Animals on Freecycle? Discuss...

[SlugLobber]

I have just seen yet another ad on Freecycle, this time offering a 2yr old cat. The family is leaving the country. It breaks my heart to see animals treated as commodities in this way, especially in an age when international transport is available for most pets.

[Bigmallly]

No! No! No!...........How can a cat be a recyclable item.

[pdblake]

Commodities?
I thought freecycle was, well free?

They could have just as easily booted it out of the back door as find it another home.

[Pumpkin Becki]

I can't believe the Freecycle mod let that one on!?! That's terrible!!

[di]

I agree it's rather odd to put it up on Freecycle,but surely it's better they're trying to find a new home for it as opposed to just abandoning it?

At our old house there was a sad lil ginger Tom that had been left to roam the neighbourhood when it's owners had moved & decided they didn't want to take him with them!

[Pumpkin Becki]

I agree it's rather odd to put it up on Freecycle,but surely it's better they're trying to find a new home for it as opposed to just abandoning it?

True, but if someones going to take the time to put an ad on Freecycle, why couldn't they give it to the RSPCA or Rescue Centre for proper rehoming with people who have been checked for suitability?

[OverWyreGrower]

Our Freecycle/Freegle sites won't let animals be advertised at all!

[di]

True, but if someones going to take the time to put an ad on Freecycle, why couldn't they give it to the RSPCA or Rescue Centre for proper rehoming with people who have been checked for suitability?

They'd maybe have to get up off of their bottom to take it there?

[Pumpkin Becki]

They'd maybe have to get up off of their bottom to take it there?

Ahhh..yes, see your point.

[pdblake]

True, but if someones going to take the time to put an ad on Freecycle, why couldn't they give it to the RSPCA or Rescue Centre for proper rehoming with people who have been checked for suitability?

Perhaps they want to meet the new owner or want to know that their pet definately has somewhere to go and doesn't get simply put down after a period of not being re-homed.

[janeyo]

I would get one off freecycle if there was one on there and I was looking for a cat.
Better than dumping it, like an old fridge etc.
And someone has got to take the trouble to answer the ad and then come and pick the cat up so prob a nice person anyway.

[porterlizz]

I think we' have to know the individuals involved tbh.. it may be that they think freecycle is full of the sort of friendly, caring people that they would like their cat to live with. The people that I know who are on freecycle are more likely to meet the criteria I'd want for my cat, than by just putting it on Trade it. I reckon the chances are higher of finding a nice family.

[quark1]

I have 3 cats, 2 dogs and a tortoise. If I were considering a move abroad it would be with the 'whole family' or not at all. If the costs were prohibitive I would have to seriously weigh up the pros and cons of rehoming before a move.

I might consider rehoming a very elderly animal with a trusted friend as a move might finish them off. Even within UK that might apply.

Would I use Freecycle or its hybrids? Probably not. I'd make contact with a good rehoming organisation, preferably local, which had good fostering facilities until new owners could be found if I had to leave the animal on departure. There are some which faithfully promise NEVER to put a healthy animal down, but I do believe that the RSPCA does a have a time-limited policy - please correct me if that is not true.

I would perhaps use a combination of Vets notice boards, rescue orgs, Friday-ad, newsagents windows, any forum I might be a member of (we do battery hens here - not too far removed in the rescue stakes?) and perhaps, reluctantly, as a last resort use the advertising potential of Freecycle etc.

But certainly - whoever were to inherit any of my animals would have to be either trusted by myself from my own knowlege of their care and love of animals or that the organisation would be entrusted to carry out good home checks first.

[SlugLobber]

I think the dumping issue is a separate one. This post isn't about 'should animals go on freecycle or be dumped'. I think both are abhorrent.

My point is, that animals keep appearing on my Freecycle group, with very little about the actual animal (normally just sex, species and age if you're lucky). I doubt very much that homes are vetted at all, as mostly the animal is 'TAKEN' within hours. I've lost count of the number of cats which have appeared and the odd dog appears there, too.

It just makes me sad, that's all. PorterLizz, you do make a valid point that the type of user may mean a higher chance of a nice home. Equally though, an unvetted home may mean that somebody on a whim who 'likes cats' will snap this one up as a freebie, with the 'good homes' getting only the 'TAKEN' message. The time lapse between the ad and TAKEN appearing is sometimes half an hour or less.

It's perfectly possible to put a pet on a rehoming list with a rescue centre, without leaving your front door. In fact, some of them prefer it, as the animal does not then have to go into a pen and take up resources.

Add to that the age of most of these animals (all the ones I've seen have been young, with one exception) and I can't help but feel that the advertisers are treating their animals like a new ipod, getting them on impulse and discarding when they're outdated or an inconvenience.

I just don't understand, as I'd never give up my kitty-poo! I guess my gripe is more with the person discarding their pet in this way, rather than the lucky and hopefully lovely person who takes the cat on.

ETA: Commodity is not only defined as a trade item for sale. It can also mean 'something of value, providing advantage, or use'

[petal]

[QUOTE=quark1;561854]I have 3 cats, 2 dogs and a tortoise. If I were considering a move abroad it would be with the 'whole family' or not at all. If the costs were prohibitive I would have to seriously weigh up the pros and cons of rehoming before a move.

And we didn't move to New Zealand for this very reason- you don't get pets then just dump them - or freecycle them unless necessary of course(like the jack russel we had that kept biting my son)