ICABS persuades DoneDeal to drop ads

EGAR

SUCCESS: Donedeal drops ads for dogs used in blood sports
19 March 2010
Irish classified ads website, Donedeal.ie, has responded positively to an Irish Council Against Blood Sports appeal in which we called for a rejection of ads for dogs used in hunting, baiting, digging-out and terrierwork. A big thumbs up to the Wexford-based company for updating its dog policy and beginning the process of permanently removing such ads.

When ICABS originally contacted DoneDeal about a number of dog adverts on their website, we were assured that "all of us at DoneDeal are big animal lovers" who didn't want their site to be used by those involved in cruelty.

As part of our appeal, we highlighted videos which explicitly show the cruelty involved in hunting and related activities such as the digging out of foxes and the use of terriers to trap animals underground and viciously attack them.

Donedeal's updated dog policy now includes the paragraph: "No Killing or Digging: We do not like the idea of dogs killing prey (e.g. foxes, badgers, deer, etc), as it can be a cruel experience for the prey, or the dog, or both. Therefore we do not accept ads that imply that the dog could/should be used for such activity. Also, we do not accept ads that mention or imply 'digging'." You can read the policy in full at http://help.donedeal.ie/info/dog-policy

"We're absolutely delighted with the stand DoneDeal has taken on this cruelty issue," responded ICABS spokesperson Aideen Yourell. "We will now be stepping up our campaign to try and get legislation introduced in Ireland to ban this barbarism."

For more information about DoneDeal or to place/view adverts, please visit www.donedeal.ie

Dog adverts reported to Donedeal

Below is a selection of the adverts reported to Donedeal.

"Fell X Patterdale pups.Top working parents overground and underground. Previous litters proven. Docked and declawed"
"Patterdale/Fell out of working stock...mother got killed in a six hour dig. This pup will make serious dog in the right hands"
"Terriermans supplies. Shovels, spades and grafts. Digging bars, fox nets, rabbit nets"
"Fox Hounds...Starting to work"
"Patterdale. Mother great worker [with] marks to prove it"
"Patterdale terrier - will make top class digging terrier...100% guaranteed working."
"Patterdale wanted - will swap for terrier for fox" [i.e. for using to attack foxes]
"One foxhound and one beagle...both starting to work and giving tongue"
"Lurcher - working all game, excellent fox dog"
"Black Patterdale/Fell Terrier pup...from sound working parents, used on fox and mink in cover and underground"
"Patterdale - has been used at stop end of digs and will dispatch fox and tackle brock...will hunt anything"
"Wanted patterdale bitch...i am a genuine hunting man"
"Patterdale dog...working cover and go to ground. Will make very good dog in rite hands...Fox terrier X spaniel dog - giving tongue and hunting cover strong."
"Dog for sale - selling due to size - too big for fox - seen nothing except for a few mink."
"Patterdale terrier x jack russel terrier pups - great breed for hunting."
"Patterdale dog. Fox dog. 100% any trial given."
"Lurcher - parents both good workers"
"Young ferrets - bred from good working stock - fed on rabbits"
"Lurcher dog. Mother: wheaten hound x collie hound, excellent fox bitch. Father; big coursing greyhound."
"Coursing bitch for sale, suitable for breeding lurchers"
"Whippets. IKC Registered. Both Parents working daytime and night time"
"Hunting dogs - both parents barking on foxes and rabbits"

http://www.banbloodsports.com/

Morganna

Thanks Sarah for highlighting that. I have often seen some appalling ads for hunting dogs. Well done to Done Deals on their stance.

doctor evil

For heaven sake I wonder how ICABS 'persuaded' donedeal to do this? Its a pity donedeal didn't stand up to them.

EGAR

Doctor Evil, it states clearly how they approached DD and how DD reacted. No sinister plot here .

crotalus667

doctor evil wrote: »

For heaven sake I wonder how ICABS 'persuaded' donedeal to do this? Its a pity donedeal didn't stand up to them.

They chose not support a pasttime that they do not agree with companys are allowed to do that , at the end of the day people are just going to reword their ad's so the same dogs will be sold on the same site making the move slightly pointless

Bearpup

Thats great that donedeal have done this....

