Classified ads

I didn't know quite where to post this, but the other day I was reading this paper that is made up of classified ads. People sell cars, boats, homes, pets...all kinds of things in this paper. That's where I saw the ad for the sphynx cat that I posted on here (being sold because he bit the owner's daughter! Hmmph!) I've mentioned this to a few people, but above the ad for the sphynx cat is one for a first generation Savannah kitten. I may be wrong, but isn't that kind of a wild animal...pretty much about 1/2 serval? Then I looked across from the cat ads and there were all the animals for sale that (and I don't mean to offend anybody here) people get as "fad" pets. There were sugar gliders (which live about 20 years and require daily attention or else they'll become anti-social and start biting) and pot bellied pigs. I feel so sorry for these poor creatures. I don't have a problem with people owning them if they really love them and take care of them in a properly. But how many people besides us do that? There was even (ick!) a scorpion for $15. (I admit my main concern about him is that he is listed in my area code. He needs to be somewhere far, far away...)

I'm not sure if I'm reading you right or not, so my thoughts may or may not be relevant.

I breed snakes. In doing so, I sell the offspring. My sales are through reptile shows, online, classified ads and wholesale. Most papers have a pets for sale listing. When people reply, I state that they need to be aware of their local by-laws as once the snake leaves my custody it is up to the new owner to make sure it is legal in their municipality, amongst other things.

I did adopt a "fad" animal once.... but I did my research, and 7years later she is still with me and will be with me for hopefully another 15-20yrs.

Yup, some people buy things because they are cool and that's it. Others buy them because they are cool and have done the research on their care and think its a good place to start.

re: posting classified ads....personally I see nothing wrong with it. It is one of the cheaper ways of advertising.

re: variety of animals in classified ads.... again, I see nothing wrong with it. It's about responsibility of the seller, and the buyer that is more important to me.

I would a pot bellied pig....I have heard they make a good pet, plus I think they are cute. BUT, I do not have the means, nor the room to get one. (responsibility on my part) I would HOPE (even though its not always the case) that the seller would inquire if I knew their needs, if I lived in town or country, if they were legal, etc. should I ever respond to an ad for a "fad" type animal.

anyways, that's just my ramblings

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

re: posting classified ads....personally I see nothing wrong with it. It is one of the cheaper ways of advertising.

re: variety of animals in classified ads.... again, I see nothing wrong with it. It's about responsibility of the seller, and the buyer that is more important to me.

Click to expand...

I agree.

The breeders would still be checking out the person who responds, not just sending them an animal same as an email enquiry from a website. It's just a response, not a for certain sale.

I have nothing against responsible breeding and selling, but I know a couple people who bought pot bellied pigs for pets many years ago when they were going for about $800.00. I don't know what happened to one, other than it pooped in the house and they "got rid of it." The other belonged to a rather flightly woman I once worked with. It turned mean and started biting her kids. Pigs are social animals and I believe some of them have issues if they don't have other pigs around. She gave the pig away, it caused chaos in its new home and ended up as "bacon." Not literally I'm sure, but now pot bellied pigs are a lot cheaper and more readily available. In this paper they have the piglets for $30.00. I think if those $800.00 pigs met bad ends, the $30.00 ones don't have much of a chance if they don't measure up to expectations.

What bothers me is all the mutts being sold for hundreds (upon hundreds) of dollars, just because they came up with a cute name for their 'we're too lazy to fix our dog, so there's puppies' litter.