WATCH: A DDO man rescued a pug after the dog’s owner posted an ad on Craigslist, offering her up in exchange for “almost anything.” Global’s Sarah Volstad reports.
DOLLARD-DES-ORMEAUX – Siegfried Vanderwee had the shock of his life when he was browsing the Internet and came across an ad looking to trade a pug for a long list of possible items.
“Someone that was selling the dog just wanted beer, hockey items, PS3, PD4, odd electronics,” said Vanderwee.
The ad even suggested a barbecue or a tattoo in exchange for the animal.
READ MORE: 5 reasons why you should never abandon your pets
The SPCA said it’s not the first ad of its kind, and calls the situation ‘worrisome.’
“I think it sort of signals the fact that we still have a lot of work to do for people to understand what it means – the type of responsibility that it entails – to have a companion animal,” said Alanna Devine, Director of Animal Advocacy at the Montreal SPCA.
The ad was originally posted to Kijiji on Tuesday, then shared multiple times on Facebook where users were quick to denounce it.
“When I saw some of the comments that people were writing, that they had seen the dog and the dog was abused, I couldn’t let the dog stay,” said Vanderwee.
Vanderwee offered up cash instead of the requested goods.
READ MORE: ‘Your pets are living creatures; don’t abandon them,’ says SPCA
He made an appointment to meet the seller Wednesday afternoon, updating concerned Facebook users along the way.
“Neither one of the two people I saw really seemed to care, they just really wanted to get rid of the dog,” Vanderwee told Global News.
But thanks to Vanderwee, the pug – Cooda – now has a second chance to live a better life.
“She’s perked up,” said Vanderwee.
“She plays with my other two dogs, she loves my daughter. Last night she slept in the same bed as I did and didn’t move a muscle.”
The Vanderwees can’t keep Cooda.
DDO doesn’t allow for more than two dogs per household.
So, it’s back to the drawing board as Cooda looks for her forever home.
“Given the circumstances of where she came from before, I’m going to ask that a background check be done for her next owner before I release the dog,” said Vanderwee.
For now, Cooda is adapting well to her new environment, where she will remain until the right family comes along.
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