I contacted them before in relation to them removing adverts for people looking for horses to send to the slaughter house / meat factory...they did remove the advert in question but the following day there were more adverts up

<snip>no links to ads<snip>

Maybe I'm just being sensitive but I think these kind of adverts shouldnt be allowed....

It wasn't me!

Bit crazy really. I mean, stating that a dog has good working parentage in the case of many breeds is just a strong qualification. Ads that state that it should only go to working environments are also just supporting the continued health of the breed.

I really object to some of the examples given though, and have no issues with their not being allowed, such as the one bragging about how the dog is a great worker and has the "marks to prove it". I mean, that's just abuse to my mind, and bragging about it. However the majority, where it just talks about dogs coming from good working stock or "just starting to work" and the like really shouldn't be censored, in my opinion.

convert

Bearpup wrote: »

I contacted them before in relation to them removing adverts for people looking for horses to send to the slaughter house / meat factory...they did remove the advert in question but the following day there were more adverts up

<snip>no links to ads<snip>

Maybe I'm just being sensitive but I think these kind of adverts shouldnt be allowed....

With the regulations that are now in force regarding the slaughter and disposal of animals, these factories are some of the few places that animals can be put down while adhereing to the strict guidelines that are in place regarding this. The other option is to bring animals to abbatoirs or knackeries. Moreover, as far as I know passports need to go through an official route when a horse is put down so as to avoid unscrupulous individuals trying to put in a ringer for the horse which has died/been put down. As far as I know, special licences have to be obtained if one wishes to bury an animal on land (this is definitely the case with cattle, not sure if it's the same with horses).

As sad and heart-breaking as it is that animals have to be put down when they're old/infirm/sick, these factories actually provide a service for owners who may otherwise have difficulty in adhering to the guidelines imposed.

Moreover, I'd much rather see a horse being sent to a factory to be put down humanely rather than simply being shot and left on the side of the road, or just let out in forests or on the mountains to fend for themselves.

Bearpup

I totally agree that the factories provide a service for old/sick animals but its the healthy ones that I worry about.. when people cant afford to keep their perfectly healthy horses / animals and sell them on to people who place adverts - top rates paid for factory horses etc or another advert I saw .... so sad. And these guys then go on to sell these healthy animals for meat money to the slaughterhouses... I just hate seeing these adverts.... anyway, we are probably getting off topic with this......

rosiejosie

I was just on Donedeal and there are quite a few new adds up advertising working dogs, e.g a springer spaniel, good on pheasant and woodcock, setter and wheaten pups from great working strains, a footbeagle working and giving good cover, that one could be swopped for a terrier ready to start working, and a springer for stud that is a "mental dog to go true any cover" and "gives great tougne on a fox". And many others along these lines. Is that not the kind of add supposed to have been banned? Oh and if anyone likes great danes there is a young gd, I think 8 or 9 months for sale,for a genuine reason of course, and the poor thing looks very skinny. I'd love to take him but three dogs already and no more room at the moment.:(

meathstevie

What could for example be wrong with an ad like : "For sale, 5 GWP pups, 2 dogs 3 bitches. Both parents working dogs." ?

And what is wrong with someone placing ads looking to buy livestock ?

I don't agree with people advertising fighting dogs on the sly or covert references to for example badger baiting but refusing to take ads from people who wish to advertise dogs for use in perfectly lawful activities in my opinion is a kneejerk reaction to a bit of pressure from a relatively small organisation.

stevoman

I agree with above. I do not support such barbaric underground pratices such as dog fighting and badger baiting, but there are genuine breeds of dogs with hunting strain that are well maintained and needed!!!!

examples come to mind that terriers are used for ratting. the oldest form of pest control. Now tell me what is more cruel. Entering a terrier to rats to naturally dispose of the problem in the way that the terriers have been bred for hundreds of years and the rats been killed quickly and fully or laying poison for the rats and letting them die in there burrows slowly.

