I've been trying to find some TOS for Freecycle and didn't know if they were area related.

I've seen lots of adverts for chickens etc which doesn't bother me too much, but the recent one is trying to rehome some cats. I can't believe that this person is allowed to do this, they did it once and now they are trying again and the home fell through.. I can't believe that this person is allowed to do that on there? Anyone else have any ideas?

I have found an email for a moderator and complained. I'm almost tempted to take the cats myself, if we didn't have an elderly one here, as a foster home as this person seems desperate.

Some rules are area related, or rather are subject to the relevant mods discretion.  The Bristol and Somerset ones used to have a fixed policy of no livestock then had a discretionary posting rule that allowed moderators to choose whether something could be posted.  This allowed the odd request for foster homes to go through and sometimes rehoming fish or tadpoles.  Recently I noticed that they've moved all ads for living animals to a Cafe area.  I've never looked at this section as it tends to include general chat, tickets and vouchers which I'm not that interested in.

Complaining to moderators is usually the answer though.  Ours are pretty quick to respond to members concerns and to take appropriate action.  Good luck :)

I use freecycle and recently there was a post about being allowed to advertise animals. I totally disagree with this, thankfully our area has yet to have a post re this.

I belong to 3 different areas, the one i'm seeing the issue with don't check them before they go live unlike the others.

No response from the mods as yet, so we'll see what they have to say about it.

I wish this area would check the posts before allowing them to go live, would make much more sense, but I guess they'll say that there are too many posts from the area to make that a viable option?

I'd say that as Freecycle is there to stop the landfills from getting filled up, how could it possibly allow animals? They're not going to end up in landfill sites. So even if the moderators don't care about animals or see the problem, that point might persuade them.

It depends on who is moderating it. I am a mod on my area and i definately dont allow it. You would be surprised how many posts come through that are animal related. ALWAYS the same people.

> You would be surprised how many posts come through that are animal related. ALWAYS the same people.

The group where I lived previously allowed animals, and there was one "serial rehomer" of rabbits who was always posting on there offering them free to good homes. It disgusted me that the branch of FC allowed any animals on at all, never mind someone who clearly wasn't a bona fide rescue, but forever needing "urgent" homes.

Our local freecycle often has dogs for rehoming -usually SBT types. A lot of members have obviously complained about this - especially when the same dog seemed to be advertised on there from two new homes :-( The moderators acknowledged that there had been complaints but continued to allow the posts.

Just recently our local FC group has become Freegle or some such name as the moderators couldn't see eye to eye with the mother group in America and decided to separate from them.

There are often posts on my local freecycle group offering cats and dogs, I think its terrible. There is on on there at the moment with someone who got a cat off there last year and is now getting rid, so sad.

Well it seems to me that there are loads of people in favour of banning pets from Freecycle, but it's very much down to the individual groups. And as everyone is only a member of their local group (Why would I be a member of say Aberdeen or Newquay FC groups if I lived in Norfolk?) there's not been a way to get everyone in all the FC groups all together to change it and have a national voice.

I bet if you could cast the vote, across the whole FC network in the UK, it would be resoundingly in favour of no animals. Time for a Facebook campaign?

I've checked the guidelines again and pets are definitely an 'optional' rule for some regional Freecycle Groups

See here  or extract below

The following are optional rules which some local groups also choose to adopt: (rules 9-13)

12. CAN WE USE FREECYCLE GROUPS TO FIND NEW HOMES FOR PETS? Some groups say yes, but keep it legal & lovingly careful. Other groups say no, please refer to Petfinder (www.petfinder.com) to find a pet locally. It depends on what you and your fellow members have decided on locally. However, posts about pets for breeding purposes are not allowed in Freecycle groups.

I sent an email to my Freecycle group setting out the reasons why allowing animals to be advertised was a bad thing, the admin took my comments to heart and stopped advertising all animals.

I attended a conference in Dublin where freecycle was mentioned as a source for obtaining dogs for illegal purposes, bait for dog fighting, and badger baiting to name just two.

It is also a  secondary source for dumping puppies if advertising for sale through newspapers fails, litters of puppies are being handed in to rescues that have failed to sell.

I think if you set out a reasoned argument against it then most people will agree it's a bad thing.

Not had any reply to my email from the mods :-(.  Doesn't fill me with much confidence now
I would of expected some form of reply even if they are allowing pets to be advertised..

> Not had any reply to my email from the mods :-(.&nbsp; Doesn't fill me with much confidence now<BR sab="48">I would of expected some form of reply even if they are allowing pets to be advertised..

because its voluntary not many people offer to become a moderator. It may be that they just have not had time to check their e mails and reply.
Why dont you offer your services and ask if the advertising of animals can be barred then?

> Why dont you offer your services

, I don't have time to be a moderator.. I admire those who have the time and want to do it, but if you are then actually do a good job at it. The site is far too busy for me..

Its not fair to say do a good job of it because they haven't responded in the time scale you require. If its a busy site like you say they are obviously busy. In my area there are only two of us despite numerous requests for volunteers. If we decided not to do it the site would not exist.

Tillyandangel,

I don't doubt that you probably do a good job of being a moderator, its not something I envy and it wasn't personal to you :-)
I'm not sure what is a reasonable time scale to expect a reply, and I would expect one. Its been a few days which I think is enough time, especially as ad's are not vetted before they go onto the site. You may think i'm expecting too much, but I don't. If you are going to run a service then do it well or not at all.. Sorry but I think customer service is very very important and us Brits seem to of lost the meaning of it somewhere along the line - again not directed at you or freecycle but in a general sense of the word..

Slightly off topic but it's on freecycle.
A post asking for a whelping box, dog "unexpectedly inseminated" a couple of weeks ago and the poster knows nothing about raising a litter. Extremely bad grammar etc; my heart goes out to this poor dog, hubby tells me to mind my own business but I am torn between offering help ( physically) or whether I should just post some basic advice.

We had our girl spayed yesterday so have a rather nice whelping box which could be given away ( if they have to use second hand)
What would others do?

Im a member of a few local freecycle sites and they all have different rules. There was recently a pup on one of them aged 11 weeks (and unvaccinated). I reported it but its still there...

> ....I am torn between offering help ( physically) or whether I should just post some basic advice.

Why not offer, what harm can it do? The deed is done, and if they are inexperienced then it could mean a lot to the pups' and mum's welfare to have someone on hand to ask for advice.

Someone posted a couple of years ago on my Freecycle about wanting so,e items for her cat, which had got pregnant accidentally. It was clear she had no idea what to expect or what to do, so I sent her a friendly email and we exchanged mails right up until after the kittens were weaned. I sent some YouTube links for kittening vids, so she knew what to expect and to have ready/do if needed, and answered all her questions. She simply didn't know anyone else she could ask, and her vets weren't too helpful, so she was very grateful.

My area has adverts for pets most days,mainly dogs,cats and chickens.I have e mailed on advertiser wanting to rehome a GSD and gave details for rescue.Howver they now seem to have a sub yahoo group for pets,but most ads come through freecycle.I was so crtoss to see an ad last week for GSD x wolf dog needing rehoming.I contacted the moderator and nicely informred her that this was most unlikely,would require a dangerous animal licence.The mod replied that she was an oap and not an encyclopedia brittanica.I e mailed back,told them that they could be subjected to alsorts of issues advertising wolves.Ad was then quickly removed.