Hello To All - Our Mission!!

[Yvonne]

Hello Jodie and     to Purrs


If you want to do the quote - hit the button on the bottom on the right hand corner marked "quote" it will quote the whole text, just merely delete the text that you do not want.  Is that clear - or as clear as mud??

[FreeToGoodHome Helper]

Hi Angie! - not sure how to do the quote things on here... 

I totally agree with you that its not always possible to place cats at all - we're only a link between the rescues and the owners we can't guarantee a space, but we do come across people that really are not interested or are not even aware of any rescues around them, or they think a 'rescue' means a pound (we're finding this especially with the dogs) - even with the ones who have tried rescues already it doesnt hurt to try and keep searching, adding to waiting lists and chasing leads - no matter how small (is this making sense, i know what i'm trying to say...  )

We take the neutering/vacs/worming/ stance as we do deal with dogs too, but also appreciate that resources are tight for many if not all rescues we look at. I'm not saying there is no room for movement on the vacs or worming stance if it means a placement, we have to look at everything individually, but yes, we do try to cover all bases ideally - and always with the neutering.

[Angiew]

Hi Teresa.

We will only use a reputable well known established rescue and they MUST have a rehoming policy that includes a Spay/Neuter/Vacs/worming and homechecking policies in place...

well that rules us out - can't afford to vaccinate...

We realise that if a person has placed one of these adverts then they usually in most cases don't want to find a rescue, are looking for a quick fix and will go with the easiest option.
 

I disagree with this - I'm sure you are finding out how hard it is to get a cat into a rescue! Sadly, most of us that have to refuse cats daily offer such sites as a last resort for owners. Last week I think I was the 25th rescue to be contacted by a lady trying to rehome her aunties cats (now sorted hopefully).

Anyway, apart from that welcome to purrs and the rescue community - the more the merrier!!

[FreeToGoodHome Helper]

hiya, that is exactly how it works.

If the animals are NOT neutered then we only offer help in getting a rescue placement/back up to ensure neutering takes place. The owners agree to hold their pets while this happens.

We dont accept any private homing adverts for unneutered pets. They MUST be neutered and if they are not, we offer help in finding a rescue placement or back up only to ensure this is done, then assist with the homing.

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

I am not sure where to post this but i have just looked at  your website.. It concerns me that some animals on it they you are trying to help are not neutered.... ! One main aim of rescue it to reduce the numbers of unwanted animals and using the internet as a means of rehoming i think that by not making sure aniamls are neutered before you assist people is a wise move..

I often help with direct rehoming of cats and on neutered cats are posted on our website and if someone comes to me with a request for help on rehoming and they cannot afford to have the cat neutered, then we will assist and then rehome, but not before.

[FreeToGoodHome Helper]

again, thank you for your comments.

We appreciate the dangers of the internet - hence the project in the first place and the helping of these cats/kittens as we come across them, we are slowly building our trusted contacts up and we do have to search for these from the internet - it is a valuble tool, other rescues, word of mouth and other forums, make contact and go from there. Being volunteer based we do have to excercise caution as do other rescue organisations set up in a similar way to us and there is always in any case even with using established organisations via word of mouth or the internet an air of trust and good faith involved.
We do try to limit this risk as much as possible by the contact we already do, and are grateful for your comments and are always welcome to suggestion. 

[Teresa Pawcats]

Hi Jodie

 Whilst I think what you are trying to achieve is admirable I am just a little concerned that things could go badly wrong. The internet on the one hand is a valuable tool for getting messages across but by the same token it is so easy for people to pretend to be something they are not and if this happens more harm than good could come to the animal. Please do not judge Rescues /individuals by pretty pictures on the web, check them out thoroughly with a visit and a call to the vets before handing over an animal.

[FreeToGoodHome Helper]

Hi Teresa.

We will only use a reputable well known established rescue and they MUST have a rehoming policy that includes a Spay/Neuter/Vacs/worming and homechecking policies in place. We are using our own enquiries, sites like this and other contacts we are building to find those placements. In the meantime the cat will stay with its owner OR if the situation is urgent into foster.

With regards to the fosterers, we use ones that are either already fostering for a rescue - and are put in touch by the rescues we contact, or our own volunteer offers, by which we take full details of pets, lifestyle,work hours etc, have a chat and go from there - its not a case of someone says i'll help and they get a cat put on their doorstep. 

The only thing that will appear on the site are urgent and non urgent fostering requests - in which case the above will apply, transport requests - these are organised through other rescues and contacts we have and offers of help from our members and the lovely people on here. Once the cat has a rescue placement the rescue involved will do the rehoming as we are not a rescue. We are literally the link between the FTGHomers and the rescues. We do the leg work for the owners. We realise that if a person has placed one of these adverts then they usually in most cases don't want to find a rescue, are looking for a quick fix and will go with the easiest option. We do the work for them, all they do is hang on to their pet until it is sorted.