Also Lurchers that hunt rabbits. Are can be a serious pest no matter how fluffy and cute they are with 7 rabbits grazing as much grass as one sheep, eating mountainsof veg and burrowing under grazing patches where livestocks legs can fall through the ground and get badly broken to name just a few problems. What options are left to cull some of the rabbit numbers? Shooting them? Thats okay if you are not near houses or livestock but running dogs and ferrets are a very quick and efficient way of dealing with rabbit numbers unless the ICABS would like to support the spreading of myxomitosis again.

EGAR

The danger with this is that it can take on a PETAesque slant very fast.

It's a bit like Breed Specific Legislation, i.e. because of the idiots who use their dogs as weapons the rest of us suffers the consequences.

I have reported quite a few ads with marked up dogs, references to badger baiting and digging out foxes. And they were removed very fast.

stevoman

EGAR wrote: »

The danger with this is that it can take on a PETAesque slant very fast.

I agree. Im am all for dogs being worked to the full potential of their breeds, but i was myself concerned about how far the ICABS wanted to see it pushed, but fortunatly the folks in donedeal seem to have common sense.

Graces7

EGAR wrote: »

The danger with this is that it can take on a PETAesque slant very fast.

It's a bit like Breed Specific Legislation, i.e. because of the idiots who use their dogs as weapons the rest of us suffers the consequences.

I have reported quite a few ads with marked up dogs, references to badger baiting and digging out foxes. And they were removed very fast.

Fair play indeed to you, EGAR on this. A great thing to do.

Our man in Havana

"Whippets. IKC Registered. Both Parents working daytime and night time"

"Lurcher - parents both good workers"

I don't see any problem with those ads.

Peter Banks

At the end of the day everyone's opinion as to what constitutes an "acceptable" ad is entirely personal.

However, sometimes ads are so plainly "in your face" abuse ridden that some action needs to be taken. I have had a working relation with all the staff at DoneDeal.ie for a number of years and have always found them to be responsive to removing "dodgy" ads.

As in all walks of life there are going to be people who try it on? But, by simply banning these types they will simply go "underground" thus perpetuate their illegal activities in a more sinister environment. We just need to be vigilant and report any "suspect" ads directly to DoneDeal.ie and they will, usually, make a judgment call to remove such offending advertisements.

Tarsna

Please try to sensible about this

a "working Gundog" does not chase prey.....kill it or bait it!!.......it is trained to alert its ower to the presence of prey........IF the owner has a gun and shoots the rabbit9or whatever) the gundog will then retrieve it

I have a "gundog" who I enjoy training on cloth dummies.........but ive no gun ........there are many people like me.

Next we will be banning a working sheepdog for chasing and stressing sheep.

scartman1

ads that advertise dogs for illegal practices such as badger baiting and dog fighting should be removed or not put up in the first place.
Previous posters mention 'Digging out Foxes' as illegal, undesirable it may be to some but this is not illegal. Lurchers for rabbiting is not illegal, while poaching of hares is. (Coursing clubs anxious to preserve hares constantly have a battle to prevent such practices)
ICABS i think are bragging about an achievement that they have not delivered in reality.

Many dogs are bred for working and this is not a bad thing once of course it is within the law. Advertising them as such is more than acceptable to most rational people.
The advertising of Horses for rendering is again a legal and necessary practice. Putting impediments to those that carry it out is not rational.

I wonder at the veracity of this claim by ICABS.

tomybhoy

scartman1 wrote: »

ads that advertise dogs for illegal practices such as badger baiting and dog fighting should be removed or not put up in the first place.
Previous posters mention 'Digging out Foxes' as illegal, undesirable it may be to some but this is not illegal. Lurchers for rabbiting is not illegal, while poaching of hares is. (Coursing clubs anxious to preserve hares constantly have a battle to prevent such practices)
ICABS i think are bragging about an achievement that they have not delivered in reality.

Many dogs are bred for working and this is not a bad thing once of course it is within the law. Advertising them as such is more than acceptable to most rational people.
The advertising of Horses for rendering is again a legal and necessary practice. Putting impediments to those that carry it out is not rational.

I wonder at the veracity of this claim by ICABS.

Everything on ICABS website needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, to say they misrepresent reality is an understatement.