Cat rehoming website suggestion?

[CC & The Pussycat Guys & Dolls]

Surely its about helping the cats, no matter where they come from? 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

This has veered off topic and think future responces should be aimed at the original title 

Other issues should be discussed in their own thread please.

[Teresa Pawcats]

Suzanne sorry I cannot reply to you within forum guidlines, but suggest you look at stats.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Not posting is not the same as ignoring.  Not having any advice is not the same as not caring.

I can't speak for anyone else, but the more I feel chided for not going somewhere, the more I feel I want to stay away.

[Teresa Pawcats]

I'm probably going to make myself unpopular now, but it saddens me to see so many cats needing new homes, while the section on Purrs for people looking for cats or kittens, or needing help with home visits, is almost completely ignored

even if no one can help, surely someone could answer such posts with some practical advice

Trigger I think you will find that majority of people now ignore Rescue?rehoming section. It is noticeable that this was posted in general.

[Kay and Penny]

I'm probably going to make myself unpopular now, but it saddens me to see so many cats needing new homes, while the section on Purrs for people looking for cats or kittens, or needing help with home visits, is almost completely ignored

even if no one can help, surely someone could answer such posts with some practical advice

[JackSpratt]

I know it may sound really harsh but I feel if you are unable to help yourself, it is best not to post on here and put pressure on others to help. It can always be suggested to the original ad poster to come on to Purrs or Cat Chat seeking advice.

I disagree. Just because I'm unable to help doesn't mean someone that isn't a rescue isn't. (Refer back to Nonis situation.) And in most instances I DO tell people about Purrs, Cat Chat and a few other forums.

I'm sorry you feel that way, Teresa. And Angie and Lesley, I expect no more or less from small rescues; they do everything they can and I'm well aware of that. How you feel when you read a post isn't necessarily the posters fault, and I think to assume the only people that want to help run a rescue is undermining the compassion and capabilities of people that don't to a degree.

If I suggest this has now veered off topic will anyone take offence?

Nope, not offended - completely agree. Sorry, Claire was partly my fault. Would you like me to post about Darcy on other reputable sites I know of when I get five?

[Teresa Pawcats]

Quite agree Angie

[Teresa Pawcats]

 The cats I've posted on here are rarely from the G site, but from Freecycle . I appreciate how sad it makes all the rescue workers, it makes me sad too.

An ad is an Ad regardless of where it came from

Cross posting can be a very effective way of finding a good home if checks are in place.

Yes I definately remember numerous emails/pms re homechecks etc from various people asking advice. So down to a rescue again

I think a child board for free ads that people are especially worried about is an excellent idea.

How about we change Purrs oin our Hearts to "Ultimate Freeads that arent G"

[Angiew]

I think we've had this debate before and the decision made was to continue posting these cats - didn't it also cause some upset at the time? one of the few purrgates?

If I suggest this has now veered off topic will anyone take offence?

[LesleyW]

I'm sure these freead "rescues" are placed on here with every good intention and are not aimed at the rescues already on here but we rescues, by our nature, often feel compelled to act, even though we are normally stretched to the limit anyway.  I know we certainly don't have to go looking for cats and kittens to rescue, they seem to find us easily enough on their own, but being reminded of these "other" cases does, I feel, add to our pressure, even though that is not the intention.


I am like T, and have to stop myself reading such threads but, on the other hand, feel compelled to read them in case they are in my area and I am then thought of as not helping where I should.


I know it may sound really harsh but I feel if you are unable to help yourself, it is best not to post on here and put pressure on others to help. It can always be suggested to the original ad poster to come on to Purrs or Cat Chat seeking advice.

[JackSpratt]

Sorry Noni - you know you're a princess to me, Sweetheart.

Noone is trying to remind rescues of the cats they can't take in. The cats I've posted on here are rarely from the G site, but from Freecycle which I use to obtain household goods when they're needed. (Because that's what it's meant to be for.) I've posted because there is a chance a genuine cat lover might be able to help; NOT necessarily a rescue, because it's not just rescues that use the site. I appreciate how sad it makes all the rescue workers, it makes me sad too.

