Hello all,

I am a massive animal lover and have my own blog about animal welfare, through some fellow animal lovers I have come across the awful business of pets being re-homed using sites like Gumtree and often ending up in tragic circumstances.

Unfortunately, some people are so desperate to get rid of pets and use Gumtree to do this, they will let anyone have their pet and in some instances the animals are too young to be leaving their Mother and in other instances the animals are re-homed several times using Gumtree.

A few adverts were charging for the equipment but giving the dog away for free, some are swapping pets for iPods (!!), there was one advert for a rare monkey that shouldn't have been kept as a pet in the first place and the final straw for me has been the news that a male Staffordshire Bull Terrier was re-homed through Gumtree and found dead the next day with injuries suggesting dog fighting.

Obviously, not everyone is untrustworthy and would be cruel to an animal. Some people are genuine but unfortunately there are a lot of people causing great harm to animals by rehoming them without performing home checks, selling kittens and puppies before they are ready to leave their Mothers and being so desperate to "get rid" they will allow their pet to go with anyone, which could lead to a tragedy such as I have mentioned above.

What do you think? Is it worth putting pressure on Gumtree to stop them allowing people to buy and sell pets on their site altogether?

At the moment I know that some people are trawling Gumtree for adverts that are obviously cruel (for example, 4 week old puppies being rehomed) and reporting them to Gumtree, this is only a short term solution.

Useful Links:
Example Adverts on Gumtree

It's always a good idea to ask for even just a small amount of money when re-housing a pet, as it helps to sort out the genuine from the non-genuine people. It breaks my heart to think that my little Tabby could have gone to someone cruel as she was advertised on Gumtree for free and her owner needed her gone asap, she was only 6 months old when i got her and her life could have been very different if i hadnt snatched her up.

They stopped animal adverts on Freecycle.

There should be tougher checks. Both financial and psychological.

The number of times you go to the vets and the people can't pay the bills.

It makes you wonder why they have animals in the first place if they can't afford the responsibilities.

I tried to rescue 3 cats and 2 dogs from gumtree on Thursday. The person had advertised them, wanting rid ASAP. Unfortunately I only managed to get 2 cats out in time. It was very sad.

Since posting this Gumtree have now changed their policy and have removed their "Pets Wanted" section. Unfortunately, they still allow people to sell pets and just today there have been some very disturbing adverts, in fact I have had to stop myself going on there again today as it is too distressing.

I am sorry to hear that missyalicia, I just don't understand why on earth they had three cats and two dogs if they weren't able to care for them for the duration! I agree with Stud u like, don't have animals in the first place if you can't afford them.

Tamryn, I agree with asking for a small amount of money for rehoming, although would rather rehome from an animal charity so that the money goes to a good cause.

I just got my kitten via gumtree (he's a Christmas present but we've already got cats so we know what it entails etc I know they're for life and all that) and the woman we bought him from insisted we came to meet him, saw that we liked him, watched us with him to ensure we would treat him right. She also mentioned that they had had a woman come to see the kittens the previous day but hadn't viewed her as a suitable option because she was afraid the kitten would mess up her house and scratch her son (accidentally or otherwise).

To be honest I dont believe it matters whether your selling online or in a paper Through any other forms of advertisement, it just cones down to the person selling. Some people in oter forms of selling will do anything to get rid, others will want to ensure the animals safety. Personally I'm happy gumtree is there because I wouldn't have my gorgeous little kitten without it. He's making me so happy, one of Our other cats had just gone missing but my parents had already arranged to see him with the intention of him living alongside our other two and after seeing him I just had to have him

Mmmm someone looking to rehome their 9 year old cat. Why keep a pet that length of time then decide to get rid. I could see the point if the owner had died or something.

those kinds of adverts boil my blood, especially the ones re homing an older dog when a puppy is brought into the home as "they don't get on"
it should be last in, first out in that case - surely the breeder will take the pup back if there are problems.
i don't understand why or even HOW anyone could do that - they can't possibly have more of an attachment to a pup they've had for < a month, than the dog they've had for 10 years

New lover has allergies.
New child has allergies.
Cat's bills got more expensive.
Owner is moving away.
Owner can no longer afford pet and home and gone into rented accomodation.

i got my bing from gumtree 6 years ago hes a loverly cat no probs from getting him from there

one of the cats I rescued was 9. He's a lovely, gentle boy but very scared. I don't know how people can do it and have no attachment after all that time.

I think gumtree was a lesser evil.

We hear some quite awful tales about unwanted xmas pets being dumped.

Ridiculous. I just found an ad selling a puppy.
"i got him about a week or two ago for my girlfriend but we have both started work now and simply just dont have time for him anymore reluctant to sell him but we cant leave him by his self its not fair."
Seems like the poor pup was purchased as temporary toy then a proper pet.

I thought I'd share a positive gumtree pet experience.

About 4 years ago my husband and I decided we wanted to get a pet together and decided upon a cat. A guy was advertising free kittens on Gumtree and I responded, saying we wanted two. He invited us round to his, let us play with the kittens for half an hour and talked to us about his cats. The guy literally had two litters of kittens and about 5 cats, so there were about 20 cats in his house. Apparently he'd started feeding the strays and then they ended up taking over his house and having kittens before he could get them spayed. He was a lovely guy, not your steretypical 50-million cats owner at all, young, well-dressed and had a nice house. He told us he'd contact us but that he was interviewing everyone before he decided who the kittens went to.

