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The hidden costs of free pets

           Craig’s List is the online equivalent of that dish of M&M’s on your desk: instantly available and instantly addictive. Like the chocolate junkie who is shocked to discovered that he’s downed half a bag, a Craig’s List browser will absentmindedly while away her time scanning through the seemingly infinite array of classes, events, goods, and services offered on www.craigslist.org. The site is a communal effort, in which posters offer anything from concert tickets to furniture, art supplies to car parts. Then there are the personal ads, which range from the hey-it-might-be-worth-it-to-reply earnest to the oh-my-god-I-can’t-believe-there’s-someone-really-into-that pornographic. The site has a section to meet every desire possible, including the desire to love and be loved by a pet.

            Under “community” there is a section for “pets”. A quick click will yield a seemingly infinite array of options. Truly a buyer’s and seller’s market for dogs, cats, small animals, and even exotic creatures like doves, turtles, and pot-bellied pigs. Yet unlike the animal “biographies” offered on many shelter websites, these posts are immediate, raw. Mostly because the owners themselves write the posts, and what they write often reveals far more than whether Skippy the poodle can be trusted with cats or small children.

            An ad attempting to re-home a mixed-breed:   

            “He is a very GOOD dog, especially if you plan to spend time with him…We have started a new family and have outgrown our living space. We'll also be moving within the next week or two and it would be easier if we could find a nice home for him before then as there just isn't room for him, even in our new home.”

            “Moving” “No room” “New baby” and “Allergic boyfriend” seem to be the most common phrases in owner give-ups.     These superficial reasons are enough to provoke even the most mild-mannered of animal lovers, especially given the blasé tone struck by these writers. Take one new ad for a free cat on Baltimore Craig’s List: “this is a male cat about 3 years old, looking for a nice house. if you are interested email me back.” Below this text is a grainy photo of a young cat struck wide-eyed from the flash, or perhaps from a secret intuition that his life now hinges on a single sentence.

            Judging these posters as bad owners is easy, but sometimes not fair. For selfish idiots who fails to realize that pet ownership involves actual work, there is a loving pet parent who is compelled by their circumstances to make the hardest decision. As a number of recent ads attest, the dire straights of the economy are forcing people out of their homes. Johnny C., a man who posted an ad for his Maine Coon cat, was devastated by the decision, but felt that he had no choice. Johnny lost his job in the middle of December, and, unable to make the rent of his Charles Village apartment, was forced to move in with a brother who is allergic. “Besides,” Johnny writes, “if I couldn’t afford to feed myself, I couldn’t afford to feed my cat.”

            Though Craig’s List removes posts written by breeders demanding a fee for their custom pups, the site does allow posters to charge a rehoming fee (which is on par with most reputable shelters). Still, many seem so desperate to find new homes for their pets that they forego any fees. For some owners, both former and soon-to-be, this is a win-win proposition. Alison Merschoff found her sleek black beauty of a cat, Maybe, from a “free cat to good home” on Craig’s List. For financial reasons, Maybe’s former owner had to move in with a boyfriend who was violently allergic to cats. Maybe lucked into a compassionate owner who lets her roam a five-story Victorian townhouse, feeds her top-of-the-line kibble, and lavishes her with belly rubs. Alison lucked into a healthy, affectionate cat that came to her up-to-date on all shots and spayed.

            However, giving or getting a free pet can be dangerous for human and animal alike. The peril for animals is articulated, unwittingly, by a man attempting to give away a Pitbull puppy: “!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NO DOG FIGHTERS PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Within the Craig’s List community, the free pet posts have generated heated debate, with self-described “animal activists” imploring owners to consider the risks posed by hoarders, “bunchers”, dog fighters, and plain old sadists. Bunchers are individuals who collect animals to sell to laboratories.

Aleta, a rescue worker helping a friend place his cat for adoption, says that the majority of responses to her Craig’s List ad were disheartening: “ I got a lot of one-line responses, just ‘I want to see your cat’, or ‘when can I pick him up?’ It was really scary because when I mentioned the adoption fee, or asked them more about themselves, they suddenly stopped emailing me. It frightens me to think what their intent might have been.” Johnny C., the man who gave up his Maine Coon, echoes her sentiment; he feels that charging a rehoming fee ensured that only serious cat lovers contacted him. He reasons that if he invested the money to get his cat adoptable (i.e. vaccinated and neutered), he ought to be reimbursed.

            Johnny C. is one of the more responsible former owners who’ve posted on Craig’s List. Some adopters find that their new friend, who was advertised as “a GOOD dog” turns out to have serious aggression issues, or that the cat who was “up-to-date on all his shots” has feline leukemia. Mary J., who adopted a mixed-breed puppy after his owners gave him up because of “allergies”, soon discovered her new friend hadn’t been potty-trained. “This dog was almost a year old,” she says, “and these people must’ve done nothing, because I hadn’t even had him in the house for a night, and yeah, it wasn’t pleasant…I wanted an older dog because I didn’t want to have to deal with potty-training. I mean, you start that on day one with a dog. I worked through it, but it makes me so mad to think that these people were just passing on a dog they knew had a problem.” Mary J.’s “free dog” ended up costing her several hundred dollars in carpet cleaning expenses.