How to Address "Free To A Good Home" Ads in Your Community

[tnr1]

How to Address "Free To A Good Home" Ads in Your Community

It is absolutely, without a doubt, imperative that you address the SOURCE of unwanted litters in your community, regardless of how many animals you rescue. Ignoring the source is the fatal error that is a direct cause of animals dying in your community. You will NEVER be able to rescue as many animals as are being bred if you ignore the "Free to a good home" advertisements. NEVER. It is no lie that they can breed far quicker than you can adopt. Period.

If you donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t believe me I want you to do me a favor. Go to the kitchen and take out as many pots, pans, bowls, glasses & cups as you can find. Place them strategically around the kitchen. Put the stopper in the sink drain and turn the faucet on full blast. (Once the faucet is on, you can not turn it off or down.) Now start bailing the water out of the sink. Let me know when you are able to catch up. Each drop of water is a litter. The "FREE" ads are the faucet. The pots, pans, bowls, glasses & cups are all rescue groups, and the sink is the "pound." You are the vessel that is bailing them out.

We canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t work much harder at this folks, so itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s become very apparent that we must work a hell of a lot smarter.

What follows is a series of ideas and attitudes that can help you address the most serious contributing source of unwanted litters. In my personal experience (having made lots of calls) the greatest "trick" is to remember how important it is to focus. If you can control your focus, remain unpretentious (not "holier than thou") and non-confrontational, you will experience great success encouraging people not to let their pets breed.

http://www.ahimsatx.org/nnl/docs/HowTo.htm

 

[sunnicat]

There are five of those ads in my local paper today. Wow.

 

[tnr1]

Originally Posted by sunnicat

There are five of those ads in my local paper today. Wow.

Sunnicat...did you read about her suggestions....perhaps you can help these 5 people.

Katie

 

[beckiboo]

What a totally disturbing site! Lots of great ideas, but the info about pets and horses being consumed overseas is quite awful!

The pointers about encouraging the end to unwanted litters is great.

 

[sunnicat]

Originally Posted by TNR1

Sunnicat...did you read about her suggestions....perhaps you can help these 5 people.

Katie

Katie,
I called all five ads today, after reading those suggestions. It just nagged at me until I decided to pick up the phone.
Two of the numbers were women who place animals for people who need help. One was just a kind soul who has a reputation for doing this within her church. The other decided two years ago that she was going to step up and do something about all the unwanted kittens in ner neighborhood. We chatted about the need to educate such people on the importance of spaying and neutering. I informed them that there is a new spay/neuter clinic opening very soon in our local area. I also gave them several phone numbers for contacts within the feral cat program in our area.
One of the numbers had already given away the three 12-week old kittens in her possession. They were her cat's most recent litter. Again, I informed her of the spay/neuter clinic and the Animal Protective League's low cost program for the surgeries. She was very receptive and promised to check it out within the week.
There was no answer at another number. I'll try back tomorrow.
The final number I called was a tough one. She has seven 8-week kittens, as well as another pregnant cat in her home. I asked if she would consider spaying her two cats, but she was unreceptive to any of my suggestions. All she was concerned with was getting rid of those kittens. I gave her the phone number for the shelter in Springfield, and offered to help her locate homes for the babies. "I've done this before, I can manage," was her response. I gently suggested that she call the APL about spaying again and thanked her for her time.
Hopefully, some of these people will take my calls into consideration. At least I know I tried something.
Thanks for posting this information, Katie.

Ronda

 

[tnr1]

Originally Posted by sunnicat

Katie,
I called all five ads today, after reading those suggestions. It just nagged at me until I decided to pick up the phone.
Two of the numbers were women who place animals for people who need help. One was just a kind soul who has a reputation for doing this within her church. The other decided two years ago that she was going to step up and do something about all the unwanted kittens in ner neighborhood. We chatted about the need to educate such people on the importance of spaying and neutering. I informed them that there is a new spay/neuter clinic opening very soon in our local area. I also gave them several phone numbers for contacts within the feral cat program in our area.
One of the numbers had already given away the three 12-week old kittens in her possession. They were her cat's most recent litter. Again, I informed her of the spay/neuter clinic and the Animal Protective League's low cost program for the surgeries. She was very receptive and promised to check it out within the week.
There was no answer at another number. I'll try back tomorrow.
The final number I called was a tough one. She has seven 8-week kittens, as well as another pregnant cat in her home. I asked if she would consider spaying her two cats, but she was unreceptive to any of my suggestions. All she was concerned with was getting rid of those kittens. I gave her the phone number for the shelter in Springfield, and offered to help her locate homes for the babies. "I've done this before, I can manage," was her response. I gently suggested that she call the APL about spaying again and thanked her for her time.
Hopefully, some of these people will take my calls into consideration. At least I know I tried something.
Thanks for posting this information, Katie.

Ronda

Ronda....sounds like you did an amazing job.

As for the woman with the kittens to be placed....perhaps you can arrange for the rescue to take the kittens off her hands....that way 7 kittens would at least be placed by the rescue and would not have a chance to reproduce. Perhaps if you help her in this manner..she would be more receptive to spay her momma cat. By the way...thank you sooo much for calling. So many people see these ads and do nothing.

Katie

 

[middletown]

In addition, after you have spoken to the owners looking for homes and addressed the Neuter/spay issues....

Call your local paper speak with the editor of the classifieds. Each state has different laws on how these ads can be handled. In NY you have to be a registered breeder to post an ad regarding more than 9 animals in a single year.

Many papers do not keep track of this, as they want the revenues. If you kindly point out that you are keeping track of this and plan to inform the proper athorities, they will suddenly find interest in keeping better track of who posts these types of ads.