When he got back in touch he said we could have our pick of any of the kittens but he would really like us to take a certain kitten and could we please home a half-grown cat that he'd become attached to that hadn't found a home from the last litter because his boyfriend wanted rid of most of the cats and he was worried about taking the cat to the RSPCA. We came round and me being a soft touch, took the male cat and the kitten that the male cat was mothering.

We named the male cat Tybalt and the female kitten Kisa. 4 years on and they are beautiful healthy cats and we love them to bits. Funnily enough, Kisa, who we raised from a tiny kitten isn't fussed by us at all, we just feed her and off she goes. Tybalt, who we got as a half-grown cat, absolutely worships us, he's so affectionate.

They may have stopped them on your freecycle but three of my local ones still let them through.


FaceBook are another worry, I go to a selling page and at first they were allowed, the rows were stupid with people telling those that didn't agree with it and to get a life as no one of that site would either give a animal to someone cruel nor was there anyone on the site a cruel person

They are not allowed now on that one ,but people do still post pretending to forget and the Admin dont really care as they didnt agree with not being able selling them in the first place, they only stopped because of the arguments

the adverts say.. first come first served or need gone ASAP. ...Some are only 8 weeks and already being re-homed


that's just one site in one part of one county in the UK think how many sites there are just in your own county let alone country

There are also the pets for sale sites on FB

Hmmm.

My missus inquired about free lab puppies to a good home on gumtree when we were looking years ago. Turned out it was a lovely 419 scammer who needed us to send them a cheque for £200 for the courier and some important injections etc.

Yup, send them a cheque and then they promise to corier us the puppy.

Uh huh.

Yeah, it's not just gumtree. I saw an advert (can't remember which site) for a kitten needing to be rehomed. It said they had taken on the kitten from a friend who was moving house and couldn't take the kitten with her, the new owner is now pregnant and doesn't want the kitten either. They were trying to sell it for quite a large amount of money.

I have had to stop looking at those websites, or I would have about 100 cats at home now.

I'm about to list my little springer spaniel puppy on Gumtree. I really don't want to but we just simply CAN'T keep her any longer and this is our only option. I feel so guilty and am trying to enjoy the company with her while I still can before she gets re-homed to (hopefully) another decent home. (

Rehoming via Gumtree is not your only option. If you really have the best interests of your dog at heart why not contact a dedicated springer rescue charity who probably have people waiting to adopt these dogs? Good rescues will do a strict vetting procedure and a home visit and always take the dog back if there is a problem. Try: http://www.caessr.org.uk

As they understand the breed they will only place your dog with someone who understands what they are taking on. If you really want to give your dog the best chance then this is your best bet.

Why and why?

Gumtree is no worse than any other advertising option when wanting to home an animal. You get good and bad all over the place. For some it's a fantastic way of advertising a pet for rehoming. There will always be scams and cruel people out there and they'll find their way onto any site which may make them money. There are however so many genuine people out there who for one reason or another simply can't keep an animal anymore. Isn't it better to try and rehome them than have them stuck in kennels for weeks, possibly months/years? Animals deserves homes. If you see a scam report it but don't presume that everyone selling an animal on somewhere like Gumtree is up to no good or doesn't care. If anyone has been scammed by an ad on there then IMO it's their own fault. You wouldn't hand over money before buying a car, sitting in it and getting a feel for it or a house where you've not had a look around the place. Any respectable seller will let you visit and be around the animal. Not ask for money before then.

I'd rather people sold on these sites than dump the animals where they may never be found.

I bought my hamster via Gumtree!!

I hadn't even thought of looking in Gumtree for pets, In the summer my 20 year old cat passed away and after a while I decided the house wasn't the same without a cat in it so I looked around various cat rehoming sites and happen to stumble upon Preloved website and there I found two young adult cats who were needing a new home due to a change in family circumstances. I phoned and arranged to go and see them which I did with my son and we were totally smitten by them the cat's I mean. So we took them home they lady didn't ask for any payment but felt I should give her something as she gave me everything she had for the cats and I could see she had spoiled them.

They are settling in nicely, and have helped immensly in me coping with my beloved girls passing.

piper

I got my cavalier ing Charles puppy via Gumtree.

Went to familys home, saw him with his mum and sisters, paid a deposit and was sent updates and pics till it was time to take him home. The womans daughter actually worked beside me, but never realised this till we went to fetch the puppy home.

I got my cat Esmarelda from Gumtree... When I was looking, there was far too many unwanted pets, but I was actually impressed with the girl who gave me my Ezzy! She had found Ez in the flat beneath hers abandoned by the previous tenant (the flat was left empty) with 4 kittens. 2 of the kittens were already dead, but the other two were alive. So this girl took all 3 in, got their vac's and flea//worming done, fed them back up and then sold them on gumtree (she was moving herself and couldn't keep them).. She said to me the reason she sold them was a) to recover a little bit towards food/vets fees/ equipment, but also b) to ensure that they would go to people that really wanted them enough to pay money. She invited me to meet Ez (the kittens had already been sold and taken), and two days later she was my cat. And is a very happy, healthy, loving animal, who got lucky when she was found by the gumtree girl!

However, I am really upset about some of the stuff I've read here and wish I could rescue all them poor animals, why not just take them down the shelter instead of abandoning them or not caring where they end up?!