Cross posting can be a very effective way of finding a good home if checks are in place. I know a lot of good rescues that use this method.

I think a child board for free ads that people are especially worried about is an excellent idea.

[Angiew]

perhaps if we had a thread devoted to freead 'emergencies' then we could choose to ignore or not? Not speaking for all rescues but we are now at the point when I'd have to turn a pregnant cat away and as T says, we really don't need reminding of the ones we can't take in.

[Teresa Pawcats]

I want to make my position clear about freead rescues that end up being posted on here, even though I have taken cats advertised on this site, it sickens me to keep reading about them and I have told this to JS long ago. I do more than I should be doing already and find all these extra lists too difficult to cope with. I also find it terrible that cats are being moved from one area to another (like I took Pepsi from Derby) simply because the very bad rescue in Pepsis area only dealt pedigrees and to hell with blacks and anything that would cost money, and yes lets be honest we have seen it happen on this forum.
I have the choice which posts to read and it is really sad that I should be forced to stop reading cats needing placements, at the end of the day I didnt see anyone queuing up to offer a place to Olly cost to me £550 before I got to see him, the Bolton cats cost well over £1000 ,Pepsi Chico and 5 kittens costs without food over £500, its sad. Of these 3 seperate lots taken in the total donation received towards them was £10.
So you can see any further lists are just a pain, my opinion if you dont like what I say remember you dont have to read it.
Sad to say Purrs is getting like one big Freead.

 

[Rosella moggy]

Ms ????? Baroni is SERIOUSLY spoilt and it's ace and definitly what she deserves.

   Ahem .... Princess IF you don't mind other mummy 

Princess N
x

Aaw ta JS    Rosella x

[JackSpratt]

I am sure Jackspratt wont mind me reminding you of Pepsi that she spotted on a freead, eventually the posts about her worn me down and I took Pepsi and her kitten who needed urgent vet treatment for pneumonia, Pepsi was heavily pregnant and later gave birth to 5 more, so how on earth would someone have afforded that lot ?

I really don't mind - I was seriously glad a rescue with your experience stepped in.

Personally I agree that education is needed in most cases. The ideal scenario is one that a Purrs member managed recently (I think it was JackSpratt?) where the local Freecycle group banned posting of live animals and instead provided links to rescues and information.

Yep, that was me again.....

I thought Purrs was the kind of site you mean, Claire. (Or am I getting confused? ) It's a rescue and rehoming site, so people are more than OK to post private rehomes on to my knowledge. But then it's up to that individual to chase up whether the cat is going to a safe place.

When I took Noni on from Freecycle I could only have dreamed that someone like Rosella would fall in love with her. Rosella happily sent me info on her home, her other cats, photos of her home and contact info for her vets giving me permission to call them for a chat. I looked up the area to ensure I felt it the "right" one for Noni. Ms Baroni is SERIOUSLY spoilt and it's ace and definitely what she deserves.

Sadly, there are going to be times when people are less than honest about the sort of person they are - even face to face with a rescue worker. There's always a bit of a risk rehoming I guess. 

[Claire_smc]

  I see why people have misgivings, but I think some regulation has to be better than none, which is what freesites generally have with regards to animals.

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

Didn't want to come across harshly, Claire, I just get the red mists on certain subjects. 

I think we all learned the hard way with regard to Oliver and Willow's case that arrangements organised between two parties who are strangers to each other via websites need to be rigidly and ruthlessly researched before commitment. It's inevitable that matches made over the internet are sometimes going at great geographical distances from each other. It's the level of research that some websites have the capacity for that varies so wildly across the board. Given past histories and knowing what can happen when it goes wrong, I for one would not wish to be responsible for orchestrating a future disaster... so for these reasons, sorry, I'm out.  Over to the next dragon. 

[Claire_smc]

Thanks for all your replies, I'll try and answer as much as I can. Firstly, I wasn't trying to raise Darcy's profile as it was, and I'm not complaining that he's still here. I said I'm perfectly happy to keep him for as long as it takes to find him the perfect home  As such I haven't asked for him to be put on the front page as there are other cats in greater need than he is.

She expected us to have a magic answer - yes, I have a magic answer... don't buy kittens from a free ads website!

