Ugh! Craigslist

zao_cat

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My shelter was having problems with someone taking our animals off Petfinder.com and placing them on craigslist. I have no problem with Craigslist but it doesn't exactly attract the kind of adopter's we are looking for. I thought it was just us until I was on the forums at Petfinder and another shelter is having similar problems.

http://forums.petfinder.com/viewtopic.php?t=148080

Is anyone else having problems with this. I know it's all public domain but I'm the one who took the pictures and posted them and I feel like they have no right. I really don't want to be affiliated with Craigslist at all.

It's really a catch 22. I do work at a kill shelter and if an animal has been here for a long time we will put on their page that their time is running (and sometimes that's not true) it just brings in more people to adopt. When we say that on Petfinder this person puts in on Craigslist and says that they are on their way to the gas chamber. Ughh! So now I don't want to put them listed as urgent but then again I want people to notice them and want to help them out!

What should I do?
 

cadielovescats

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This is a really hard question. Sometimes Craigslist doesnt attrack the best of people but you have to realize that some people (like me) visit craigslist everyday to see whats being put out there. I know you want to save every cat possible... thats how i feel but sometimes if you have these cats spay and neutered you can only hope that the people who adopt them will take care of them. If they are going to be put to sleep then a home may be better then this option. I dont think you should be too worried. Just make sure to ask people where they saw the cat and do a really good background check. Think positive... saving a life is saving a life! Keep it up!
Cadie of the Kat Connection, Long Island NY
 

persi & alley

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Originally Posted by CadielovesCats

This is a really hard question. Sometimes Craigslist doesnt attrack the best of people but you have to realize that some people (like me) visit craigslist everyday to see whats being put out there.
That IS the catch 22 because millions of people see Craiglist every day, much more than the vast majority of other sites.
 

iluvdevons

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What a bizarre situation!! Can shelters find out who these individuals are that are posting on CL?
 

jen

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It does suck because the people posting ARE just trying to help. They really shouldn't be, if they want to help so badly, they need to volunteer at the shelters or something else. It is hard to ask people to stop if they see what they are doing as being helpful. Maybe just email them if you see a posting with pictures that you took. Then again, they are probably just going to accuse you of not caring to find these animals homes and take offense and maybe even go as far as to badmouth the rescue. I don't know what to tell you. I think I would just let it go.
 

yayas_mom

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We advertise all of our foster cats/kittens on CL and have had a lot of success. Look at it as free publicity - thank the person publicly for doing, but ask them *politely* to please follow a few guidelines.
The ads should look professional, link to the adoption fees and requirements, or have them clearly stated in the ad.
Our ads tell people where to come, when to be there, and what is expected of them. We've found homes for lots of our kitties that way.
Just remember that your adoption application and screeners should be the ones weeding out the "Less than desirable" adopters rather than picking and choosing where to advertise.


Originally Posted by zao_cat

My shelter was having problems with someone taking our animals off Petfinder.com and placing them on craigslist. I have no problem with Craigslist but it doesn't exactly attract the kind of adopter's we are looking for. I thought it was just us until I was on the forums at Petfinder and another shelter is having similar problems.

http://forums.petfinder.com/viewtopic.php?t=148080

Is anyone else having problems with this. I know it's all public domain but I'm the one who took the pictures and posted them and I feel like they have no right. I really don't want to be affiliated with Craigslist at all.

It's really a catch 22. I do work at a kill shelter and if an animal has been here for a long time we will put on their page that their time is running (and sometimes that's not true) it just brings in more people to adopt. When we say that on Petfinder this person puts in on Craigslist and says that they are on their way to the gas chamber. Ughh! So now I don't want to put them listed as urgent but then again I want people to notice them and want to help them out!

What should I do?
 

hurdyburdy

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I see the ads on craigslist all the time.. I'd always assumed that it was someone affiliated with the shelter posting.
 

kcwm

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We picked up our torti kitten yesterday because of a CL ad. I wasn't even aware of petfinder.com until I was on the way to pick her up and I called my friend who works with animals.

My fiancÃ[emoji]169[/emoji]e has been looking at kittens/cats on craigslist for a while and it was the first place I thought to look.

So, when someone said that they are, potentially of course, doing you a favor. I very well could be a case exactly like that...taken from petfinder and placed on craigslist.

Not all craiglisters are bad. I've actually met some really cool individuals off of there...musicians rather than pet owners. That's apples and oranges. Nevermind.
 

sakura

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I don't have advice but I just saw a posting on Craigslist about someone doing something similar. They have 2 cats for adoption on craigslist that they say came from the humane society for the only purpose of finding them a home and not leaving them in the shelter. This person *isn't* affiliated with the shelter, so she is probably lied to the humane society during the adoption interview about what her plans were. Otherwise they would have had her sign up to be a foster home, ya' know? It's a little different because they are actually taking them from the shelter.

I don't have a problem with craigslist on its face, but the people trying to re-home their own cats or looking for cats on there are not always the most informed or the best home. Craigslist can be a very good thing, and sometimes I see the humane society putting pictures up of dogs that urgently need homes. The difference is that the potential adopter would still have to come to the humane society to be screened/interviewed, it's not a free-for-all.

I once saw a person say that they were looking for a Scottish Fold cat on craigslist. I contacted them through e-mail and pointed them to a beautiful Scottish Fold cat that was on petfinder at a local rescue place. I don't know if they ever adopted the cat, but at least they were pointed to petfinder. Not everyone knows about petfinder. They would still have to be screened by the rescue group if they wanted that cat.
 

lunasmom

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I wouldn't weigh CL vs. PF...both attract people that are from the internet.

I see this often in CL: Post a message to CL readers that you are from such-and-such society "...and that no one from your org has been posting in CL, so the ads posted are not regulated by your staff so information given in the ad may not be accurate. We are unaware of who this person is, and as much as we appreciate their efforts would prefer for them to come down and fill out an application to volunteer... etc....
 

vik

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Why not advertise PetFinder on Craigslist? Direct people looking for pets to your website.
 
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