FOUR PAWS, the international animal welfare organisation has revealed shocking evidence of the illegal pet trade online classified ad sites. These ads are often offering illegally imported puppies, banned breeds and endangered and wild caught species.
Based on a study of 42 classified ad sites across 10 countries worldwide, people looking for pets online are being misled and mis-sold animals which are often sick, dangerous and even illegal.There is a lack of proper regulation of the online pet trade which FOUR PAWS have addressed in their campaign to warn the public about the risks of where they are buying their pets from.
“FOUR PAWS wants to stop “pet deception”, says Julie Sanders, International Director of Companion Animals Department at FOUR PAWS, “As part of the campaign we have developed an online tool which ranks the more commonly used classified ad sites to show the public which sites could be putting them, and indeed the animals, at risk: www.petdeception.org.”
Based on a set of requirements developed by FOUR PAWS, the sites are ranked accordingly and measures have been introduced to protect animals sold on their sites. Additionally, supporters can help the cause by signing an online petition calling on leading global brands such as eBay Classified Group, which owns Gumtree in the UK, to adopt the animal welfare measures.
The measures that are being introduced to the classified ad sites include:
- Having to verify sellers identity, so that there is no anonymous selling on the sites for animal sales, to help stop illegal activity.
- Running pre-checks of all adverts to remove illegal, misleading or inappropriate adverts before they go live.
- Having mandatory information in the ad on the animal for example important care, health and documentation details to help the buyer make an informed decision when buying a pet.
- Having in place and enforcing a list of animals which are banned from being sold on the site including primates, endangered and wild caught animals, underage animals and pregnant animals to help address animal welfare issues.
Take action against online pet cruelty here.