Of course, I hope people realise that what I'm suggesting is so that things like this don't happen as often. As it is, people list cats on free sites, someone with good intentions will see it, feel sorry for it, and inquire. Person getting rid will give the cat away without doing a homecheck, asking any questions about the home etc, and the match will potentially be bad. If there was a site which asked all these questions and tried to match the cat to the right owner in cases where no rescue places are available, hopefully there would be less pieces left to pick up when the homing goes wrong. It wouldn't be a perfect fix to all of the problems associated with freesites, but if there was one place where some of the cats could go that would normally end up on freesites, and others knew about it and could be matched up properly, surely that would help?

If rescues are full and she can't find a good home through friends/family what's her next step?

This is the biggest point I'm trying to make  As I mentioned, I'm happy to keep Darcy for as long as it takes, but I'm (hopefully!) what could be described as a responsible and educated owner. Some people will have genuine reasons for giving up their cat, be turned away by rescues and have no other choice but to put their cats on freesites. They might not think to ask questions about the potential home etc or realise that there's people out there who will use the sites for bad. I'm sure I can't be the only one out there in my situation, and I know I'd use a site which could potentially find Darcy a good home which was checked, instead of wanting to put him up on a free site.

The rabbit rehoming site that fluffybunny posted shows that it can work if done properly.

BUT anyway, as I keep pointing out, it's just a suggestion that I thought would fill a 'gap in the market' as it were. I probably wouldn't be able to do it personally but if there was someone out there looking for a way to help the situation it could be used and developed as an idea and all the kinks worked out, I clearly don't have all the answers   

[Teresa Pawcats]

There is too much competition for homes as it is and so at the end of the day if idiots like me are happy to pick up the pieces and fight for every life there will never be enough homes to go round.

Awful as it sounds the only way to solve the terrible problem would be mass euthanasia and abortion and before anyone bites my head off I am against both.

[Ellen2010]

I know for a fact that several years ago CP stopped the waiting list for coming in and was just a small part of why I left.

The reason that I did not like the new ways was that is relied on people to keep phoning and if they were lucky and a cat had been rehomed that day and the space was still available then the person that phoned up first would get the spot even if it was the first time of phoning and would take priority over a cat CP had homed and the new owners could no longer keep for varying reasons. So was basically on first come that the place would go to.

Not saying all branches are like that, but this was a branch that would decide after 10 months of a feral kitten coming in being tamed and living in an ordinary household to put back to the colony a week before bonfire night knowing that within 500 meters a firework display was held yearly.

Mark so you know how heavily involved I was, I would foster, was lost and found officer, use to distribute posters every 2 months for neutering and the other month used to distribute posters for recruiting fosterers of the cats, vet runs and also used to go on fundraising events as well as crocheting blankets to raise funds.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I am sure that to get a cat as top cat on CC you have to be a reescue, so thats no answer for poor Claire either.

I am not pretending to have an answer but there is a problem as everyone knows and yes I can see lots of problems with a website but think it was a good stab at an idea.

I dont see the situation getting any better but Claire how about pming Tan and get him put in our news box?

Maybe worth contacting rescues in your area and asking him to be put on their websites, as Angie says she does on hers.............I assume Angie is not in your area?

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

yes, I have a magic answer... don't buy kittens from a free ads website! 

If rescues are full and she can't find a good home through friends/family what's her next step?

I'm afraid it's a case of Darcy having to wait his turn for a new home, just like all the other rescue cats have to. Meantime there are better places to attract better new owners.

After the obvious of vet surgery notice boards, ask Catchat to make him a Top Cat which will help loads in raising his profile. Go and personally vet the home when it comes along which will root out people using fake addresses. Insist on some form of change of ownership inspection by a vet or vet nurse and fill in the chip changes forms with them and post them off yourself. 

