I'm in two minds whether to post this discussion or not, but I think it's quite an interesting and important topic for debate. It's probably already been much discussed between rescues but I'm interested to hear people's suggestions. As most of you know, I'm trying to rehome Darcy for genuine reasons, I'm having difficulty doing this and he's been with us for nearly 6 months now. I'm willing to keep him safe and happy for as long as it takes to find him a good home, however a lot of people won't do the same with their cats and will just throw them out onto the street, or use websites such as the G-word or Freecycle to get rid. A lot of people will immediately condemn them for this but from personal experience, I'm almost beginning to understand why. I've phoned around every single rescue in my area (about 7 in total) and they're all full, and wouldn't even put me on a waiting list. I can completely understand this, and am in no way saying anything bad about the rescues because I know they're doing all they can with the funds available to them, and think they're doing a great job. But if a person is determined to get rid of their pet, the only other option is to go through freebie websites or newspaper ads. So when we look at free-to-good-home ads and condemn them as bad people, maybe they're already tried the rescue route and were unsuccessful? A lot of times this isn't the case though
So!.... I guess, what I'm saying is, what do people think would be a good idea to help this? I was thinking maybe of a website where people could rehome cats but isn't a rescue centre. So the people will agree to keep their pets for a period of time, they'd be listed on the website and others could look on there, be homechecked etc. So almost like a rescue, but where the cats stay in their original home instead of at a rescue centre and it's still regulated, so would be safer and better than the free ads. It wouldn't require much funding, only the website maintenence. Would people go for it? Are they only doing FTGH because they see no other option or are they doing FTGH because they're heartless and just want to be rid ASAP? Surely there are people who are rehoming for good reasons but can see no other option.
Sorry I keep changing the title of the thread, I can't make it sound the way I want it to!
