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Unless a thorough background check is done on a prospective new owner, giving a dog away for free is not a good idea because you never know where it might end up.



Now you might be thinking the above video is a bit over the top alarmist but backyard breeders/puppy millers scouring the internet for online free dog to good home ads are way too prevalent. They're generally looking for younger, unspeutered animals to lock up in a cage to be used as breeders for the rest of their useful lives.

Recently, a rescue Toronto Animal Services South works with was able to save a female French Bulldog from a miller who frequently finds breeders from families giving away their dogs for free. The dog was one of a pair of Frenchies, and the miller was getting rid of her because she'd already been spayed but he wanted to keep the male because he was still intact. I wonder if the original family knows or cares that one of the dogs they gave away will likely be spending the rest of his life in a cage.

This Pug and Puggle pair at TAS-S came from a puppy miller from the same rural area, a farm west of Kitchener, as the miller who took the Frenchies. They walk well on a leash and they like people - not typical of puppy mill dogs who have limited to zero exposure to both - so it's quite possible these two were once family pets as well.

If they were once family pets, they've forgotten their no peeing indoors rule but who can blame them. A dog gets put in a cage for a few years and of course it learns to urinate and defecate where it sleeps and forgets everything else. With regular daily walks outside at TAS-S, maybe they'll have it figured out again before they are put up for adoption.

At first I thought these two lovebirds were a bonded pair but apparently the amorous feelings are a recent development due to the female being in heat. Once the attraction period is over, they will likely be separated and adopted out individually. Of course if someone wanted both dogs ... well, they are awfully cute together.



Pug - male

Puggle - female

For adoption information on this dog and other dogs (and cats and other animals), please visit Toronto Animal Services.



5 Comments to “Dog free to Good Home - Oscar and Ophelia, Pug and Puggle”

  1. NK says:

    You're killing me with these videos Fred! but they spur me on!

  2. pugmum says:

    Fred are they up for adoption yet? We lost one pug this year due to illness and old age and my remaining pug is lonely without a buddy. I couldn't adopt both unfortunately as we live in an apartment (2nd floor)but would love to give one of them a forever home?
    Regards, Anne

  3. Fred says:

    Hi pugmum, they're not up for adoption just yet, still need to be speutered. I think they might neuter the male fairly soon but the female with have to wait at least until her heat is over. You can try calling TAS-South and they may be able to give you an approximate date for when they might go up.

  4. You know, I have a very low tolerance for glurge and manipulation. I don't find the video "over the top" at all. Assuming it is true (i.e. the text at the start is accurate, nothing was staged), I think this is an appropriate level of alarmism.

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A request

The reason for this blog is to help get specific dogs adopted from TAS but equally important is to try to normalize the idea of shelter dogs being just as good and just as desirable as any other dogs including those which are regularly merchandised by backyard breeders, puppy millers and those few remaining pet store owners who still feel a need to sell live animals. The single greatest stigma shelter animals still face is the belief that shelter animals are substandard animals. Anyone who has had enough experience with shelter animals knows this is untrue but the general public hasn't had the same experiences you've had. They see a nice dog photo in a glossy magazine and too many of them would never think of associating that dog with a dog from a shelter. After all, no one abandons perfectly good dogs, right? Unfortunately, as we all know, perfectly good dogs are abandoned all the time.

The public still too often associates shelter dogs with images of beat up, sick, dirty, severely traumatized animals and while we definitely sometimes see victims such as these, they are certainly not the majority and, regardless, even the most abused animals can very often be saved and made whole again.

Pound Dogs sometimes discusses the sad histories some of the dogs have suffered. For the most part, though, it tries to present the dogs not as victims but as great potential family members. The goal is to raise the profiles of animals in adoption centers so that a potential pet owner sees them as the best choice, not just as the charity choice.

So, here's the favour I'm asking. Whenever you see a dog picture on these pages you think is decent enough, I'd like you to consider sharing it on Facebook or any other social media sites you're using (I know many of you do this already and thank you for that). And when you share it, please mention that the dog in the photo is a shelter dog like so many other shelter dogs waiting for a home. If we can get even five percent of the pet buying public to see shelter dogs differently, to see how beautiful they are and how wonderful they are, and to consider shelter dogs as their first choice for a new family member, we can end the suffering of homeless pets in this country.
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