I suppose some people might not know much about dogs and breeders and do it because they haven’t done much research?

Many of them will even tell people they 'rescued' it from Gumtree - they have learned to pay lip service to animal welfare to keep the peace, but in reality they want a puppy and they want it it now.

Because people want a cute ikkle puppy and they want it now. They don't care that it's a puppy farm or a BYB churning out litter after litter. People really just don't care as long as they get what they want asap.

Because people have no patience. Gumtree/Pets4Homes means that people can decide to get a puppy and come back two hours later with a living, breathing baby animal.

It should be illegal to sell live animals on the internet.

Our NDNs bought an expensive designer puppy. Said puppy was a pain in the arse because they didn’t have the patience to train it. They put it on Gumtree two weeks later. Appalling behaviour.

I made that mistake and I can tell you why..


Firstly I was mega excited about having a dog never have I owned a pet and thus never knew of puppy farms and how people are profiteering from breeding.

I was an ignorant twat looking with rose tinted glasses and only realised all the issues around this trade after we got our ddog. I know this doesn't excuse it but I would not make that mistake again.

It's horrible it's such an unregulated industry and wish something could be done about this.

Exactly that- they decide to get a puppy, Gumtree has a load of puppies. They don’t understand that a responsible dog owner would have been on a KC approved waiting list for a puppy from a reputable breeder, seen the mum and dad, been properly vetted etc.

Like my mate who decided she was going to get a puppy. A week later, gets puppy. Apparently a mini-daschund. On gumtree for £2000.

Now I don’t know what this puppy is but it’s not a mini DH. Very obviously came from a puppy farm too, as when she went to view it the mum wasn’t there as the World Cup was on and they didbt want to startle her with cheering so she’d gone to the guy’s sister’s for the day

I agree that there should be tighter regulation of how/where animals can be bought and sold, and that this should include things like a cooling off period (e.g., you cannot get the animal on the day of purchase and must wait out the cooling off period first), owners having to register/pass an inspection before they can breed their animal, etc but I don't think it's fair to presume that most of the animals currently being bought and sold will be going to shitty homes where they'll be neglected and abused. Most of them will be going to homes where they'll be loved and looked after.

Yes I imagine it's usually desperation as it can take a long time to go through a breeder or adopt from a charity. Two friends of mine have bought pets through Gumtree and sorely regretted it, has cost them thousands in vet bills - poor animals

When we brought ours he was sold to us on the basis that the family who had him couldn't keep him as the kids had allergies at the time we couldn't also purchase the brother (first regret) when the bloke dropped him off to us as it was a 4hr journey everything seemed fine until he left and was pooing blood. We took him to the vets the next day and over £1000 later was doing much better.

It was the vet who actually told us this is very common from puppy farmed dogs and that's when I started researching and found all the information out.

I had no proof to show anyone my suspicions of the puppy farm (called rspca) and as I was trying to get more information out of the bloke he started to hit on me and sending vulger messages to which my husband called him up on and after that I was blocked number changed and post online taken down.

My regret is not able to get the second puppy as I suspect he would of also needed the same treatment however I couldn't do anything about the situation.

Not every person who buys in gumtree or similar are out to abuse dogs I love my furbaby and he is my world.

I am really surprised by the figures quoted here -I have always been under the impression that the reason some people buy through gumtree is that the animals would be cheaper than going through a reputable breeder.

I've also thought that it was a place for selling fashionable cross breeds that wouldn't be recognised by a breed association. That's obviously not the case, going by what is written here.

It’s all impatience I think. When I decided to get my little nightmare/angel (this changes at a moment’s notice) I found a few breeders I was happy with (health screening, how they read, how they vet buyers, how they treat retired girls, etc etc) and one front runner, but then had to wait I think 4 or 5 months before a litter was available, and then had to get on that waiting list.

If I had wanted one from Gumtree I might have had to wait a week.

BasicUsername definitely not cheaper. People charge crazy money on Gumtree but buyers will pay for the immediate cute puppy in their life, plus (sometimes) the lack of any vetting of the buyer.

