June 27, 2014

"A Jack Russell terrier that was adopted from the Hawaiian Humane Center appeared in a for sale ad on Craigslist only one hour after the adoption..."

"... an act that Internet posters doggedly flagged, leading to a return of the animal to the shelter."
The Craigslist ad, titled “Jack Russell,” claimed that the dog was five years old, while in fact, Sally Mae is 10. The dog had to be sold because “my boyfriend& I is [sic] too caught up with work since we have 2 jobs each and she needs a family that’ll give her that attention. Please.”...

The ad has been removed but numerous Facebook fans of the shelter took a screenshot and uploaded the ad on Reddit.

35 comments:

MadisonMan said...

Something like this should become ever more easy as face-ID software improves. The Humane Society could scan ads all the time.

Lyle said...

There are plenty of bad people in this world.

campy said...

Doggedness in defense of dogs is no vice.

madAsHell said...

It's really hard to find small dogs at the Humane Society. Pit Bulls are always available.

lemondog said...

Jerks.

Another jerk.......

A 23-year-old soldier deployed in Afghanistan may be getting his dog back after his ex-girlfriend sold it on Craigslist — all thanks to strangers who fought for its return.

Bob R said...

Arbitrage. With a little fraud thrown in.

John said...

So thanks to these people the poor dog went back to the shelter? Isn't selling the dog to a good home better than sending him back to the shelter? I guess people are such economic illiterates and so immersed in Marxist nonsense that they would rather the poor dog die than see him tainted by the unholy touch of profit.

Levi Starks said...

I don't see the problem.
Is the argument that only the shelter is capable of determining the fitness of a prospective owner?
If so then it appears it failed.
Was selling the dog which was legally theirs an act of animal cruelty?
Why does this story have the same feel as "woman tries to sell baby on craigslist"?
Because we have created a special niche for dogs. They are not just" animals, but not quite human.
I expect that someday in the future we will extend special legal rights to dogs not afforded to other animals, like for instance pigs, with which humans also have a special relationship.

ron winkleheimer said...

I find this confusing. Purebred dogs are only valuable if you have their papers.

Without the papers they are no different than any mutt except much more likely to have genetic defects.

So why would I pay $200 dollars to adopt such a dog when I could just go to the shelter?

Hunter said...

My wife and I are involved in the local ASPCA foster program. This is a big no-no and can get an adopter sued, as they will have signed a contract stating among other things that they are not to rehome the dog. If it isn't working out for them, they can return the animal to its foster.

Dogs do get returned fairly often, as many people have unrealistic expectations or don't understand what they are getting into with certain breeds (Jack Russels, for instance).

There are also "professional adopters" who attempt to abuse the system, adopting dogs and then flipping them on CL. These people tend to get found out, typically when the dog shows up at an affiliated vet who knows the dog, exactly where it came from, and with whom it's supposed to be living.

Coconuss Network said...

Been following Hope for Paws--Los Angeles. Breaks my heart that people can be so mean. Hope for Paws is rescuing and is co-partnering with other agencies for medical care, fostering and adoptions. Those people should be fined.

Anonymous said...

Craigslist animal people are psycho about these things.

We had some puppies this last year that we sold on craigslist (Can't sell animals on craigslist but if you call it a "rehoming fee" it's allowed).

The number of emails we got calling us names and accusing us of being dog breeders that mistreat our dogs and operate a "puppy mill" was astounding.

It's like these people patrol craigslist and just toss accusations out there.

We were happy to get the money we got for the puppies, but it wasn't really worth the effort. It's a lot of work taking care of 10 puppies and our dog got sick in the process.

Crunchy Frog said...

As heinous as it sounds, if Hawaii has a policy or history of putting down animals it can't find a home for then this might be the best thing for the little mutt. Unless of course one of Obama's relatives answers the ad...

Peter said...

Yes, but did the seller post photos showing mistreatment of the animal and threaten to sell it for meat, in order to increase bids for it?

m stone said...

This is clearly not a big money operation, even if you turn it with more dogs.

It reflects on the type of people who play games like this and derive some bizarre pleasure from simply playing the game. Like penny-ante gamblers who think they've made a killing when they take the pot.

The woman has a huge flat-screen TV. Guaranteed.

Better for the dog that someone who is willing to pay for him will care.

Unredeemed human nature. Deceit and rebellion.

Bruce Hayden said...

Not sure what the problem was there - this sort of thing is called arbitrage.

Bruce Hayden said...

Maybe my initial response (arbitrage) was colored a bit when I saw that it was a Jack Russel. Never could see the allure of the breed, and the one I know, owned by a good friend, was vicious. Not pit bull vicious, but up there. May make sense with the rats in NYC, but anywhere else? That Jack Russel ultimately went to doggie heaven (or maybe the other place in this case), and was replaced with a Huskie mix. Much better. This one, once it gets to know you, is friendly, not still vicious after 10 years.

lgv said...

Better the dog should live happily ever after at the shelter. Huh? That's not what happens?

