Wednesday, April 22, 2009

First CL, then Kijiji, now OLX?

I received an email a while back asking me to blog about a new online classifieds domain called OLX. If you're interested, there's a news release that tells you all about it, but I'm going to put up some of the important snips below. Under that, I will put my opinion.


100% free (forever) even in jobs and real estate
Ability to include videos and pictures in listings
A city, neighborhood and zip code database so the entire country is covered and not just pre-selected cities
Advanced search functions with sliders allowing searches at variable regional settings
Ability to post listings in any language in any country
Ability to view the site in any country in any language


Ok, there you go. That's what the company want you to hear.



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Now here's my 2 cents:


You can search by category or location. I, of course, went straight to the "for sale" section and into the animals. Today there are 14,326 ads in animals for sale on this site in the United States.


I can't help but shudder and think that between Kijiji and OLX, the BYBer doesn't even need to get off their rump to sell those puppies. Sell. Sell. Sell. Money. Money. Money. (Doesn't this make you think: Parvo? Distemper? Worms? or maybe: Giardia? Retinal Atrophy? Hereditary Genetic Disorders? I could go on, but I won't.)


The first puppy post was for some yorkiepoos, but the listing had already been removed when I clicked on it. It had been posted 5 hours before ...


The second puppy post was for an american pitbull terrier puppy with papers. Where are these "papers" from? The ad doesn't say. AKC doesn't recognize the "American Pitbull Terrier" as a breed. I know you can register with UKC as the "APBT" and I have read that there has been criticism with people registering their dogs as APBT with UKC and then turning around and registering the dogs with AKC as American Staffordshire Terriers. Makes you wonder, no? Did I use enough acronyms in this one for you?


I scrolled down through many ads that were similar and found this little gem. Ok hang on a sec let me collect myself before going on ... ahem ... The BYBer in this case has 5 week old puppies they are selling for $200 each. Ok, I have a VERY strong belief that puppies should stay with the litter until they are 10 weeks old. I believe that some very important socialization lessons take place during those first 10 weeks and that there are very few people who are able to take care of a puppy that young properly and teach it the life-skills it will need to be an emotionally stable dog.


Excuse me for one minute - I have to let out some steam before I go on .... *HEADDESK HEADDESK HEADDESK*


I kept looking through the ads and just got more and more depressed. Sorry I can't tell you more about it. If you're interested, check out the website. In my opinion, it's just another BYBer paradise.


I'm sure the designers of this website had all good intentions ... but what is it they say?


The road to hell is paved with good intentions?

9 comments:

GoLightly said...

Oh, I can't look. I just CAN'T.

Pouring puppies.
fick.

Husband visited an idiot neighbour last night. Of course, his completely ignored badly bred GSD bitch is in heat. The space between her eyes? She might as well have ONE eye. Of course, the neighbour's dog was by.
But she didn't get bred, they THINK.
Asshat waited too long, now it will cost more.
He "forgot" to spay her. How much do you want to bet there's a litter?
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.
This guy was at my wedding. He should NOT own animals.
NOT.

How many ways can you say it?

STOP!!!!!!!!
word verf is "shomp"
I want to shomp his frickin' HEAD off.
sorry for the rant.
PEOPLE.
pah.

Splash said...

Regarding puppies staying in the litter until 10 weeks, I have to disagree.

Lots of pups go through the "fear period" a little early, say....at 10 weeks.

The best adjusted puppies I've ever had, and that includes the 5 month old Border Collie I have right now, have all gone home at 7 weeks on the dot.

For a while, everyone sent their pups home at 5 or 6 weeks (okay this was probably before you were old enough to have a dog but it is still true). Then, everyone said 7 weeks, that is the ideal. Then a few years ago, it was 8 weeks. Now 10? I just don't think so. I think that is way too late.

Just my .02

Splash's mom

OldMorgans said...

