Preloved - another question..

[Honey08]

Out of interest, do you think that getting a dog that is being advertised on Preloved is funding puppy farms and dog fighting??

Someone just suggested that by taking a Preloved dog, this is what I'm doing as it encourages people to get another dog without thinking as they can sell it. They said that I should go to the RSPCA or another rescue, who combat puppy farming and dog fighting.

I have had dogs from rescues (smaller local ones) and do support them still, but I feel as though a dog in a rescue is safe, it has food and shelter, and hopefully a good home in the near future. The ones on Preloved could end up anywhere.. I wouldn't pay more than £30 for a dog off Preloved - I'm offering a good, safe home, not rewarding a numpty, and I wouldn't buy a puppy off there. I just think that not everyone on there is evil. Our cats were off Preloved, and came from a lady who took on the cats that the RSPCA wouldn't take. She said they took the skinny dog from the house, but left the two skinny cats as they had no room. This lady had fed them up, got them neuteured, had their injections done (all out of her own pocket) then put ads up locally as well as Preloved. She didn't just let anyone take them, but vetted us.. She didn't ask for anything, but I did give her a good donation, as I thought she deserved it.

Just wondered what your views were. I was quite shocked when this person said what they said.. If I was just buying a puppy, I could understand it, but I'm going for the 6-9 month olds that were puppies that stupid people bought and decided were too much work..

 

[FreddiesGal]

No I don't think that at all. I think there are a lot of genuine people on Preloved who have simply got themselves into a pickle and are trying to do the right thing and find a good home for the animal.

At the end of the day if they didn't care, they wouldn't bother spending the time putting up pictures and trying to find a home. It would be very easy to just "lose" the dog.

I think it depends entirely on the person.

 

[Honey08]

Phew, thanks!

 

[jodie3]

If you are not buying a puppy from a puppy farm or byb then I can't see how you would be encouraging indiscriminate breeding.

I agree with FreddiesGal, in amongst the numpties there are some people who have got into difficulties and genuinely want a good home for their dog or pet.

One of mine came via a preloved ad - relationship breakup and single Mum with two young children trying to cope with exuberant young dog. Good result as I have a lovely dog and she isn't stressed trying to cope with it.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I personally wouldn't get a dog from any of the free ad sites and I don't have a very high regard for anyone who sells their puppies on them (JMO) but the law of averages says there must be genuine people on there.

There IS a culture now of 'oh I can get a dog, and if it doesn't work out, sell it on X site and I would not be comfortable supporting that aspect of it.
The rate of people moving house, emigrating and downsizing on those sites seems to be much higher than the national average.

Please be aware, if you scan these sites enough (I don't any more, not good for my blood pressure) there are a LOT of wheeler dealers, one scam uses the same sob stories over and over again, people collecting free or very cheap dogs and selling them for a profit, again using the old stories. If you're not paying top whack for it, that shouldn't be an issue but one poster on here has been caught out this way.

 

[piebaldsparkle]

I got my niece's 2x bunnies off Preloved - They were free so I didn't fund anything, and better I rehomed them than them being dumped.

Lettuce

Flapjack

 

[Dobiegirl]

We had this conversation on the Lancashire Heeler forum because a few were being advertised outside the community guidelines and someone suggested(a breeder) that perhaps bone fide breeders should place ads on there so people can be educated. The puppies being advertised were without health tests but the breeders were charging top wack for them so it was thought if health tested puppies were advertised on there for the same price the public would go for the health tested ones and the others would change their ways. The good breeders home testing which they normally do would safeguard the pups going to good homes.

 

[Honey08]

Thats interesting Dobiegirl.

I think its a shame that people avoid the sites completely. Yes there are dodgy adverts, and no I would never buy a puppy from these sites, but there are genuine people on there. As you know, I've been looking at JRTs on there, and most are being offered for about £50, if that. Thats hardly making money out of a dog that you probably paid a lot more for six months earlier. I personally think that they are just people that decide to get a puppy without thinking it through fully, and then thinking "oh heck, what on earth did I do" a few months later when the dog goes into teenage mode. Then they invent stupid "valid reasons for rehoming" like moving abroad etc.. At the end of the day, its giving one dog a home when it needs one..

 

[Dobiegirl]

I must admit I wouldnt be put off from getting a dog from there, wouldnt be comfortable at buying a puppy unless it was from a reputable breeder(see my above post). 2 out of my 4 Dobes have come from private rehomes for free and they were not the sort of people who would have advertised on Preloved. 3 out of the 4 were 18months old when I had them which is precisely the age when they get too much for people who havnt thought it through.

 

[Maisie2]

I've never looked on there as I don't want any more dogs and I'm sure I would find it too heartrending However, my neighbours have recently bought a Llhaso Apso (sp) pup - around 6/7 months old and my daughter has bought a Dalmatian 10/11 months old, both from similar situations i.e young people, working and no time for pups. Both of these dogs now have fantastic homes and are having lovely lives. I see nothing wrong in this as they were bought for less than they would have originally cost so therefore the sellers are not making a profit. However, there is no way that I think people should buy puppies on any of these free mags. because I wouldn't want to put a penny in the pockets of byb.

