Saturday, June 6, 2009

Best of CL - Pet Posting Guidelines

Well folks, someone has finally managed to get their "Pet Posting Guidelines" up on the Best of CraigsList. Check it out here or below.

I thought I would repost it here. Please note I did NOT write this, but I think the message is important, so I am copying and pasting it here for your enjoyment.

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Pet Posting Guidelines

Some of your posts are painful to read. Do us all a favor and memorize this list.

*Unless he ate a loaf of bread, your dog is NOT a PUREBREAD, he is a PUREBRED
*Horses are ‘Thoroughbred’; dogs are not.
*AKC is NOT proof of breed quality. Two horribly bred dogs can have AKC puppies
*Rehoming to ENSURE good home, not INSURE good home

*It is spelled:
Neuter not Nueter or Newter
Chihuahua not Chiguagua, or Chiuauauaua, or Ciuauaua or Cheewawa
Rottweiler not Rottwhiler
Shih Tzu not Shitzoo
Cocker Spaniel not Cockerspaniol (and they do NOT come in 'miniture')
Jack Russell Terrier not Jack Rustle Terryor
There is no such thing as a ‘Golden Lab’
German Shepherd not Shepard
Puppy not Puppie
Very not Verry
Adoption not adaption

You had your dog dewormed, not wormed. No one gives dogs worms on purpose

*It is 'a lot' not 'alot'. *Multiple dogs 'are'; one dog 'is'
*YOU didn’t provide a ‘loving forever home’ and you can’t ‘GARENTEA’ that someone else will either…oh and it's GUARANTEE
*Your dog is 'housebroken' not 'housebroked'
*Your dog was 'spayed' not 'spade'
*Your dog was born, not borned.
*Commas and periods are your friends. USE THEM.
*YOU DON’T HAVE TO CAPITALIZE YOUR ENTIRE POST, TRUST ME, WE CAN READ IT.
*Every sentence! Doesn’t need! An exclamation! Point!
*There are a few exceptions, but to keep things simple, follow this general rule: 'a' comes before a consonant, 'an' comes before a vowel. 'A cat', 'An apple'.

*Just say ’50.00 adoption fee’. ‘Rehoming fee does apply’ is stupid, evasive, wordy and unnecessary.
*It is not "please only call if your interested", it is "please call if YOU'RE interested". You're is 'you are'. Your is possessive (your hat is nice).
*You don't need to clarify that you will only give your dog to a 'good loving home'. It is assumed that decent people are not going to give their dog to a random scumbag. If you are concerned about the quality of the adopter, do a HOME CHECK (you should anyway).
*Stop threatening to take the dog to the pound if someone doesn't 'save it'. YOUR lack of responsibility is not other people's problem. Also, before threatening us with the pound, take a few minutes to view this video: http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/dealingdogs/ so that you know what exactly you’re doing to your pet.
*You interview a PERSON; you do a HOME CHECK. You do NOT interview a house 'Rehoming fees' are NOT $400.00, nice try, but NO.
*PLEASE stop saying you have to 'get rid of' your dog. You 'get rid of' an STD; you hopefully find your dog a better home than you choose to provide. It is heartbreaking to see you care so little for a dog who probably loves you more than life.
*Some of you play the cute little game of saying "No rehoming fee, Adoption fees apply" HUH?! CUT THE ****,JUST TELL US HOW MUCH MONEY YOU WANT FOR YOUR BELOVED. You are starting to sound like a used car salesman.

*STOP blaming your landlord. It is YOUR responsibility, as an adult, to find out what the pet restrictions are BEFORE you bring a dog home.
*Stop blaming flaggers for interfering with your dog finding a home. Your refusal to honestly post the rehoming fee is the reason the dog isn't finding a new home.

*Please Please Please stop giving your pets away for free. People who collect pets for medical research or dog fight bait aren't going to tell you that is why they want your animal. They will seem sincere when they tell you they desperately want to add a new member to their family. A $50.00 adoption fee will protect your pet from many untold horrors.

*One last thing. If you have an 'accidental litter', and you are asking $250 obo, YOU ARE A BYB. Don't pretend to be a victim of circumstance, or innocent. If it were your teen daughter who got pregnant, we would all understand; you can't spay your human child (although that might not be a bad idea in some cases). You CAN be responsible for your pets though, so it is not an accident if they get pregnant.

9 comments:

Cyndi and Stumpy said...

These are some great and valid points.

Although, the grammar, improper use of words and bad spelling drive me crazy (and I am quite sure I have been imperfect in my postings at least once or twice) I think there are more important issues on which to focus when critiquing CL ads.

Nevertheless, the post is educational and well-intentioned. If I thought it was worth the effort, I might even be tempted to re-post it.

Unfortunately, just like on these blogs, I am afraid we are preaching to the chior.

Did I spell "chior" right? It doesn't look right and it won't spell check... Normally I would pull up a word document and spell check it there, but it's saturday...

At least on the blogs, we have a shot at some random person checking a blog out that may learn something. Even a helpful ad will get flagged by some rabid, no-life, craigslist junkie, before anyone has a chance to read it. And the people that should be paying attention probably won't. If they do, they'll have some rationalized excuse why they are doing what they do.

hmmm...I am quite the cynic today...

GoLightly said...

Choir;)

fiedib
is word verif.
No WONder we can't spell.

The English language, as I know it, is quickly disappearing.

Texting is part of it.
Hah, texting isn't a word.
I don't text message.

My nephew's birthday came and SIL suggested I text him, since I couldn't get him on the phone.
??

I don't get it. No surprise there. There's not enough reading/writing/arithmetic!!

Gawd, that sounds like I'm really old.
I am.
Not.
Yet;)

OldMorgans said...

Too bad the people who need this will never read it.
The list missed the wrong usage of "sale" for sell--I have to sale my dog.
The bad grammar, bad spelling, improper word usage and all that just goes along with someone who is dumping their pet. How can they not be careless and clueless about their pet when they are careless and clueless about themselves.?

oldmorgans.blogspot.com
sagebeasties.blogspot.com

AM said...

Well said!

Barb said...

As a fan of "Eats Shoots and Leaves" I enjoyed this post!

The author missed one of my personal faves though: "Rockwilder"

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed reading this - I do hate most of the bad spelling and grammar that we read these days. One point to mention - some multiple nouns use the singular case - i.e a crowd of people IS gathering (as opposed to crowds of people ARE gathering) or the company IS having a meeing not ARE having a meeting.

Splash said...

And our personal pet peeve:

"My lab"

You mean where you go to get your tox screen?

Or do you mean your dog, the nice LABRADOR, commonly abbreviated as "Lab"?

I've seen the incorrect capitalization on writings from folks with english (errrr. English!) degrees.

Kasha said...

Wow! I stumbled upon this blog and now I feel inclined to go back to school. Great post, but I fear I am guilty myself. For someone who was in Honors English through the education years, I could sure use a refresher. Thanks for the humble pie and chuckle. I am definitely keeping tabs on this blog! Please stop by and meet my Africa sometime.
Kasha and Africa
http://www.trainingboerboels.blogspot.com/

mytwh said...

Great Post! May need to put it on my local CL since I got such a great response (emails from people) about the post on Fugly from MI that I cross-posted to CL. This is a gem!