Craigslist is an outstanding place to post and advertise dogs in need of homes.
Shelters and rescue groups ought to certainly be posting dogs on Craigslist. If they don’t, they’re missing out on a huge market of canine lovers.
Unfortunately, the site has gotten a bad rap lately in the animal rescue world, but there is no proof that animals re-homed through Craigslist are much more likely to go to abusive homes.
It’s another one of those animal rescue myths we’re all too familiar with.
The following are some of my examples on why I believe Craigslist is such a important tool for re-homing dogs. Whether you agree or disagree, I hope you’ll add your thoughts in the comments.
Craigslist helps much more dogs find loving homes.
Whenever I foster a canine or a cat, I always post the animal to Craigslist every other week or so. Why wouldn’t I? It’s totally free publicity, and it gets the animal in front of pet lovers who are already wanting to adopt pets.
The rescue groups have screening processes in place for all adopters, so it shouldn’t matter where the adopters are coming from initially. Craigslist helps get the dogs in front of much more people.
Last week I asked on that Mutt’s Facebook page if any of you use Craigslist to find homes for shelter or rescue animals. Anna Sieh said she advertises all of her foster dogs on Craigslist too because it’s a totally free way to get them noticed.
Makes sense to me!
Craigslist helps people re-home their animals on their own
If we want to stop killing so numerous healthy dogs and cats in U.S. shelters, one step is to avoid animals from entering shelters in the first place.
Since shelters and rescue groups are already stretched to their limits, numerous of them can’t or won’t accept incoming animals from individuals. So, they turn these animals away.
Well, what are people expected to do if they have to re-home their pets?
Thankfully, Craigslist can help match people up with other loving pet owners, allowing them to have an simpler time finding new homes for their pets. This cuts back on the number of dogs and cats that are surrendered to open-admission shelters.
It’s a great resource to find a canine to adopt
When I’m ready to adopt another pet, of course I’m going to be checking Craigslist.
I adopted Ace directly through his previous owner (versus going to a shelter or rescue) and it was a very positive experience for me. I got to meet him, ask a lot of questions, observe his behavior and eventually take home the world’s best canine for free.
See my post on how to get a canine from Craigslist.
A lot of people use Craigslist!
Really, what it comes down to is pretty much everyone reading this post uses Craigslist or other online classified advertising. This is because it’s the fastest and easiest way to get information!
The blog beyond Breed has a well-researched post about re-homing animals on Craigslist, and the post pointed out some facts about Internet users and online classified ads.
For example, the post cited research from the Pew Internet and American Life project that said Craigslist is the most popular classified advertising site in the United States. No surprise there!
The research also said:
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people ages 25 to 44 are the most likely to use online classified ads, but even 48 percent of 45- to 54-year-olds use the ads
56 percent of adults with household incomes of at least $50,000 use online classified ads
54 percent of college graduates use online classified ads
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People are using Craigslist already, and the numbers are going to keep growing. We might as well use this to our advantage when trying to advertise dogs in need of good homes.
Craigslist does not increase the risk of attracting abusive homes.
There is no proof that dogs adopted out through Craigslist are much more likely to go to abusive homes or to homes that will overlook them. If anybody has some research on this topic, please let me know. I think the concept is a complete myth.
Yes, there are a few isolated events that are very sad and unfortunate, and these have of course been blown way out of proportion.
We simply don’t hear about all the fantastic people adopting dogs and cats through Craigslist every day because these stories are boring and ordinary.
I want to hear your stories
I am interested in writing a post featuring people who adopted animals through Craigslist. Please email me at Lindsay@ThatMutt.com if you’d like to share your story.
How do the rest of you feel about Craigslist and using it to attract good homes?