We used to do direct rehoming where we matched owned cats with new owners but we stopped because too many things went wrong. When cats became sick in their new homes the new owners blamed US for it.  Any website offering a rehoming service is going to get the same issues, which is why the GOOD rehoming websites only usually deal with bona fide rescues with good welfare track records. It's a two way deal, you see. Not only do you need to weed out the bad new homes, you need to filter out the sick/unfit for rehoming cats as well as the scammers. I have lost track of the amount of sad, sorry stories I've heard about people being mismatched or even ripped off through private adoption, even when they've adopted via certain rescue websites. If it works out, then great.. no one is more pleased than me... but alas rescues do have to pick up the pieces when it doesn't. Our waiting list is chocka with people who 'bought' kittens and cats and it's not worked out but the seller has grabbed the money and crawled back under a rock. 

[Guest]

I went and read Darcy's story. So sad and he is so beautiful!

[Tiggy's Mum]

yes, I have a magic answer... don't buy kittens from a free ads website! 

In fairness I don't think that's what Claire is suggesting and her circumstances are entirely different. She rescued Darcy as a stray from the streets and he is not happy being indoors along with the fact that her original cat isn't getting along with him.

If rescues are full and she can't find a good home through friends/family what's her next step?

[Guest]

Yeah in fairness Effie was pretty manky when i got her from tree. I have pangs of guilt cos there was her and her sister and they looked exactly the same and they were both being dangled at me. I pointed at Effie for no real reason, split second decision based on nothing and the other was just put back in a box. I wish i had had the money for both as I would have brought them both home but we had already paid a stoooopid price for Ella the day before. I was no naive then. Now I would have whipped both Effie and her sister away and reported the breeder!

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

Websites, schmebsites! 

Only last month we had a woman on the phone who had bought a kitten on the tree site. Kitten arrives and subsequently does it's best to drive her out of her own home. After it's finished doing the wall of death around her house, it turns her house into a flea adverture playground - only one problem, she can't get near enough to Frontline it. In fact, she can't get near enough to tell if it's a boy or a girl. Turns out the 'breeder' was a local farmer conning folks into paying for partly tamed and sick farm kittens. £40 delivered to your door. Nice little earner, why am I always the last to think of these things??? At least with us we tame the kittens properly and make sure they're healthy.  She expected us to have a magic answer - yes, I have a magic answer... don't buy kittens from a free ads website! 

[Guest]

Well I am not sure it would help to be honest. I think websites like that would be overrun too with the wrong cases.

Rescues in theory  should be for those people who have a genuine reason for the rehome -strays (like Darcy)or where the owners have become seriously ill or circumstances have changed where the cat can no longer be cared for, or is not happy. However it seems to be now they are ""I have dumped my cat" "I have 50 cats that are unneutered" "I only like kittens" or "my family is on Jeremy Kyle and I look like I need a wash"

Even gumtree could be used for what you say. If my circumstances were to change, I  do not think I could put the Kray twins in a rescue - I am leaving them at a cattery for the first time next year and think I will cry for two weeks, it will be a manly cry but I will still cry! So gumtree used right could offer a resuce without a rescue but gumtree has become a business sideline, "I don't want my cat, she is unneutered and unvaccinated but I want 60 quid" or "Please buy these kittens so my cat can get pregnant again and make me more money" or "me kat iz ned home blud". 

I also think that given the state of things at the moment where every single rescue is stretched that people using your website idea in the future will need to hold on to their cats longer and longer. It is becoming apprant there are just not enough homes for all the cats and yet people continue not to neuter.

The positive thing about the website you sgguest is that it would be for people like me and Sean who were turned down twice by resuces;
The first time because we wanted indoor cats
The second time  because of where we lived (No home check was carried out) and b) because we worked all day.

We were devastated to be told we weren't right for cats and anywoe that knows me knows I pray at their litter trays for twenty minutes a day, I love the girls so much. (except when they climb trees or wake me up early at weekends of course)

In our situation we then had to go to petshop for Ella and gumtree for Effie (yes people, you can stone me now!)

Knowing what I know now I cannot believe we were ever in that position. I just worry that your idea for a website would just be another listing of poor cats.

 
 
 
 

 
 

[Desley (booktigger)]

I'm not sure yet, I just thought of the idea now  There always sems to be people willing to volunteer at cat rescue centres, if there was one person 'at the top' who co-ordinated thes volunteers to do the homechecks and the health inspections then that could maybe work?