I should say there are also some buyers who just don’t know the dangers, or who Re trying to rescue the puppies.

I think it's the convenience and speed of it as others have said. I'm involved in cat rescue and rehoming and it's the same with kittens and cats. Some people want what they want right now - whether it's something specific like a long haired, grey, female kitten or something reputable breeders and charities don't recommend for them like a solo kitten when they live in a tiny flat on the 5th floor. They are not interested in waiting for the right animal and being on waiting lists or filling forms - getting in a car and coming home with a puppy or kitten two hours later is what they want. (Of course they also miss out all the health checks, advice etc. reputable, registered breeders and charities offer and a lot of these pets end up back in the rehoming circuit a few years later when things go wrong/circumstances change.)

Ignorance (no excuse) and selfish impulsiveness (I want a puppy/ kitten and I’m going to get one now).

Maybe because rescues are so bloody uptight to the point no one with children or who works at all can pass vetting

Maybe because there's no registration process for breeders other than breed clubs

Maybe because there's no clear process for those who want a pup but don't necessarily want a rescue of questionable parentage?

I'd never buy off gumtree or similar but I understand how people fall into the trap

Not just puppies, we adopted our dog last yr after the charity found her being advertised for £50 on gumtree.....an unspayed 7.5yr old bulldog. The man handed her over in the end for free, reason being she was v poorly. Turned out that even though he hadn't bred her she had a mummified puppy inside her. She nearly died
She's been with us a yr now and she's my baby and I'm so glad we have her for whatever years she had left.
Awful that people can cast away this animals with no second thought, I dread to think what would have happened to her if someone had bought her 

Ahright that is AWFUL. Your poor girl. Glad she has so much love now.

We bought our (then 3.y.o) very beautiful male British Short Hair cat through Preloved for £300 about 7 years ago. We drove to London to get him. He has a short seizure about 4 times a year but other than that is pretty bombproof. We think of him as a semi-rescue cat because we think he was being used for stud, and was put up for sale because of the seizures making his genes no good.
He was kept outside at his old home in a specially kitted-out shed with the run of the yard (netting over the top) so we did sort of rescue him from rather Spartan conditions.
He lives the life of Riley with us, sleeping on our shins and piles of clean laundry, being adored by everyone.

I'd never buy a kitten through anything other than a reputable, registered breeder though.

Honestly, lots of people don't know any better. When I first thought about getting a dog I was lucky enough to have a conversation with a school-gate pal who was also a dog walker, and she marked my card. Before that I had no clue about puppy farming etc. The whole designer cross thing had passed me by too. If you're not in an 'animal space' it's easy to miss this kind of thing.

I got my Maine coon kitten from preloved and guess I must be lucky, I understand puppy farms and the like and how easy it is to sell this way but please don't suggest that the only reason people buy from these sites is because they are lazy and can't wait. I looked into multiple breeders, sites etc to find the cat I wanted and took due care and consideration when going to view her. The owner I bought my kitten from clearly cared for her cats and had all of the papers I would expect from a breeder.

Yes breeders and sellers of animals need regulation without a doubt and, what some of these kittens and puppies go through is unthinkable but some people who sell animals online are doing it for the right reasons.

Rescues are strict with rehoming criteria because they have to be, and not all of them have the same rules anyway. They have to minimise the chances of the animal being returned.

I volunteer at a rescue. We have 34 dogs in at the minute. 30 of them are dogs that were bought as puppies and surrendered to us when the owners either got bored, couldn't be arsed training the dog or left it alone every day and were surprised when it wrecked the place.

Exactly what Lagertha said. People want the puppy they want NOW. See it often. “I want to get a pup at the start of the summer holidays” etc.
They CBA to wait. They’re too lazy to do proper research and too selfish to care what happens to the parents.
No one sells online for “the right reasons”. It’s all about cold, hard cash.

I agree, it's wanting a pup, not a dog; wanting a fashionable breed and wanting it immediately that makes people turn to these sites.