I agree, GoLightly, all the BYB of puppies should be "Shomped".
The creators of the OP's discussed new ad site are not interested in the ethics of their advertisers--not one tiny bit--they are interested in making money from the site. Unless they are aware animal folks, they have never given a thought to puppies other then "how cute."

sagebeasties.blogspot.com

my word verification is blest, which leads to some interesting thoughts

Anonymous said...

Hey, it's LLO from Dog-Gone Fugly. The person who beat the dog half to death at the shelter in Devore might make an appearance over there; he's already e-mailed me. Feel free to cruise over and bring some popcorn.

DogsDeserveFreedom said...

GoLightly - they can still spay her if they want to ... or is this the neighbour that wants to breed the fugly GSD to make more fuglies? I think you mentioned it in another comment?

Splash - It's a long standing debate - when is the right time to move a puppy. Many people breeding dogs try to wean the pups early - the earlier the better, right? Wrong (IMHO). The truth is that the earlier you wean, the more profit you get out of the pups.

Why do people have to get their grubby paws in there? People think that they need to wean the pups and that they know better than the mother ... I disagree. I think the mother dog knows better regarding what is best for her pups.

I angle more towards the "natural" beliefs in most things. (Perhaps I'm more like my hippie parents than I want to admit? LOL)

Hence my 10 weeks theory. Every litter is different and every dam is different so you may find some variance in the numbers. Dogs are, after all, living creatures and they don't give a damn about dates on a calendar.

OldMorgans - funny you should mention that ... Business is business, right?

LLO - I read your new entry earlier today, though I didn't comment on it (sorry - busy day at work!). I have since gone back over and left a comment

GoLightly said...

DDF, nope, different neighbour. I am surrounded:(

They can spay her. Will They?? Is the question.

weird these word verfs:)
Stabless

Oh YEAH? Okay, okay, no I wouldn't.
Maybe with a rose thorn? On a seat cushion?
just dreaming?

Splash, I'm very glad I was forced to wait until 10 weeks. Conflicting schedules. But every puppy is different. I think a little longer is better than a little shorter. Blaze adjusted very well, and had good attitude. Her fear period went by easily.

The BYB's want them gone quick.
I think I saw a case on my darlin' Judge Judy, where a four-week old puppy was taken from the litter, driven across town, to be shown to a client?
Judy snarled at him for that.
Me TOO. He had tried to pass the dog off as a Teacup Chi. Turned into a tanker. The smaller, the cuter, you know.
But hey, Splash you have Labs. They are tough as, well, Labs.

I just don't think it sends the right message, is all. If six weeks, why not 5? Or 4?
My brother's landlady got two siberian puppies from a flea market. Yup. 4 weeks old.
Barely, barely barely ready. IMO.

Gus, Louie and Callie said...

That doesn't sound like a great site to us.. We agree they probably had good intentions..

Big Sloppy Kisses
Gus, Louie and Callie

Cyndi and Stumpy said...

I don't want to know about another place BYB's can dump puppies.

as for the age of a puppy leaving it's litter, depends on the breed and the enviroment, first of all... no earlier than 8 weeks as far as I am concerned.

I am glad I am not alone wondering abot the word verification

bureag, now
ougaf

DogsDeserveFreedom said...

GoLightly - sorry to hear that. I know how you feel. Sometimes it's like no one will spay / neuter here. One of our neighbours has two intact female dogs - one a great dane and the other a mastiff. Both lovely dogs. Conformation wise - not so great. They don't do anything with them either. Then there is the labmix-whoknowswhatsit intact male who goes visiting them ... I see them on the side of the road together often.

I keep waiting to see the "free puppies" sign but haven't yet. I wonder if they end up in the back 40 at the bottom of their pond ... wouldn't be the first in my immediate area.

Gus, Louie and Callie - I agree. Thanks for commenting!

GSC - I agree. There will always be more classifieds, more BYBers and more P.Mills so long as people keep buying. It's sad.