Free to a Good Home?

It sounds like a great idea on the surface. And it may, somehow, seem un-American to protest the practice.

But think for a moment, as I have many times, about what happens next.

First, who wants "free to a good home" pets? Will they go to a "good home"? Will they go to a family who can afford to and will provide them with a lifetime of good quality food and preventive medical care? It takes more than love these days for a pet to live a full and happy life. It takes money, too, and the willingness to let go of some to provide for this "free" pet's needs.

If someone is looking for a free pet, do they have the financial resources needed to provide the "good home" the advertiser seeks? Or are they already so short on money that there is none left for either a purchase or good care?

And if the new owner doesn't pay a little something for a pet, will it have the same "value" to that owner as a pet that is purchased?

Why are these pets free, anyway? Hasn't the original owner spent any money on a postpartum checkup for the mother and the litter?

By 2-3 weeks of age the litter should have had at least a second checkup at the doctor's office.

By 6 weeks, which is the earliest a puppy should be separated from the dam, the first vaccinations should have been given by the veterinarian.

So, with these 3 doctor visits paid for, isn't the original owner entitled to remuneration for his investment? Of course. So if these babies are free, does that mean the that the owner is well off financially and not in need of repayment, or that the litter has had no preventive care?

It's a question that should be asked. And it should be asked before you take the new little one home, and it gets sick and breaks your family's heart, or causes illness in another of your pets.

Experience has shown that, if you must allow your pet to have a litter before it is spayed, that the offspring will find much better homes if they have appropriate preventive care before leaving the mother, and that you are reimbursed for that care. With a healthy litter of 5 pups, you may have $25 invested in each one after the 6-weeks visit. Charge just what your food and doctor bills are to each pup's new owner. The purchase will have greater meaning to the adopting family, the pups will have a healthy start on their new lives, and you can apply the money you collect to a fund for a spay for the mother.

When I really cringe, though, is when I see that the "FREE TO A GOOD HOME" sign is printed on a painted board on a stake driven into the front yard. That's a dead giveaway that the litter you're seeing today is not the first or the last to come from this home. It's evidence that there have been dozens of contributions to pet overpopulation originating from this home.

And therefore this was not a good home.