Me: Despite your stated measures, I can still find listings offering dogs for free on your platform (as evidenced in the examples I shared on January 31, 2025). This vulnerability in your monitoring system could be exploited by individuals with harmful intentions—particularly alarming in light of the recent tragic animal cruelty case in Winnipeg. Would you be open to reviewing and enhancing your current platform's safeguards?
“We are committed to continuously improving our content moderation processes to minimize policy-violating listings on our platform. Following the insights you shared on January 31, we have enhanced our tools to more effectively intercept and remove free dog listings. We actively encourage our users to flag inappropriate listings, which helps us refine our moderation strategies.”
— Kijiji Canada
Me: Your policy on free cat listings, which you indicate follows SPCA guidelines on shelter overpopulation, appears to conflict with current recommendations from leading animal welfare organizations. In response to the recent Winnipeg case, the Winnipeg Humane Society, Manitoba Animal Alliance, and D'Arcy's Animal Rescue Centre have all explicitly called for mandatory modest adoption fees on classified sites. This is not an isolated position—numerous humane societies consistently advocate against free pet listings due to the risks involved. Would you be willing to reconsider your cat posting policy in light of these expert recommendations?
“Regarding recent developments with free cat listings, we are proactively engaging our SPCA partners to seek guidance on revising our cat listing policy. We remain flexible and committed to aligning our policies with the recommendations of our animal welfare partners.”
— Kijiji Canada
Me: While you state that you are committed to reviewing policies to comply with legal obligations should legislation change, there are existing laws being violated on your platform. Canadian law requires registration papers for the sale of purebred dogs; selling purebred dogs without papers is illegal. Yet, multiple ads on Kijiji are doing exactly this (see attached examples). Moreover, legal precedents highlight the serious nature of illegal animal sales on Kijiji. In 2023, the Ontario Court convicted three individuals for illegal sales of Species at Risk on Kijiji, followed by another conviction for similar violations.
“Our compliance with the Animal Pedigree Act is rigorous. When "purebred" is used for unregistered dogs, we have established protocols to identify and remove such listings. While our automated systems are highly effective, there may be rare instances where a small percentage of non-compliant listings temporarily appear before removal.”
— Kijiji Canada
Me: Given these concerns, would you consider implementing human moderation to review pet ads for compliance before publication?
“Our moderation approach is comprehensive:
- All listings undergo automated screening
- Flagged listings receive manual review
- Potentially policy-violating content is promptly investigated and removed
We are dedicated to maintaining Kijiji as a safe, trustworthy platform by continuously evolving our content moderation capabilities. “
— Kijiji Canada
Next: Final details about my ongoing correspondence with Kijiji Canada.
Barbara
Read also:
Part 1. My message to Scott Neil, CEO of Kijiji Canada
Part 2. Response from Kijiji Canada
Photo of classified ad by Cory Doctorow via Unsplash