANY listings for free cats or kittens, or even dogs that were being offered up for free!

Knowing now what I know about irresponsible pet owners who don't get their animals spayed and neutered, it was shocking to me to see so many ads that were posted by obviously cluessless owners that were just trying to "get rid" of unwanted furbabies!

In addition, I kept worrying about all the scary people who torture the little ones, or sell them to places for research - there were almost no ads that requested a small fee for adoption.

I had to close the paper and swear to myself that I will never, EVER read that section of the paper ever again!!! It was too upsetting!!

 

[white cat lover]

I sat & cried one day. The "Give Away" ads read like this:

Purebred Yellow Lab 2 years old, neutered, housetrained, all shot
Purebred St. Bernard, 8 moths, spayed, shots, only good as farm dog
Puppies! Lab mix, black, 5 weeks

I believe there have also been purebred Cataholas(not commn in MN)....thankfully...at least some animals are altered already.

If that's any comfort. It always seems whenever the shelter has room...there aren't any "free animals"....so we seem to miss the ones we can help.

 

[sillyjilly]

It's just so sad that there isn't anyway to mass inform these people!! It just never seems to be enough.

We just have to keep trying though one person at a time!

 

[katiemae1277]

I hear ya Betsy, just from being on this site, my view on the welfare of animals has been expanded so much

its horrible that they are so many people out there who just don't seem to care that millions of animals die every year because they couldn't spend the $75 to get their pet fixed