Recently a new Facebook page cropped up.
It is called REHOMING PETS OF THE HUDSON VALLEY. It is a FaceBook page for you to post your no longer wanted animal and other people can adopt them from you, or buy them, or whatever deal or trade you might make.
On the surface of it, it appears to be a site to help people find other good people to adopt the animals they no longer want or can not keep. Me? Well…I’m beyond upset about this. The person running this site is actually the same one that runs the LOST PETS site which is a fabulous site and does a great job, and I believe him to be a kind and compassionate man. I have appealed to him to shut it down and explained why.
His response was to ban me from posting to the FaceBook page. My crime was posting to people that listed their animals and asking them NOT to do this and explaining why.
MOST people don’t understand how dangerous this is. Most people are not in the rescue and cruelty world. You KNOW these things go on but you don’t think it is HERE, or could happen to you, and you also believe you can pick out the “bad people”.
I am here to tell you that is not true. The people that come to your door will be polite, and courteous,, and dressed well, and will fawn over your dog. They will provide GREAT references to you (their buddies that also fight dogs). You will be thrilled that Fido has a good home and maybe you take $50 or maybe you give your dog or cat away for free. (Yes they start with kittens and puppies believe it or not, so they are not “safe” to post either!)
They leave with your dog. That dog then has his mouth duct taped shut (if it is a cat they tape the mouth and tape over the paws as well). The animal is then thrown into a ring with a dog in training and that dog is encouraged to kill your pet.
Sometimes they don’t.
Your dog will then be pulled out and used again and again until he is dead.
DO NOT ADVERTISE YOUR PET on Craisglist or on FaceBook sites, and help us get these shut down. Help us to explain to people how terrible an idea this is and how unsafe it is for their animal.
Even Craigslist in the Hudson Valley will NOT allow these ads. They have come to learn the hard way how terrible a way this is for an animal to be rehomed.
Please consider LIKING the FaceBook page (https://www.facebook.com/RehomingPetsOfTheHudsonValley) and posting this on all the posts that people are posting there to get rid of their animal:

Please reconsider this. Please do not advertise animals on sites like this for adoptions.
This Facebook page is no different than Craigslist or any other online site to obtain animals. (The exception would be for shelters and rescues using online sites to promote their animals – where people are then referred to their adoption applications). Even Craigslist does NOT allow these types of ads anymore because they have come to understand and learn the dangers of this.
People that respond to these ads usually do so because they have been turned down at shelters and rescues and can NOT obtain animals from reputable places.
Rescues and shelters have lists and photos and names of the problem people out there and they have “DO NOT ADOPT” lists of the ones that they are aware of. They share this info with other rescues and shelters.
Middletown. Newburgh. Port Jervis. What do they have in common? All have huge dog fighting rings.
Do you know how they train the dogs to fight and kill? By getting free or cheap dogs and cats from lists like this (or stealing them from your yard), then they duct tape their mouths shut and throw them in the ring with their future fighting dogs.
THAT is the future for many animals obtained from Craigslist and sites like this. If you are not experienced with reviewing an application and checking people out thoroughly – they will get past you. They will give you references that are actually other dog fighters. They come to your home as a well dressed, “newly married couple”, and offer your dog or cat a wonderful loving home.
These people are shills.
Responsible people adopt, and can pass reference and vet and home checks at local rescues or shelters and that is where they obtain their new family members.
Sites like this is where the people that can NOT get animals from good rescues, go to get them. You are putting your pets in grave danger.
How do I know? Because I am one of the people that pick up your animal’s torn apart body and remove his collar and peel the duct tape from his mouth, and then I call you to find out how your dog wound up here. You all tell me the same thing. You advertised the dog or cat and found a wonderful couple that adopted him from you.
This is NOT a good way to place your pet.
PLEASE RECONSIDER THIS!!

You all know that we share the GOOD news with you. The successes, the happy things. I never talk to you about the horrors we see, or the terrible things that go on out there. We just show you the happy ending.
That’s because I believe that you don’t NEED to see it. There is enough evil in the world. I’d rather show you all the GOOD out there, all the happy endings for these animals.
But I need you all to help now and make sure this FaceBook site does not get off the ground. All the dogs pictured here are ALIVE. I won’t show you pictures of the ones that are NOT. The ones that we removed collars from and called the owners asking how their dog wound up here.
They all say the same thing.
They all have the same story.
This really nice person or couple came and adopted him from them.
They checked his references.
Don’t advertise your dog or cat on any online site or in the paper.
Contact a local rescue or shelter.
What will WE do to help??
We never just COMPLAIN about something.
We will act to try to help.
In this case we will start up a website.
If you submit your dog or cat to us for adoption and we can not take the animal in, we will list him for you.
We will review the application for you and turn over any good ones to you.
If anyone would like to volunteer to handle this, please let me know.
If no one steps up then we will need some time to pull this together and come up with a plan, and find a volunteer of our own to handle this.
In the meantime…please go to the REHOMING PETS OF THE HUDSON VALLEY FACEBOOK PAGE and post the above text (the part in italics) on all the posts that people have put there looking to find new homes for their animals. They have blocked me. They can’t block all of you.
I’m sorry to share such horrible pictures with you – but these dogs are the ones that were SAVED. The ones that MADE it. Let’s make sure no other ones wind up in this same position by well meaning people that don’t understand the dangers.
As each of you posts, you will likely be blocked from the site, and my hopes is that then someone else will pick up the torch and continue to post and warn people of the dangers of this type of “adoption”.
So let’s end this on a HAPPY note.
Okra, pictured here – made it out of that fighting ring. He is one of the success stories.
Did you know he was originally obtained from an ad “free to good home” in the paper? He then spent two years of his life fighting, and trying to survive. He then spent three years in a basement of a shelter waiting for the court case to finish up. Then he was ordered executed.
Instead…we took him here. THIS is a success story. Let’s make sure no other dogs wind up in a position that Okra was forced into.
Want to do one more great thing? Come down and adopt Okra.
Take him home and show him love and enable us to save another.