Why don't you do what a lot of other animal rescue workers are doing? They would take all the pups and then place ads and find good homes for them. They would also take the mother and have her spayed so it doesn't happen again.
If that's not possible you can contact the placer of the ad and ask if you could help with the placement. Simply return calls to people who are interested in the pups and screen them to make sure they are responsible people interested in giving a good home to the animals. Maybe the placer of the ad doesn't realize the danger he/she is putting the animals in by simply giving them away to anyone who wants them. Tell him/her how to screen calls for good homes.

You can also contact a vet and have all the puppies spayed and neutered before they are adopted out so that unwanted puppies don't happen again in the future.

This is all just a suggestion, but if it's really bothering you these are some of the things that you can do to ensure the pups get a good home.

Thanks lovetogarden,
That's what I would've done a year ago. Today, I don't know anyone here and am no longer affiliated with any rescues. I can't take any pups in myself for a variety of reasons. There is a (seems like a reputable rescue) about 30 miles south of where the pups are. I think the best I can do is make them aware of the situation if it's not too late.
As far as contacting the stupid person directly, well I'm not good at that. I tend to just make people angry when I start talking about spaying and neutering and the dangers of giving away animals for free. I think it's because they just don't care. They just want rid of them. If I was able to care for them, I'd just go pick them up, but without the mother getting spayed it would only perpetuate the problem anyway. The "oh well, someone will take them" mentality. I used to answer ads and agree to take and find homes for litters of kittens on the condition the mom be spayed. Sadly no takers and the people would act all offended. Some people just don't care and they see nothing wrong with having litter after litter and giving them away.

We have a morning radio show here where people can call in to buy and sell things.Yesterday I was listening when a lady called in giving away 4 puppies.She said she wasn't having any luck and was going to take them to the Wal-Mart parking lot later in the day if anyone was interested.I was dialing the station number to suggest that she have her female spayed so she wouldn't have any more unwanted puppies when another lady called and said it! I wonder if she ever found home for them and if not what she will do with them.

I don't get it.
What's so disturbing about this ad?

I don't know how long it takes to conceive puppies but if a femal gsd is minding her own business in her yard and the owner turns their head for 5 minutes, wouldn't the damage be done by then? Not everyone wants to spay or neuter or they want to wait to a certain age to do so. It's not like this is a puppy mill scenario and for all we know the owner has spayed the btch by now.

I am with Quirky, I am not sure what is "disgusting" about this ad. Can you please explain what is wrong with this?

I mean...it's not like they are charging $2500 for the puppies and calling them designer dogs. Now that would be disgusting!

I don't think the ad is disgusting ,either. I give her credit for trying to find homes for them instead of abandoning them. She's making the best of a bad situatuion and sometimes a little humor can go a long way.

You dont think saying "take one or take all" is disgusting? We're not talking bags of clothes here. She didn't even ask for GOOD HOMES. And yes, I think giving animals away for free to anyone who comes along is disgusting.
To top it off she can't even spell Shepherd, let alone keep her in heat female confined so she won't have an accidental litter. Irresponsible is all I gotta say. Now she just wants to dump the pups on anyone who'll take them.

How do you know it's a "she"?

She included her name and it was a woman's name. I just didn't post it.

Well call her up and give her (or him) a piece of your mind.
The take all part is a bad choice of words, I have to agree that sounds pretty bad but far from the most disturbing. It could be appealing to dog fighters. It wouldn't be hard for a determined party to collect dozens of free puppies in any given weekend. Not debating the dog owner was irresponsible here just that I've seen worse ads.

There's really no reason for me to call. I can't help her at this time with anything. I would only be "giving her a piece of my mind" like you said. That would serve no good purpose. Beside they were more than likely picked up by a buncher or worse by now.
Oh and $2500 designer dogs are not likely to end up in the hands of someone looking for bait for their fighting dogs. I'd be less worried about the pups if she would have advertised "Rare breed, fence jumper and German Shepherd pups" $25 each to good homes only." That's just my opinion. If some of you think it's fine and dandy to advertise animals for free, you're entitled to your opinion.

On Craigs List you will see much worse ads, then that one. For example, there was one that said, "Hate Orange Cats? So do I, you can have this one and take the litter box with you."

Yeah didn't someone mention a freecycling message about dogs too not long ago?
Beanne, my point was you can get free dogs from animal shelters without too rigorous of a screening also. This person is just more trusting in the 3 lines of copy that was allotted... to which I might ad they probably paid money to advertise the puppies instead of just calling up animal control and saying there's a stray dog in my backyard with a bunch of puppies, come and get them.

Paying $2500 doesn't guarantee a responsible owner even if it means it won't be a dogfighter.

