Mood:  hungry

It is no secret to those close to me that I am addicted to Craig’s List. It is how I found Potter. I took out an ad stating I was looking for a Golden and I got tons of responses from people trying to help. When I decided on a dog I was able to find a woman through the list who was willing to go pick him up for me. The Pet section is like a little community all its own. It has been a great resource for training, vets, food, and dog friendly places to visit. But every once in awhile major drama strikes the list and I have become amused by it. Well that was until it started to effect me and those I know.

Drama #1

A couple of weeks ago a man was trying to sell his real point cat for $200. Now right off the bat the man has made some critical errors. First of all you are not allowed to sell an animal on Craig’s List. You may adopt it out and ask for a small re-homing fee. $200 is not considered such a fee. Secondly…why would anyone pay $200 for a cat when the list is inundated with free kittens? The man’s ad was quickly flagged and removed. He posted again. Once again it was flagged and removed. This went on all apparently all day until he finally posted an ad wondering why he had been flagged. It was quickly explained to him the rules he must follow He became upset and decided to try to start a petition on The List. That was quickly removed and explained that the pet section wasn’t the place for such a thing and to take his ad to the local paper. Well the man became bitter and started flagging the posts from area shelters. Every time one of the volunteers from a shelter would post about a dog needing to be adopted, this guy would flag the post and have it removed. People were so enraged that they started posting very nasty letters to the Flagging Bandit. Someone actually got a hold of the email address for the guy responsible for the flagging and posted it on the list so that people could send nasty emails directly to the guy. It was kind of funny. In the end I guess the guy had a change of heart or just got bored or maybe someone threaten his life because he finally stopped flagging. I guess I should explain to those of you who have never used Craig’s List what this “flagging” thing is all about. If you see an inappropriate ad…like someone selling a cat…you click on “please flag with care”. The ad then gets removed. You would think that it gets sent to someone to review but it doesn’t, the ad is just deleted.  

Drama #2

This one was hard to take because it affected Potter and me. I guess I should start by setting up the story. As I stated above, when I decided to adopt Potter I contacted a lady on Craig’s List who was making a trip to the shelter in Columbus County. The woman’s name is Shannon and she actually heads up a rescue organization called Furry Friends Rescue NC. She was very nice and professional and I had a good feeling about her from the start. I didn’t really suspect anything was wrong even during the whole parvo incident. The suspicions didn’t start until about a week later when I got a call from Susan, a volunteer at the shelter in Columbus County. Susan had put up the $13 to pull Potter for me so they wouldn’t put him down. Shannon was supposed to reimburse Susan with the money I had given her the day I picked up Potter. I had actually given her $25. $13 was to go to Susan and $12 was to go to Gloria (Volunteers with Furry Friends who actually did the driving) to cover the cost of gas. Susan informed me that she hadn’t gotten the money from Shannon and hadn’t heard from Shannon since they day the puppies were picked up. I tried calling Shannon and left several messages but didn’t’ get a response.

Well one day while searching Craig’s List (I have been helping a woman find a golden to adopt) I noticed all these ads slamming Shannon and Furry Friends. There were a few ads from people stating they had used Shannon and were happy but most of them said horrible things basically accusing Shannon of running a puppy mill. Later that afternoon I received an email from Shannon asking if I could write a letter of recommendation for Furry Friends. That she was going to have to sue the women posting the negative ads because the woman had adopted a dog from her and refused to pay for the dog. This woman had stopped payment on the check she had given Shannon. I stated that I would be happy to write a letter but that I was concerned that Susan and Gloria hadn’t been reimbursed for Potter. She stated that she had mailed the money to them and they should have it soon. I told her I would wait to hear from Susan and if she had in fact gotten the money then I would send Shannon the letter.

This morning I got an email from Susan stating that it has been over a week and still no money from Shannon. All emails and phone calls have gone unanswered. I have decided to send Susan the money since I am pretty sure that Shannon isn’t going to. I have gotten several messages from a couple of people from Craig’s List who are starting a campaign to shut Furry Friend’s down. I haven’t responded to them. I know that we all have things that come up in our lives and that sometimes we fall a little short of our goals. I hope that Shannon had good intentions about reimbursing everyone but that something came up and she used the money and now doesn’t have it to send. Okay that was wrong but be honest and except the blame. It would have upset but I wouldn’t have felt lied to. It is all a shame. I now know that there is another woman who is planning on taking over Furry Friends. Maybe she will be able to restore their good name.

The whole thing has just brought too much drama to my life. But I am sure tomorrow I will be back to surfing the list. LOL it is a hard habit to break.