 

[Faro]

Have re-homed (adult) cats from Pre-loved before and would do so again - if it means that one poor unfortunate has a change in fortune and comes to me for a forever home.

I do think however, that a great majority of people who buy from the ads on Preloved etc. are simply unaware of Puppy Farms and the issues. I was only vaguely aware of such things before I got a dog of my own (as it happened, from Rescue - but that was because it was something I'd always wanted to do). I can honestly say that it previously wouldn't have occurred to me that there is an unscrupulous trade via some of these ads. Even now, I admit to only having formed my opinions on buying puppies from BYBs/puppy farms from what I've learned since taking part in various doggy forums. If I hadn't been on the forums, then I wouldn't have known or thought that by buying a puppy from Preloved I would be encouraging BYBs. And TBH, I don't think it occurs to the majority of "non-forum member" type people who look on there and buy from there either.

What I'm trying to say is that there have got to be more ways of raising awareness of the problems of puppy farms and BYBs over an above discussing it on forums and all agreeing with each other that we are holier than that person who is genuinely unaware and has bought said pup via Preloved. We've got to find other ways of getting the word out there, rather than just discussing it amongst ourselves.

At at the same time, there ARE genuine ads on there too - and for those animals advertised genuinely on there that are fortunate enough to find good homes, then that's fantastic! It's a few less that get dumped/end up in rescue etc. etc.

 

[blackcob]

My Preloved dog came from an 'oh no, have to move house for job, can't take dogs to new rented accommodation'. Six months later the same bloke put up a wanted ad for an akita - he hadn't moved anywhere, he just wanted rid of what was at the time the worst dog in the world.

Of course this one had a happy ending (after several months of sleepless nights, a destroyed house and a relationship on the brink ) but it could have gone very, very wrong. She wasn't neutered; any numpty could have picked her up and used her to produce litter after litter, a crap life for the individual dog and a few dozen more unsuitable dogs flooding the freeads. I came very close to giving up on her, god only knows where she would have ended up if another family took her on and couldn't deal with her.

I still wonder sometimes what happened to the other bitch he was selling at the same time - because she was KC reg and very wolfy looking with blue eyes (unlike the scrawny short coated un-reg brown eyed one I got ) he was asking a lot of money for her. She was still being advertised a few months later and I offered him a couple of hundred just to spring her out of there but he refused, he wanted to make his money back. She too was not neutered and is probably churning out puppies somewhere now.

Very little money changed hands for D (certainly a great deal less than the £850 she'd cost him as a pup!) which is my consolation, it hopefully didn't go far to funding his purchase of another unsuitable status dog.

I did also buy a pair of ducks from Preloved, a local farm shop was advertising pullets, ducklings, hatching eggs etc. for sale, I sent them a message to ask if they had a specific pair of ducks and amazingly they did. Toast and Pâté (aka Daddy Duck and Mummy Duck) now live a life of avian luxury in a huge grassy garden with paddling pool, veg patch, luxury duck house and a diet that includes organic bagged spinach.

(The lump in his throat is a grape, I was bribing him to stay still!)

 

[misterjinglejay]

I've seen it time and time again. Someone sells or gives away an older pup, or adult on preloved; maybe they're moving, having a baby, allergic reaction, etc. Only to see them go out and buy another puppy farmed pup a month later.

 

[HeatherAnn]

I got my pup from preloved for £50.
We applied to a local rescue and they didn't even offer us a home check, even though, IMO we were very good candidates. Makes me think that some rescues are too strict and this might be why people go down an alternative route to get a dog...

 

[EAST KENT]

Not talking really about Preloved,more EPupz,if someone breeds a litter doing all the right tests and stuff..but is`nt a show person or "in the loop" where others will send buyers..how then do they let potential buyers know??Fact is that people in the loop ,showing/working folk,will not send buyers to unknown breeders.This is because if the buyer then does "buy a dud" they may feel partly responsible,silly but true.There are folk out there unaware of the KC help find a puppy service,but they want a particuler breed..so where do they go?The mighty internet of course! No crime in that,and then as in all sales it is up to the breeder to screen out unsuitable homes.
Preloved? Well not all the advertisers can be profiteers surely? If you wanted ,genuinely,to rehome a dog,where do you start? With the dog homes being so picky,rightly ,then how can a genuine home ,willing to adapt their lifestyle,get a dog?Again it is up to the owner to assess them.
We get lots of enquiries for our dogs,quite a fair percentage are screened out after a few questions,but I have learnt to not be too judgemental till I have met them.Some of the most unlikely turn out to be great owners..and by the same token some of the very best and well heeled turn out to be the worst.

 

[Dobiegirl]

Obviously Lancashire Heelers are a rare breed on the vunerable list but if the breeders satisfy all the criteria health testing etc then they are allowed to advertise their puppies on the Lancashire Heeler Community page for free. If you google Lancashire Heeler the Community site comes up so hopefully this will even peoples chances of getting a healthy puppy rather that finding unhealth tested ones on Gumtree and Preloved and the like. As per my previous post I do think some good breeders will put their pups up on Preloved purely to educate people about health testing.

I agree with EK most of the gp dont even consider looking on the KC site for all sorts of reasons, its a shame people dont because they just want a pet and think the KC site is just for showing.