On Craigs List you will see much worse ads, then that one. For example, there was one that said, "Hate Orange Cats? So do I, you can have this one and take the litter box with you."
................................................................Oh Yuk! Think I'll stay away from reading on Craigs list.

If you can't manage to recognize or control a dog in heat, maybe you shouldn't plan on breeding her.

& if she accidentally mates, you can take her to the vet for a morning-after injection.

"Take one or all" says it all:
I don't care what you do to/with 'em, just get 'em out of my life.

Don't know if they still do it, but owners of large snakes used to answer free kittens/free puppies ads to save their pet food dollar, & people who sell animals to laboratories used to get inventory the same way.

I once saw an ad in the Dallas newspaper that said something like "I need puppies & kittens for good homes in Oklahoma, will take whole litters."

I called a rescue & asked if this sounded legitimate (are there no shelters in the state of Oklahoma???).

The rescue lady called the number & said she had a litter of 9 Rottweiler mix puppies, but she wanted to be sure that they were to go to good homes, so she wanted to know a little about the 'adoption service' that this person operated.

The ad-poster said that she was a disabled person who placed puppies & kittens in good homes & "asked for donations" from the adoptors.

When she heard that there was a litter of 9, she got very animated, very eager, & asked when she could get one of her contacts in Texas to pick them up.

When the rescue lady called the newspaper & asked them to check it out, that she thought the ad might have been placed by a laboratory procurer, they pulled the ad.

It sounds like the woman is frusterated. Maybe she has a champion showdog and her stupid neighbor's dog impregnated it. It sounds like she was the responsible one and she is upset that she has to pay to keep her dog healthy throughout a mistake pregnancy and place this ad because of someone else's stupid mistake.
She may have also not known the dog was pregnant for a while. Maybe she just knows that her dog is ONLY allowed in her fenced yard and the dog never got out, so some other dog must have gotten in.
At least she is making an attempt to adopt them out instead of putting them in a bag and throwing them out her car window!
Thing is, we don't know the entire story. However I can think of a million reasons why she wouldn't have her dog spayed and why she is most likely frusterated with the entire ordeal.
-renee

renee, You're a kinder person than me at least kinder to the owner.
If this is a champion show dog she could at least learn how to spell her champion dogs breed.
She should also know that a fence is not security from a determined male when a dog is in heat. I've heard of dogs breeding through a fence. Where there is a will there is a way.
And in my opinion she was not attempting to adopt them out. She was attempting to get rid of them and didn't care who took them.
Giving away animals for free to any Tom, Dick or Harry is dangerous. Not all people will have the puppies best interest at heart. Luckily I think that breed would be too large for snake food, but would probably be perfect for giving fighting pit bulls the taste of blood.

The paper could have mispelled the name. That is commonplace.

You are right, I don't think that the person cares about the dogs, however they didn't plan to have them.
As far as the fences not being security from a male, that is true, but the dog had to go out sometime, and shouldn't the male have been watched???

I am not any nicer than you, I just have my anger directed to the jerk who let their non-neutered male roam around and cause problems for someone else.

I think if the health of my beloved dog was risked, without me knowing or wanting, and I shelled out lots of unexpected cash when someone else should have I would hold a lot of resentment also.

Sad but true.

"I can think of a million reasons why she wouldn't have her dog spayed"

really?

I can think of 3:

She wants to breed the dog.
She doesn't want to spend money.
She doesn't care.

"I am not any nicer than you, I just have my anger directed to the jerk who let their non-neutered male roam around and cause problems for someone else.
I think if the health of my beloved dog was risked, without me knowing or wanting, and I shelled out lots of unexpected cash when someone else should have I would hold a lot of resentment also."

*unexpected cash*?

Acquiring a female dog should ring a bell in anyone's head, hmmm, duh, I'm either gonna have to have this dog spayed or deal with some consequences.

"without my knowing or wanting"?

ever been around when a dog in the neighborhood is in heat?
The owner knew.

"when someone else should have"?

Although I don't think it's a good idea to keep an un-neutered pet male dog, I think it would take a lot of nerve to blame the owner of an unneutered male for the pregnancy of an unspayed female.

I could turn the argument around & say the owner of the male dog has the right to be angry if his dog was hurt getting out of the fence because the female's owner didn't have her spayed.

These are pet dogs, not teen-aged children:

You *can* confine the one who's susceptible to getting pregnant.
You *can* have her sterilized.

"beloved dog"?

A pet owner who loves her pet dog & who is concerned about the dog's health will have her dog spayed:

chance of pregnancy-related problems: zero
chance of uterine cancer: zero
chance of hormone-crazed males hurting her: zero

She could gotten the dog a morning after injection or had the dog spayed when it became obvious that she was pregnant.

