Gumtree is a classified ad site owned by eBay wherein pet owners alike can sell and/or rehome animals. Since August 2018, anyone wishing to advertise a pet online will have to pay a fee of £2.99. While Gumtree currently complies with all 18 minimum standards for rehoming pets set out by the Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG), they are still falling short of ensuring proper animal welfare and the fee is not even a minor inconvenience for irresponsible pet owners set on selling their animals.

While PAAG requires Gumtree to remove ads that feature 'blacklisted' words or terms such as banned breeds and requires the minimum basic information about the pet (i.e. age) to be displayed on the ad. This allows many hundreds of animals who have underlying health or behavioural issues to be mis-sold and/or fall into the wrong hands.

Gumtree is required to ban adverts offering shipment of animals, animals for hunting purposes or as food for other animals, or to 'rent' or 'loan' animals in season. Although what is arranged through private messages is completely unmonitored.

There have been many horror stories of purchasing pets through Gumtree. A Scots man buys a dog on Gumtree (2015) to then re-advertise it after the dog bites him, only for the dog to then go on to savage an unsuspecting buyer who came to visit the dog after responding to the ad. The RSCPA respond to thousands of calls each year regarding puppy farms and dogs being bought and sold through the black market using sites like Gumtree. Gumtree themselves reported that advertisements for rehoming dogs have increased 785% over the last decade. Reports come flooding in every year as animals are being bought through Gumtree for dog baiting all over the UK. The Sun also reported an increase in barbaric dogfighting in 2016. These dogs often have teeth removed or have their legs taped together and are often starved and chained up for long periods of time. These are stories that we hear all too often but assume that it down to cruel individuals with dog specifically bred to fight. However, these people will snap up dogs of any breed and age to use as bait and to torture for their own amusement.

This industry is driven by a network of often unqualified breeders, transporters and dealers who put the welfare of the animal last. Gumtree makes selling animals quick and easy, yet so many people abuse the website for their own gain. Why buy a pet from a breeder that you don't know is certified or has done a full health check on the pet; when you could adopt for half the price from a reputable charity, organisation or foster where the animals are well cared for, health checked and microchipped? Breeders just want to sell you the smallest, cutest and eligibly easiest pet to take care of. They do not and are not required, by law or by Gumtree's standards, to disclose ill-health or behavioural issues.

Gumtree needs to ban ALL ads selling or rehoming animals and instead encourage people to use shelters or certified animal fosterers and rehomers. It is not enough to simply state that if you feel uncomfortable buying or selling animals on Gumtree, to use another service. Gumtree allows for lazy pet ownership and for people to buy and sell pets infinitely without considering the consequences or the wellbeing of the pet. Animals are sentient beings that should never be treated as if trading in a second-hand car for a newer model. 

I started this petition because…
I have had many small animals as pets over the years. I was searching for accessories for my Guinea pigs on Gumtree when I came across an influx of sellers advertising pets that looked terrified or underweight/overweight and often came with cages and accessories that were unsuitable. One ad, in particular, advertised a 'large' rabbit cage which could not have been more than 2 square foot. The minimum cage requirements for rabbits in the UK is 12 square feet. But this is the MINIMUM! Imagine being confined to a tiny cage for your entire life. However, these guidelines exist to help advise pet owners and they should be enforced by everyone, including Gumtree. Gumtree currently does not have any filters in place wherein cage/enclosure dimensions have to be accurately displayed in the ad and a list of animals that are suitable for the cage according to the minimum standards required. Pet shop cages are often grossly unsuitable, yet Gumtree allows anyone to sell cages advertised for the wrong animal, to unsuspecting pet owners.