I feel just as you do, so for my own sanity, I try to stay away from Craigs List. I don't know how they do it, but some people post "responses" to these sad ads, advising the pet owner that animals are not disposable.

I know exactly how you feel. I recently signed up for FreeCycle and it's the same thing. I've seen everything from a Rottweiler to a Pomeranian. Some don't give reasons, but moving to a smaller apartment or one that doesn't allow pets is common. It's not like their aren't lots of places that allow pets. I live in one now! It's more likely the cost. For my 2 dogs I paid a $200 deposit plus an extra $50 a month in pet rent. If people are struggling financially, that could break them.

My mom was looking for a dog, and was interested in a Golden Retriever or mix, so when I saw one posted we answered. In this wonderful and loving dog's case, the family had 3 small kids and this big dog was knocking them over. They got a smaller dog that "fit better with their family". Truth be told they probably just needed to pay more attention to her and train her, and she'd have been a great pet for their family. Their loss is our gain, because my mom loves her, and she went from being an underfed, matted and ignored outdoor dog to a doted-upon, clean, well-fed house dog.

In my opinion, if people are willing to give away a pet, they don't deserve it anyway, and the pet will be better off in the long run.

I try to stay off Craig's List because I just get my panties in a wad, and realize that some people are always going to be stuck on stupid. I try to educate people at adoptions with ARPO or other animal events I am attending.

Same here. I deal with plenty of other aggravating things in life, not going to add another!

The past month I've been on CL for one reason or another (currently looking for a bicycle and getting rid of stuff from the move). Of course I've seen the pet-give-aways, too. I've been sending those listings an email with a link to IP in particular this http://indypaws.com/post/index/17517 which was about the opportunistic individuals looking for free dogs for baiting or research.
Most of the time, I get no response and the ad goes away, sometimes a dialogue begins, once I got a thank you response and the owner pulled his ad, and a couple of times I've been told to get a life or mind my own business. I'm careful to keep the message non-judgemental and offer information. If they didn't know; now they have something to think about. If they don't care; well, there's a special place way down south waiting for them.

It's SO good to know I'm not the only one! I'm definitely going to have to stop going on CL too. I'd been looking for a couple things (man, did I ever get a sweet deal on a camera!), but as soon as I find what I need, I'm going to have to stop. You guys are right, it's just going to drag us down. Woo, I wondered about sending something like that to them. Then again, I also understand where Medley was coming from... If they're trying to get rid of a pet, they probably don't deserve it anyway. Thank you for the responses, I feel better! :)