A friend of mine told me a couple of weeks ago that someone she works with just adopted a bichon - for free - off of craigslist. I understand that the owners were trying to give their dog a better life, but they failed miserably and I can only hope that the dog winds up in a reputable rescue soon. (I've already emailed my friend the link for someone I know locally.)

1) A (the coworker), doesn't like dogs, especially "frou-frou" dogs. But his son B is allergic to dogs and they know he tolerates bichons.

2) A is divorced and only has 50/50 custody of the kids, the only reason he even considered getting a dog. The ex does NOT want a dog in her house.

3) A's sons, B and C, have severe emotional issues. B also has epilepsy and C, the only one who wanted the dog, was hospitalized for a psychotic episode just after they got the dog. These things don't automatically exclude a family from rescue, but when you take everything else into consideration...

4) A also has mental/emotional issues and can rarely get himself to work on a regular basis. (Job is very flexible - lucky for him. Not so lucky for my friend who has to pick up his slack, but that's a totally different issue.)

5) A had no intention of even buying a collar for the "damn, stupid furball", let alone doing any training, until my friend mentioned that both walking and training classes could be a good way to meet women.

6) A has no prior dog experience. He can't understand why the dog's previous owners lied about the dog being house trained. My friend explained that if the dog hasn't been outside in over 12 hours, it isn't the dog's fault that he's messing up the house.

So basically this dog went from a home where it was pretty much loved and well cared for, but alone a lot due to a job change, to a home where it is probably fed every day. If A remembers. It is ignored at least half the time, so it is emotionally and mentally neglected.

If the well-meaning original owners had just called a vet reference, a personal reference, or even done a home visit to meet A and his kids, the dog wouldn't be in this rotten situation. So now my friend is doing what she can to help the dog vicariously (thankfully A has no qualms dumping his dog off on the "girls" at the office, so he gets a little attention when A shows up for work). I would not call this a successful placement by any stretch of the imagination.

Feel free to share this with anyone you know who may benefit from it. Hopefully this dog will be in a better situation soon - as soon as A gets tired of stepping in dog pee.

I'd like to lock A up in a house with no toilet for 12 hours and see how he likes it....what a jerk.

You get rid of old cars and junk on those sites. Not critters! Ruffysdad

i HATE that so many people get away with posting animals on craigslist! it's prohibited to give them away for free, but unless somebody is diligently flagging those posts, a lot will get through like this. even the ones that are being "given away to a good home for a nominal fee" get to me - it's worse than the classifieds, because at least you have to pay a fee to advertise in your newspaper. and with freecycle, you'd think the moderators would pay attention when they screen the messages.

at least for me, craigslist is helping me get rid of a lot of our junk/clutter, but i've been seen those posts, and flagging as much as i can lately!

My boss occasionally has rescue bulldogs, which she rescues privately not through the official rescue. And she puts them up on craigslist. And then she is surprised at how many "weirdos and freaks" respond to the ad.

I don't comment when she tells these stories.

The best part is that her friend has unknowingly flagged her listings and then told her about it the next day.

That is so sad. Poor little dog.