Craigslist: The latest place bad pet owners are dumping their animals.
Some irresponsible pet owners have found a new place to dump their unwanted animals:
Craigslist.
Rescue groups are starting to monitor the popular site, which allows people in 450 cities to post classified advertisements for merchandise and jobs, as they’ve been noticing ads for “free” dogs, often purebreds.
Then it turns out these animals are very old, or very sick, or both.
“It’s really sad for these senior dogs,” said Stacy Narcisse, a Fort Lauderdale volunteer with Get A Life Pet Rescue, which specializes in small dogs. “Sometimes, we call about them and whoever posted the ad won’t call us back. You wonder whatever happened to the poor dog.”
Mack, a volunteer with Florida Dachshund Rescue, a few weeks ago told SSS! about Mollie, a “free” dachshund he found on Craigslist. When he went to see her, Mack discovered Mollie had a golf ball-sized cancerous tumor on her face, plus a heart condition.
Here is an update on Mollie from Mack:
Mollie is doing fairly well. After consultation with an oncologist and a cardiologist at the Animal Medical Center Cooper City, we have determined that Mollie will not be a candidate for surgery. Her heart is too badly damaged to allow for anesthesia and surgery on tumor.
So, we are keeping her comfortable on meds, a cocktail of six different meds -- including Lasix for her heart and a chemotherapy drug to try to stop or even reduce the growth of the tumor.
Mollie is a very happy girl most of the time and so friendly -- housebroken -- everything you'd want in a family pet. But realistically she doesn't have many months to live. The meds initially made her sick, so we are watching that and made some adjustments. As long as she is happy and free of pain, we will keep Mollie as a permanent foster and take care of her needs. She will not be adopted out.
ANGIE BRENNAN, a Sun-Sentinel page designer,
lives with four dogs and one boyfriend. And has a lifetime of animal stories to share.
DIANE LADE, a reporter on the Sun-Sentinel's Help Team, has lived with cats, dogs, reptiles, fish, an iguana, and an armadillo.
CYNDI METZGER, editor of the Sun-Sentinel's Outlook section, is smitten with Bella, her poodle who regularly ignores requests to sit, stay and get off the ivory-colored sofa. 
JOHN TANASYCHUK, a Sun-Sentinel lifestyle writer, has lived with cats as long as he can remember. He and his partner currently share their home with three.
Comments
One correction about Mollie: The previous owner did attempt to have the tumor treated. His vet did surgery to remove what was visible but told the owner that given the location, the mass would return. And it did. What was not done, apparently, was treat the heart condition, which is now so bad that further surgery to remove the tumor is impossible (because anesthesia would likely send the dog into cardiac arrest).
Posted by: Mack | October 2, 2008 4:53 PM
My bad, Mack. Sorry.
I corrected the post. Thanks for the additional info.
Diane Lade
Posted by: Diane Lade | October 2, 2008 5:04 PM