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Anyone want a free baby?

10:34 AM EDT on April 2, 2012

I'll be honest with you, babies kind of freak me out. They cry a bunch, are way too soft, and I'm never really sure if they are laughing with me or at me. That being said, I'd probably take one if they were being given away. Not only could a cute baby help me pick up chicks at Whole Foods, but if it gets too annoying or troublesome I could always sell it on the Asian black market.

That's why I found this story by the geniuses at KFOR so interesting:

Man finds ad offering free baby online

Is it legal to give away your child on the internet? An online ad for a blue-eyed infant worried one man so much he called the authorities. He found it on Freecycle.org, a web site much like Craigslist.

The main difference is everything on Freecycle is free.

That fact could be what saves the person who posted an ad early Monday morning for their infant.

Daniel Bui saw the ad.

He said, "I saw female infant and I said, 'Whoa! What's going on here?’"

Bui was looking through his email Monday morning when the ad caught his eye.

It stated, "Female Infant: 4 months old, blonde, blue eyes."

Bui said, "It runs through your head on, what are they doing? Where is their mentality right now?"

Oklahoma City Police have received numerous calls about the posting; everyone asking the same thing, “Is this illegal?”

Police said the ad is actually legal, based on how it reads.

However, they said it’s not in good taste and likely isn't ethical.

Wait, you mean giving away a free baby on the internet is not in good taste or ethical? Get out of town! Too bad it was just a  joke played by a couple of boys who were supposed to giveway a rat:

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The ad posted about a free baby online Monday is not real. OKC Police Cpt. Nelson said the 4-month-old female infant posting on freecycle.com is, in fact, a joke. The house where the post came from has two boys, 13 and 11.

Authorities say the mother told the 13-year-old boy to put up the ad for the rat because he wasn't taking care of it.

He left the website open and the 11-year-old boy thought it was funny to post the ad about the infant.

Their neighbor does have a blonde, blue-eyed baby girl; that may be where he got the description.

Yeah, don't worry. The two boys weren't giving away their neighbor's baby, they were giving away a rat instead. There's nothing weird or strange or totally fucked up about that. It's totally normal for children to own and take care of rats. Don't call DHS or animal welfare or your Orkin man.

Anyway, I guess we should thank the sleuths at KFOR for tackling this important story and letting us all know that an ad giving away a free baby on an internet classifieds site was actually not real and just a joke. Now if only they can get to the bottom of this Craigslist ad for a free unicorn.

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