Be careful before you hand over your dog to a new home

Pet rescue organisations estimate that as the result of an advert such as “free to a good home” there may be only one good caring person wanting to re-home that dog compared to at least nine bad and unscrupulous people who want that dog for other reasons.

There are those who want to make money from the animal without any particular regard for their welfare: these include the pet peddler who takes on free pets to sell on for profit to anyone who will buy them, or the puppy farmer who takes free pets for breeding to make money. They look for ads which say “not spayed” or “neutered”. Some people even pose as fake rescue organisations that will use the word ‘rescue’ to ask for a donation and will then try to sell the dog on or dump it.

Some “free to good home” dogs may end up in sinister labs that are known for taking unwanted pets for experimental purposes. There are some psychologically unbalanced people who seem to hoard dogs without the facilities to give them a good home.