Of course, both these options involve a visit to a veterinarian & the spending of some money.

& where did she shell out any cash at all?
other than for the newspaper ad.

Seems to me people are making an awful lot of assumptions on what happened, and slapping value judgements on the woman who placed it.

This was a free online classified ad where you join for free and can then post as many ads and as many words as you like. You type them yourself so she is probably the one who spelled Shepherd, Shepard. She also could've at least said "to good homes" at no charge.
I don't know the type area she lives but if it's anything like here she's a fool to leave a dog in heat out of her sight. We are on a dead end and people tend to let their dogs loose. I'm sure they are not all neutered either.
LOL...I was just going to add that they do tend to stay on the road and off my property. Then I heard a yap right outside my door, looked out just in time to see a little dog and 2 cats that aren't mine, run off the porch.

Sorry but I personally don't see the problem in this add. At least this woman is honest with the mix breed & not trying to flog them off as pure breeds!!!

I also hardley see a german shepard owner not wanting to fork out money to spay the dog. The dogs themselves cost a fortune. How do you kow she wanted to breed her dog properly some day & as she said, a 'fence jumper' jumpeed in. It can happen to anyone & it's very unfair to critisize people when this kind of thing has happened & you do not know the full story AND we ALL make mistakes & learn from them!

Beeanne, she didn't put as much thought into the ad as you obviously would have, but unless you know for a fact that she is a cruel person I wouldn't let it bother you. Don't let this get to you like it has!

thanks Kasem! That is what I am saying!

Giving away pets for free is dangerous. I've always hated these ads and this one especially (take one or all).
This just from one website. If you do a search for "free to good home" you'll find many sad stories of what can happen to "free" pets.

1) People value what they pay for. Pets obtained for free are are less likely to be spayed or neutered by their new owners (why bother with vet bills?), and more likely to be abused and/or discarded, because "there are plenty more where that came from!" A recent study at one animal shelter yielded the startling statistic that 51% of all owner-surrendered dogs had been purchsed for less than $100; 41% of all owner-surrendered dogs had been obtained "Free to good home."

2) So-called "Bunchers" gather free pets until they have enough for a trip to a Class B Dealer who is licensed by the USDA to sell to sell animals from "random sources" for research.

3. Free animals are taken to "blood" pit-bulls--to train fighting dogs how to kill, and to enjoy it.

4) free animals are sometimes taken to feed large snakes

5) collectors will watch for free to good homes thinking they are actually doing a good thing by rescuing them.

6) unspayed/unneutered purebred animals may end up as breeders in puppy mills. Papers are easily forged.

There are also stories around about a man who was into animal torture who would take his kids with him to easily obtain free puppies and kittens. Who's going to say no to a nice father and kids? Bunchers and people like this know all the right things to say.
It's best to charge a small fee and if you don't want the money for yourself ask for a donation to your local animal shelter. $25 is what bunchers usually get paid, so if you charge at least that, you'll weed them out.

I never called the woman with the ad "cruel" I called her "stupid"

I don't know the poster of the ad, obviously, but it is possible she is somewhat innocent and maybe just worded the ad poorly. My husband (before we knew each other) had an at that time rare dog that was of show/breeder quality. This dog was $2k in 1985. He intended to breed her with a like-quality stud in order to help better establish the breed in this country. They tried to breed her a few times, but it never took. Right before they were going to try again, DH took in a champion show dog that someone needed an emergency, temporary home for (different breed). He kept them separated. The male was outside with DH getting exercise when someone came over his house and when DH didn't answer the bell, the vistor opened the door to "give a yell". I am sure you can guess what happened next. They were the cutest puppies you would ever see. "First class mutts". He found wonderful, quality homes for all. DH's dog was later spayed.

Anyway. The woman may not be malicious. Possibly just desperate to find homes for these puppies. I blame the owner of the male dog.

It could be much worse. A woman I knew grew up on a farm. Her father would drown "extra" kittens when there were already enough barn cats. Sickening.

My cat gave birth to four kittens. So cute. I asked around, none of my neighbors wanted a kitten. I took them to a local animal rescue. They refused to take them. "We have too many already." I ended up keeping them. Since then, I have always spayed/neutered my pets.

Jannie, good for you, & bless you for your good heart!

Jannie, bless you for taking responsibility.

Beanne those are convincing reasons for charging for a pet however... you're telling the wrong people. We already know this. The common folk out there who isn't in to their pets and doesn't read up on this stuff... they don't know. They just don't know. Maybe not stupid, but just doesn't know. This person could be very receptive to your advice on rewording the ad and start charging for the puppies so once again I suggest calling up the advertiser and giving them a polite piece of your mind.