This unfortunately made me laugh - one of the reasons I have recently changed rescues is that the woman who run the old rescue had to give up her cattery space - we tried for 6 months to find someone willing to take over to keep the rescue going, and couldn't - we had also lost 2 fosterers in that time (we had been advertising for them even longer), even fundraisers didnt seem to stick. The new rescue (like all) is constantly struggling for volunteers, there may be people willing to do it initially, but very few of them last unfortunately.

[Teresa Pawcats]

Increasing the options available for those who need or wish to rehome is fire fighting, it is not solving the root cause - indiscriminate backyard breeding, irresponsible delays in neutering, 'accidental' pregnancies, thoughtless adoptions. We need legislation as other countries have: every reputable breeder/ stud owner should be licensed and every pet chipped, neutered and registered with a vet. The only place you should be able to get a cat or kitten should be a reputable breeder or decent rescue - both of whom will taken the cat back in an emergency. It won't happen because the tabloids will trot out  nanny state and big brother headlines. 

Many landlords won't take pets because too many pet 'lovers' are irresponsible, insurance won't cover that sort of damage and often the rent deposit is woefully inadequate. At the end of the day letting is a business, I don't see why they should pick up the pieces for the nation's attitude to pets - as a right, as possessions to be taken on and cast off at will. How many people would hand their children to Social Services if they struggled to find suitable rental accommodation?

Rant over. 

you go girl - I'm right behind you 

Me too but think I`ll go off for an early night and leave you fight for the cause.

[Angiew]

Increasing the options available for those who need or wish to rehome is fire fighting, it is not solving the root cause - indiscriminate backyard breeding, irresponsible delays in neutering, 'accidental' pregnancies, thoughtless adoptions. We need legislation as other countries have: every reputable breeder/ stud owner should be licensed and every pet chipped, neutered and registered with a vet. The only place you should be able to get a cat or kitten should be a reputable breeder or decent rescue - both of whom will taken the cat back in an emergency. It won't happen because the tabloids will trot out  nanny state and big brother headlines. 

Many landlords won't take pets because too many pet 'lovers' are irresponsible, insurance won't cover that sort of damage and often the rent deposit is woefully inadequate. At the end of the day letting is a business, I don't see why they should pick up the pieces for the nation's attitude to pets - as a right, as possessions to be taken on and cast off at will. How many people would hand their children to Social Services if they struggled to find suitable rental accommodation?

Rant over. 

you go girl - I'm right behind you 

[Fire Fox]

Increasing the options available for those who need or wish to rehome is fire fighting, it is not solving the root cause - indiscriminate backyard breeding, irresponsible delays in neutering, 'accidental' pregnancies, thoughtless adoptions. We need legislation as other countries have: every reputable breeder/ stud owner should be licensed and every pet chipped, neutered and registered with a vet. The only place you should be able to get a cat or kitten should be a reputable breeder or decent rescue - both of whom will taken the cat back in an emergency. It won't happen because the tabloids will trot out  nanny state and big brother headlines. 

Many landlords won't take pets because too many pet 'lovers' are irresponsible, insurance won't cover that sort of damage and often the rent deposit is woefully inadequate. At the end of the day letting is a business, I don't see why they should pick up the pieces for the nation's attitude to pets - as a right, as possessions to be taken on and cast off at will. How many people would hand their children to Social Services if they struggled to find suitable rental accommodation?

Rant over. 

[Angiew]

Anything that may do some good can't be a bad thing.

I'd love to see people offer to help their local CP neutering officers - leafleting areas, speaking to people, chasing up calls, chasing up no shows, driving the van....... Thats where the real effort should go. If anyone fancies it in the Coventry area pm me and I'll pass details on......

I've even started badgering the one show to start a campaign to encourage more landlords to allow pets (being as that is the most used excuse at the moment) - not that the bbc will do anything of course but again anything must help......

