Finding a New Home for Your Pet on Craigslist

When I first found out my cat was going to have kittens I was horrified. Don't get me wrong, I love kittens as much as everyone, but I knew I couldn't keep them. My first thought was to list them the in classified section of a local newspaper. I contacted my local paper to get more information on listing a classified ad, only to find out I wasn't going to be able to afford it. I wasn't selling the kittens for profit, so I would have to pay out of pocket for an ad. That's when I started searching the Internet looking for a place to post my free kittens, for free. I found craigslist, which is a free site in which allows you to buy, and sell without spending a dime.

Posting the ad was easier then I thought. Within minutes I had a local ad on the Internet, being viewed by thousands. My ad was simple, I briefly described what the kittens looked like, added a few pictures, and stated "free to good home". The next day I checked my mail, just to see if anyone was interested. I was shocked to see that I have almost twenty responses. I read them in order, sorting though the people I believed could give a kitten a good home. Not to be judgmental, but some of the replies was from children, or people wanting me to drive the kitten to them across the state. In the first day I ended up with twelve or so seemingly responsible replies. And that's where I was mistaken.

Adoptive Parents To Be:

1) The person said in their response that they had one cat, and thought a kitten would keep it company. When I called her that afternoon to arrange pick up, I found out she already owned eleven cats.

2) The second person on my list I called had already sold the kitten she had asked for, and became angry when I refused to give it to her. This lady actually copied and pasted the photo of the kitten and sold it on another website for a $25.00 adoption fee. Originally she had said that the kitten was a gift for her kids. But, when I had to postpone the pick up time, she told me how she had adopted the kitten out to another family, and she had to have the kitten by a certain time that afternoon for them to pick it up.

3) Another person got me confused with someone else, and when I called her she asked me which kitten was I interested in adopting.

At this point I realized how ridiculous the who situation was getting. Come to find out, several people get "free to good home" animals, just to resell, or adopt out for profit. It is amazing what some people will do for a quick dollar these days. So I canceled that ad on craigslist, and posted another one. My new ad have the same information as the old one, except now I was asking a $50.00 adoption fee. Needless to say I only got a total of six replies in three days, but I found all three kittens great homes.

What did I do with the money? Well, all three of the new owners brought their kids with them to pick up the kittens. Needless to say it was love at first sight, and they each paid me the $50.00 adoption fee. Then I would walk them to there car, and hand them the money back. I asked them to put the money toward buying things that the kitten would need, and vet care. All three new families looked surprised, but at least I new the kittens was going to homes that actually wanted them. As for craigslist, I don't blame the website at all, only the people who abuse a good thing. For those looking to give away an animal, please ask and adoption fee even if you don't keep it. It really does help weed through the bad seeds.