Quirky says.. This person could be very receptive to your advice on rewording the ad and start charging for the puppies so once again I suggest calling up the advertiser and giving them a polite piece of your mind.
........................................................................................................................
I know, I should have done that and might do it if I see the ad again. Honestly I guess I'm just a wimp. I used to do that. I just got tired of people telling me I should mind my own business. The last one I called the woman who was especially brutal. She had several litters of kittens. I was offering to tranport and help pay for the spay of her female cats at a low cost S/N clinic, and would take a few kittens to rehome if she did that. She didn't want to spend a dime and more or less told me I was whacko, get a life and let her worry about her own animals.I know , I shouldn't let it bother me, but it does.

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Calling is a waste of time. You don't know the whole story. You will come across as aggressive and the woman will instantly become defensive(as anyone would) and nothing will be accomplished except that 2 people will go around with ruffled feathers for the rest of the day.
And what's with the big deal on spelling? There are many people who can't spell and even more who can't type and at least in my case my spell check doesn't work on this site. Jeesh.

Wow - deja vue. Almost 25 years ago I got my first dog through a posting kind of like that - even used the term "fence jumper". I got an absolutely wonderful shepard lab mix. It turned out the owner had supposedly mated my dog's mother to another shepard, but a "fence jumper" unknowingly got to her first.

"My cat gave birth to four kittens. So cute. I asked around, none of my neighbors wanted a kitten. I took them to a local animal rescue. They refused to take them. "We have too many already." I ended up keeping them. Since then, I have always spayed/neutered my pets."

So obviously there is no right answer on finding a pet a home.I dont think there is anything wrong with placing an ad.Is it not better then taking them to the pound where they will be put to sleep?
Cuz all the animal rescues here are about useless.They are always full too.
I too got stuck with a litter of kittens because my brother-in-law's cat got pregnant and he left her at my place.I wasnt about to keep 6 cats in my apartment. I placed an ad after calling about every number in my phone book trying to find them homes. I didnt charge money and feel secure I gave them to people I thought would care for them.If I felt like the person wasnt right,I didnt give them to the person.
Personally,I didnt have to do any of it.It wasnt even my cat.I did it,cuz it was better then the alternatives.Most people who place ads are like me and only trying to do the right thing.
A less caring person would dump the animal or have it put to sleep.At least we are trying to find them homes.

I got a "free to good home" dog off of Craiglist. The previous owners interviewed and checked out several potential owners before choosing us as the new adoptive parents. She's the sweetest Rottie you could ever want and I still stay in touch with the gal who had to give her up.

I bought my Black Lab from a "backyard breeder" off of Craiglist. Why? Because I wanted a Black Lab male puppy and I don't neuter the males until they are at least 18 months old for the health of their bones. Couldn't do that if I got a pup from a shelter.

I got my "heartdog" as a giveaway in front of a restaurant. He was a "surprise puppy" (an only whose daddy was a fence jumper) and my best friend for 11 wonderful years.

I also had to put down a dog I "adopted" (bought for 200.00) from a rescue. I had him 3 days when I realized why he had been to 3 previous homes and brought back. That dog was a beautiful boy but a tragedy waiting to happen. He was "flat-eyed" and far to dangerous to live with anyone. Yes he could have lived out is life with very specific circumstances geared to making sure he never maimed or killed anyone but that would have been no real quality of life for such a beautiful beast. I had him put down privately at my own vets and paid another 250 to have it done. No way was I taking him back to that crazy rescue.

Years ago my family adopted a "fence jumper". White shepherd who had been bred before she was a year old. She had 8 puppies. The owner found homes for three of them with sympathetic neighbors. He couldn't find homes for the other 5 so he killed them with a hammer.

The mother (our dog) kept jumping over the fence to go visit the remaining three. This irritated the owner who told our next door neighbor that if someone didn't take the mother, she would be put down.

Knowing this, we went ahead and adopted her. She was a wonderful pet for the next 14 years.

I bought my Misha (Lhasa Apso) from a puppy mill.....didn't know it at the time but I did know that something wasn't right and I reported this to my vet when I had her checked out ( she was perfect) and to the SPCA. Turns out that 9 months later they took the place down and found over 300 dogs from adults to pups in terrible condition. Almost halve had to be put down ( adults mostly) and the remainder had to be cared for, some for months before they could be adopted out.

My Misha was the best dog and lived for 15 yrs. I know have a golden retriever from a breeder, she was given to us as a gift. Other than the shedding I wouldn't trade her for the world