[Claire_smc]

i have met people that seem to think rescues are only for sick cats and if you want a healthy one you go to a pet shop    i think the free ad scenario would happen anyway due to lack of education. the general public largely arent aware of the potential dangers of free to a good home  and not homechecking and what can go wrong. i wouldnt have known before i got reading catchat years ago.  in my opinion a website like this would have to be publised as much if not more than the G- word to make any difference. i think what is really needed is education

Personally I agree that education is needed in most cases. The ideal scenario is one that a Purrs member managed recently (I think it was JackSpratt?) where the local Freecycle group banned posting of live animals and instead provided links to rescues and information. If all Freecycle groups and the G-site directed people looking to rehome animals to a site like the one I'm thinking of then it could help the situation a little. Like I said there will still be people who dump cats if they can't find a home within a few days, but a lot of people genuinely don't know that there is other options available. If they were given links or whatever to the sites then they might consider using it.

when i took in spare cat it was just while we found her owners (she had a collar and had been recently spayed) and after we gave up on that (2 or so months) and lucifer was so unhappy i tried ringing local rescues to direct rehome (didnt want her to go in a pen) and was told by everyone i called that she would have to be signed into their care and they couldnt do that anyway as she was safe so bottom of list. if id called back i might have got different operators and been told otherwise and in the end it was for the best as shes my princess but if the situation had been different and id not been such a pushover i would have had no option but to advertise her and homecheck as best i could myself.

This is the same situation I'm in, and what has prompted me to suggest all of this  I've tried all of our local rescues and none can fit him in. No matter how much I want to, I know that he can't stay with us permanently, and other than trying and failing to find him a home through people I know, it's getting to the stage where I'm going to have to try and put him on sites like the dreaded G-one. I'm sure I can't be the only person who's in this situation, who genuinely does care but has no other option?

[snarf]

i have met people that seem to think rescues are only for sick cats and if you want a healthy one you go to a pet shop    i think the free ad scenario would happen anyway due to lack of education. the general public largely arent aware of the potential dangers of free to a good home  and not homechecking and what can go wrong. i wouldnt have known before i got reading catchat years ago.  in my opinion a website like this would have to be publised as much if not more than the G- word to make any difference. i think what is really needed is education

when i took in spare cat it was just while we found her owners (she had a collar and had been recently spayed) and after we gave up on that (2 or so months) and lucifer was so unhappy i tried ringing local rescues to direct rehome (didnt want her to go in a pen) and was told by everyone i called that she would have to be signed into their care and they couldnt do that anyway as she was safe so bottom of list. if id called back i might have got different operators and been told otherwise and in the end it was for the best as shes my princess but if the situation had been different and id not been such a pushover i would have had no option but to advertise her and homecheck as best i could myself.

[Claire_smc]

OK You say They will do homechecks, Who is they and who will fund it ? Who would also inspect condition of animal?

I'm not sure yet, I just thought of the idea now  There always sems to be people willing to volunteer at cat rescue centres, if there was one person 'at the top' who co-ordinated thes volunteers to do the homechecks and the health inspections then that could maybe work?

You give one reason as Couldnt afford adoption fee, fine but how would the adopter then afford vaccs/neuter etc

.

They probably couldn't, that's what I'm saying one of the problems with freeads is. People might be able to get a cat that they couldn't afford, which leads to problems and suffering for the animal in the long run, but people rehoming their animal on freeads wouldn't check things like this in the first place. Not sure how it would work, but maybe the other website would be able to solve this problem somehow?

I am sure Jackspratt wont mind me reminding you of Pepsi that she spotted on a freead, eventually the posts about her worn me down and I took Pepsi and her kitten who needed urgent vet treatment for pneumonia, Pepsi was heavily pregnant and later gave birth to 5 more, so how on earth would someone have afforded that lot ?

Again they probably couldn't, but someone might have taken them in from the freead anyway, and they wouldn't have got the medical care they needed. In this case it was obviously best for them that they went into a rescue who could give them the vets treatment, however there are cats out there who don't require medical attention, and there is no space in rescue for them to go. If it was possible to find them a suitable home without them needing a rescue space, thus allowing more room and funds for cases like Pepsi's, then it would be beneficial for all involved?

