# 'I Buy Strays' Website



## njdrake (Apr 23, 2007)

I wasn't sure where to post this. I get K9WebWorld, an e-zine for dog lovers. This is an article in it that's really an eye opener. I guess as the article says it is a roundabout way of urging support for the Pet Safety and Protection Act. It sure gives you something to think about.



'I Buy Strays' Website
From David Emery,
Ibuystrays.com website purports to offer cash for unwanted pets to be resold to companies engaged in animal experimentation 

Comments: IBuyStrays.com was online for barely a week when it achieved instant notoriety thanks to anonymous ads posted on Craigslist.com and the word-of-mouth criticism that followed.
People who viewed the site took offense at the apparent callousness of its message, expressing puzzlement, anger, and outrage. From day one, the question uppermost on everyone's mind has been, is it real? The answer is no. 
Though it purports to represent a legitimate enterprise, the website lists no physical address, phone number, or other real-world contact information. I could find no evidence that a company doing business as "IBuyStrays.com LLC" even existed prior to the date of the domain registration (December 21, 2007). I've found no compelling evidence of its existence since that date, either. 

While not entirely preposterous, the basic premise of the site stretches credulity. It is true that under U.S. law, licensed "Class B" animal dealers may legally purchase animals -- including pets -- from private individuals as well as pounds and shelters and resell them to research facilities. But they stay in business by cruising under the public radar, not by overtly soliciting family pets for purposes of laboratory testing. In fact, this website appears to be drawing precisely the sort of attention most animal dealers seek fervently to avoid. 

Hoax or political satire? 

So it seems there is a serious point to all of this. When I contacted the operator of the site, who replied to my messages using only the initials "IBS," he (or she) took umbrage at my referring to the enterprise as a hoax. "The word you're looking for is 'satire' (and militant satire at that)," IBS wrote. "The goal of a hoax is primarily either humor or to defraud someone. Though amusing to some, I would not call my site 'funny' and I'm not trying to steal anyone's money. So, by definition, it's not a hoax." 

All well and good, provided the site actually meets the definition of satire, namely: "A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit." So, what human vice or folly is being attacked? The unscrupulous practices of certain parties who actually do buy and sell animals for research. 

"The Animal Welfare Act allows Class B animal dealers to legally purchase from random sources and resell them," explains IBS. "Pets truly are purchased every day and sold to laboratories. If people are upset with the type and style of my business, they can feel free to just write me more hate mail instead of contacting their Congressman about the Pet Safety and Protection Act." 

Which I take to be a roundabout way of urging support for the Pet Safety and Protection Act, which was re-introduced in Congress earlier this year. The legislation takes aim at unscrupulous Class B dealers and their middlemen, called "bunchers," the latter of whom are not currently subject to USDA regulations and stand accused of many abuses. "Class B dealers and bunchers have been known to acquire lost, stray and 'free to a good home' dogs and cats, as well as pets from their owners' backyards," writes Stephanie Edwards of the Humane Society. The new law would clamp down on these practices, as well as research facilities which continue to purchase animals from illegitimate sources. 

Website focuses attention on a real problem 

So, while the nature and purpose of the enterprise touted on IBuyStrays.com strains the boundaries of both reason and good taste, it highlights a real problem for which a real solution may be in the offing. Judging from the sampling of vicious comments IBS shared with me, public revulsion toward the site has run spectacularly high. When I asked IBS to respond to the avalanche of criticism, I received this characteristically cagey reply: 

"I urge the public to contact their Congressman immediately and urge him NOT to support The Pet Safety and Protection Act, S. 714. This bill would prohibit the practice of Class B dealers and unlicensed individuals from selling random dogs and cats to laboratories and be very deleterious for my business." 

Translation: If you hate IBuyStrays.com and everything it stands for, do write your representatives in support of the Pet Safety and Protection Act, and put the real offenders out of business.


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## Moxie'smom (Dec 16, 2007)

I Buy Strays' Website


Someone awhile back said this site was a hoax.


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## luvmyfurbaby (Feb 11, 2007)

Well when I emailed them and gave them a piece of my mind this is the email I got back. And believe me I didn't express interest in their site!!!!


Dear Sir or Madame,

Thank you SO much for expressing your interest in I Buy Strays. Our
dream is that the animal you donate will be part of the cure for the
disease that otherwise would have killed you. Think of our payment now
as just a down-payment of appreciation from the rest of us who'd have
died too.

Unfortunately, due to the large number of responses we receive, we are
unable to respond to them all.

If selling an animal, be certain you followed our instructions on our
Contact page or we WILL NOT RESPOND:

http://ibuystrays.com/contact.html

Describe your specimen, its species, sex, and estimate weight, their
number, and your specific location.

IF you're within our service areas, we'll contact you with your
nearest drop-off point or arrange pick up.

God Bless YOU!

I Buy Strays
[email protected]
http://IBuyStrays.com


Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, and let them rule over
all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
God blessed them and God said to them, "Be fruitful, fill the earth
and subdue it, and rule over every living thing that moves on the
earth."
Genesis 1:26-28

But ask the animals, and they will teach you! Job 12:7-10
[email protected]
Compose Email 

Add to Contacts


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## Lacie's Mom (Oct 11, 2006)

OMG - how awful.


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## ClaBec Maltese (Feb 19, 2007)

I had this website linked to on my website as one of the many reasons that we require the pet returned to us if the new owner was unable to care for it. But then someone posted snoops said it was a hoax. But after reading what Maggie has just posted It WILL be re-added to my site. What a crying shame. 

Thank you Maggie for posting there responce for all to see.


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