It's like not allowing couples to adopt a child of a different race, or not letting gay couples adopt. Better the child stays in an orphanage. I don't think so.

ron winkleheimer said...

"Dogs do get returned fairly often, as many people have unrealistic expectations or don't understand what they are getting into with certain breeds (Jack Russels, for instance)."

I worked with a guy who owned two Jack Russells, they did $4000 worth of damage to his house.

Tore up carpet, chewed through dry wall. They are extremely high energy dogs and if you don't give them an outlet for that energy there is going to be destruction.

Smilin' Jack said...

Just when I was thinking that the human race had hit bottom, that it couldn't possibly sink any lower....

Sigivald said...

So they don't care if the dog gets a home, they just want to make sure that nobody can use money to align a dog with a home that wants it?

Well, aren't they just thoughtful? I'm sure the dog much prefers living in the shelter to being in a home where someone's so desirous of having it they'd pay.

And I'm sure that shelter isn't constrained on space or supplies, right?

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I confess I have no idea what is wrong with this.

ron winkleheimer said...

"Maybe my initial response (arbitrage) was colored a bit when I saw that it was a Jack Russel. Never could see the allure of the breed, and the one I know, owned by a good friend, was vicious."

That generally means that the dog doesn't view the owner as the leader of the pack. With small, aggressive dogs (Jack Russells were bred to go into fox holes and fight the foxes) that means trouble.

I knew another guy who pointed out that if Jack Russells were as big as Pit Bulls they would be illegal.

That said, I have a half Jack Russell that is gentle as a lamb and doesn't destroy my house. I don't know what the other half is, but it really mellowed out the Jack Russell tendencies.

You could not pay me to own a full-bred Jack Russell.

Freeman Hunt said...

What's the problem?

bleh said...

Nice, tidy little scam.

smokeandashes said...

For those that did not bother reading - The dog was returned and adopted by another family. Also, the couple who tried to sell the dog misrepresented the dogs age in their advertisement. I know we all get a little knee-jerk from time to time but really it does help if you read the article before commenting.

smokeandashes said...

For those who didn't read the article: The dog was adopted after it was returned and the advertisement for the dog misrepresented the dogs age. I know that it is easy to knee jerk this stuff but really reading the articles before jumping to conclusion would be helpful.

Freeman Hunt said...

Lying in the ad was wrong. But what's the problem with people adopting and selling dogs?

Ambrose said...

A little canine arbitrage. Not sure I see why returning the dog to the shelter is such a great solution.

Hunter said...

"So they don't care if the dog gets a home, they just want to make sure that nobody can use money to align a dog with a home that wants it?"

These org's do charge adoption fees. That helps them pay for spay/neuter and medical care. The problem is that the org has no idea where a dog is going if someone adopts it to flip on CL. Most likely, the flipper doesn't much care where it goes either, as long as they get cash. Thus the dog may well end up back at the shelter anyway... if not something worse.

To take in a dog, spend money to spay/neuter, deworm, and any other necessary attention, go through the effort to get it adopted out, only to have it flipped for cash to a home where it may be abused or neglected is a waste of time and money. It's easy enough to sell dogs for cash. If the Humane Society or ASPCA wanted to do that they could do it themselves, but that isn't their mission.

ron winkleheimer said...

"Lying in the ad was wrong. But what's the problem with people adopting and selling dogs?"

I checked the website for the humane society and didn't see any requirements for the adopters listed, but well run humane societies have rules about who they will allow to adopt animals so that the animal won't end up back in a cruel situation.

After all, they aren't going to be involved in this sort of thing if they aren't concerned about animal welfare.

And chances are they have seen some horrific things.

I found a video on their site that I urge you not to look at if the site of suffering animals is to upsetting.

Click on this link and then scroll down a little.

http://www.hawaiianhumane.org/Investigations-And-Rescues.html


lemondog said...

This is 10 year old dog. Who knows how many times he has been bounced around. Animals know when they are being handed around like a piece of garbage.

Next door neighbor adopted a small 2-3(?) year old Coton de Tulear found running loose unneutered. We speculate he was used as a puppy mill breeder. He was in poor physical shape and with hair loss. He continues after 3 years to suffer periodic panic attacks. I guess they should have fattened him up and sold him on Craigslist.

Jupiter said...

Dog people seem to be as intelligent as the rest of us, and maybe even slightly more conscientious than average. They just have a built-in deratiocination system, which proactively ensures that any train of thought they may construct involving dogs contains at least one frank non sequitur. The rest of the time, they seem perfectly normal.

paul a'barge said...

It's my personal mission to flag every dog for sale ad on Craigs List. I do it daily, religiously in the Farm and Ranch section.

Flag. Flag now. Flag often. Flag on.

jr565 said...

Not sure what's exactly wrong with this. What does the person buying the dog care whether she got it from a shelter first or whether her cover story was valid.

That sounds like a good business model. Get dog for free from pound then turn around and sell dog for profit.