Not getting at you Claire just showing my thoughts 

Of course, I understand that thre's loads of stuff that hasn't been thought through and probably wouldn't be practical, it was just a thought 

we always offer the use of our website to people trying to rehome but seldom can they be bothered to email photos/details to me to put on.
mind you, the average call needs cats to go within a few days so that doesn't  help especially when our homing rate is as slow as it is - we have quite a high percentage that have been here over 6 months and even kittens are slow to go at the moment.

This is one of the big problems I can think of with the idea, there will always be people who want the cat to go the same day, or really quickly and won't have the patience to wait, or email details in the hope of finding a good home. I don't think there's anything that can be done with people like that and they'll just dump the cat no matter what help is available. But I think there is a group of people who have been turned down by rescues because there is no places available, who genuinely want to find a good home for their cats, but who have to resort to things like newspaper ads or free sites because there isn't much else out there they can do, if you see what I mean?

i thought what you are describing is partly covered by catchat. i for one would not want to post on "yet another" rehoming site - I very often don't have the will or time to ensure our own is entirely up to date (not that difficult at the moment  )

The thing with Purrs and Catchat is that it is mainly used by rescues posting which animals they have available, and like you say the website is often the least of their worries. For the new website I was thinking it would be all animals that were wanting to be privately homed, that would otherwise go onto free ads or whatever. It would be seperate from the rescues and they would each have their own rehoming sites.

Like I said before though, it was just a general idea I had as a possible solution to what I see as a big problem. It's obviously not as good as rescues are, but it's a step up from cats going onto freeads and ending up god-knows-where.

[Angiew]

we always offer the use of our website to people trying to rehome but seldom can they be bothered to email photos/details to me to put on.
mind you, the average call needs cats to go within a few days so that doesn't  help especially when our homing rate is as slow as it is - we have quite a high percentage that have been here over 6 months and even kittens are slow to go at the moment.

i thought what you are describing is partly covered by catchat. i for one would not want to post on "yet another" rehoming site - I very often don't have the will or time to ensure our own is entirely up to date (not that difficult at the moment  )

[Teresa Pawcats]

OK You say They will do homechecks, Who is they and who will fund it ? Who would also inspect condition of animal?
You give one reason as Couldnt afford adoption fee, fine but how would the adopter then afford vaccs/neuter etc.
I am sure Jackspratt wont mind me reminding you of Pepsi that she spotted on a freead, eventually the posts about her worn me down and I took Pepsi and her kitten who needed urgent vet treatment for pneumonia, Pepsi was heavily pregnant and later gave birth to 5 more, so how on earth would someone have afforded that lot ?
Not getting at you Claire just showing my thoughts 
There are also certain very bad rescues who I cannot legally name who cherry pick cats/kittens from these type of lists, many of these cats if not sold on quickly die early deaths.I have said too much.

[Claire_smc]

That's the thing with the freeads though, potential new owners aren't checked at all, and people will often give away their animals to the first person to reply without asking any questions or checking that the home is suitable. If a website like that existed, they would do homechecks and try and find a match etc. I know a lot of people hate the freeads but I think they could be a great way of educating people or a valuabl rehoming tool if they were used properly, that's kind of what I imagine another website could do, kind of a mixture of a freead and a rescue.

I guess there's a lot of reasons why people could rehome through freeads, maybe they feel sorry for the animal being given away, or want to remove it from a potentially harmful situation? Maybe they want a kitten and don't think they'd find a kitten in rescue? Failed homechecks? Couldn't afford an adoption fee? Most of the time you'd never know, but I think a lot of the time it's done with the best intention on the adopter's side.

That rabbit rehoming site is great

[fluffybunny]

Such a thing exists for rabbits!  http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/search_form.asp

It is used by both rescues and private individuals and is quite well used.  I'm sure it's just the tip of the iceberg from the freeads but the rules do specify that breeders are not allowed to use it to offload stock and you are not allowed to 'sell' animals there, only genuine rehomes. 

In some ways though I don't think it matters whether a prospective new owner comes forward through the freeads, freecycle or a dedicated website, as long as they are checked out properly and the owner is reasonably assured that the animal is going to a good home.  I guess the question then is why they chose the freead route rather than going to a rescue - have they got something to hide, think it will be cheaper, or are they genuine people who thought they might be able to help out an unwanted animal?