If the rescue wants us too we will also include the cat in the homing section, but again, we are not a rescue and the cat will not come via us, normal homechecking and adoption fees will apply.

We are all volunteers and are not a rescue so we dont have funds for neutering/vacs etc, we only link the FTGH cats to the rescues, we are setting up a donation section at some point though so we can give support to the rescues that help us the rest of the time we self fund if costs arise. We are looking into the implications of a donation system though.

Hope that helps. 

[Teresa Pawcats]

Jodie
How carefully will you be checking fosterers ?

How carefully will you be vetting the rescues offering back up ?

Will all these adverts for cats now appear on this Site?

Do you have the funds to provide proper medical care?

[Tan]

  Jodie 

Very glad to support you. One of our policies is not to support any free to good home or cat sale adverts.
We have the below in our reg agreement

Sadly there seems to be a lot of these on the other websites at the mo.   and we want to do what we possibly can to steer people away from using free-ads (both as ad posters and as responders), as
they are generally not good for the animals involved, and to steer them towards seeking help from a rescue centre instead.

We know from our wonderful members here that some cases will be truly genuine, but we must try and encourage to go through the proper channels ie rescues , for the sake of the animals involved.  With the sort of private deals these sites encourage, there are little or no controls over the homes that these animals end up in or indeed the state of the animal being sold.
Sometimes posts on such sites mention the cat being in danger if it is not homed quickly - often this is not true, the poster will say this just to offload the cat/kitten quicker.
Sometimes, these free-ads are breeders in disguise, or even worse, un-regulated back-yard breeders.
Cats/kittens in rescue centers miss out on homes because people may, (with the best of intentions) rush off and adopt the cat in the advert.

When someone finds themselves in a position where they need to rehome their cat, we seek to encourage them to go through their local rescue centre or rehoming group. 
If you are concerned about a posting of this nature on another website, you can help by advising that person to approach their local rescue(s), all details of which can be found on the fabulous Cat Chat website’s Shelters pages here: http://www.catchat.org/adoption/

Please note that threads regarding postings on other websites offering cats for sale, free kittens, free to a good home etc, will be
modified taking out any reference to the advertising web site, and links removed. Allowing links to remain inadvertently advertises these sites, and perpetuates this thoughtless practice.

Please help animals by not supporting or promoting sites with free classified ads offering animals. If you are seeking a new animal companion, please use rescue!

Thank you

I will add your site to report any such ads we see and also pop a perminant link to your site in our links section.

[clarenmax]

Hiya, and  to Purrs 

I think what you guys are doing is brilliant, well done to you and your team to try and ensure good homes are found for all these babes.  Who knows where they might end up otherwise.

Shame the other site wouldn't support your efforts, I would have thought if everyone worked together it would make life so much easier?

[FreeToGoodHome Helper]

Can i just say a public Thank you to Tan and the Team for showing your support and allowing a link to the forum *see linky below!*. We have actually been knocked back today by one of the big Dog Rescue sites who have told us they wont support our efforts. 
Cant win them all.

I no doubt will be popping in often to update on our progress and make any pleas for help that we may have. *Did i mention Molly in Rescue and Rehoming?* 

Thanks again.

[Bazsmum]

  to Purrs Jodie....

Wow what an exciting and totally necessary plight you have taken on......"Power" to your cause! 

[FreeToGoodHome Helper]

Dont panic by my Username! 

I'm Jodie from South Yorkshire! I don't have any cats at the moment but do own two dogs 

I have joined to get help and support with my new venture! details below. I do hope to get you all behind our cause - we believe it's very muchly needed and look forward to some happy endings.

We are a newly set up group of volunteers who redirect Free To Good Home free ad pets into rescue. We have and are building up a range of volunteers who contact people who have FTGH adverts and get them to rehome via us and our website/forum instead. We then use our rescue contacts and work very hard to secure a rescue placement and rescue back up for their pets (cats and dogs). We also arrange homechecking and transport to get these pets to safety.

Once this is done we then help to find new homes for them. Ideally and in most cases the animal will move to a rescue/foster placement who will use their own contacts to find the pet a home. We do however secure rescue ‘back up’ these are usually the ones already neutered and who are looking to be placed in foster or new homes after a homecheck, these remain with their owner until these can be found.

This is pretty much us! Its hard work! we are always needing support from volunteers/rescues/fosterers and the like.    We will also post our Cats we need help with in the rescue forum. *check out Molly!*
i'm on simon@cook809.orangehome.co.uk

I am happy to report we have had confirmation that we can post a link to our site! *Thanks Tan!*    It is another forum so please register and support us! we're on http://freetogoodhome.invisionplus.net

Speak soon!