This has been bothering me for weeks and people I talk to on a regular basis are pretty familiar with this rant, but I'm not sure that you, the internet community, are aware of my feelings on this, so here we go.
I love craigslist. I use it to buy and sell things, give things away and find free stuff. My super fancy Hushamok Baby Hammock? $200 on craigslist. They are $500 new. That's a good deal. And I love the free stuff on craigslist. Both of my dogs came from craigslist. That's how we learned that Rupert, our German Shepherd mix, was about to be murdered. He was 13 weeks old and 300 miles away, but we went and got him and I'm glad we did.
When we chose to adopt both of our dogs, we made a commitment. They are part of our family. So all the craigslist ads that I've been seeing the past few months for free dogs are starting to piss me off. Not all the ads make me angry. Some are sad. Like, "My mom passed and we can't take her dog, looking for a good home" or whatever. The ones that get me are the ones that say things like this:
"Stanley is a brindle colored Olde English Bull Dog. Not neutered. He is house trained and loves to ride in the car. Very friendly loves people, kids, and other dogs. We are moving and having a baby, and don't have the time for him. Rehoming fee will apply to ensure good home. Interested call or text..."
And
"I Got a 3 month old dog 3 months ago. So now he's about 6 months old. Then I found out that my wife and I are pregnant! I love this dog and he had the cutest face! But I just don't have the time to take care of him, the way I want and that he deserves. The new baby is going to take up time and space, so we need a good home from him. He is great around other Dogs and kids! And so young enough to be trained. We call him Jax!"
These are just two examples I pulled from our local craigslist. But here's my take:
Fuck you, people who are getting rid of dogs because you're having a baby. I'm having a baby and do you know what I've been doing? I've been training my dogs. They've grown up around young kids but haven't spent a lot of time with infants and Rupert likes to bark when babies cry, so I've been exposing him to infants so he can get used to it. I walk them with the stroller so I can still socialize my baby to his sorroundings while exercising the dogs. I am trying to make them as prepared as they can be before the baby comes. I've become stricter about jumping. I love that they are excited to see me when I get home from work, but I don't want them jumping on me when I have a baby, so I am training them hardcore not to do that. Our younger dog is a Rottweiler mix. He really likes to put his mouth on things. He has been learning that human bodies are not one of those things, and the lessons have been getting stricter.
I think dogs and kids go together. We want to move out of the country in a few years and were looking at Korea. I found that Korea has a 6 month quarantine period and large dogs are looked at as food over there. So, instead of thinking about how to get rid of my dogs, I started looking at other countries to move to. We made a commitment to our dogs when we adopted them, much like I am making a commitment to this baby. We are a family and, according to Lilo and Stitch, family means no one gets left behind.
I'm curious... what are these people going to do if they choose to have a second child? Or a third? Am I going to start seeing ads on craigslist that say something like, "Toddler: Free to Good Home... My wife and I love this little guy, but with a new baby on the way, we just don't have the time to care for him the way he deserves. He's free to a good home, comes with a food bowl, clothes and a leash!"
Sometimes, I wish it were legal to light people on fire. And not in an encouraging sense.
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