Trade Me Action Good, But Not Enough

Paw Justice says although Trade Me are making some commitment to setting regulations, it’s not enough

On Monday 30 March, Paw Justice launched its don’t trade me campaign. The campaign called for regulation of online sale of dogs and asked auction powerhouse, Trade Me, to put regulations in place to control the sale of dogs on their website. Unregulated online animal sales provide a forum for puppy mills and unfit backyard breeders to thrive in New Zealand. The campaign comprised five Trade Me auctions, all selling advertisements to raise awareness of the issue. The auctions for a television commercial, full page press ad, and digital advertising sold within five hours.

The campaign triggered a positive response from Trade Me who has indicated it is looking to introduce some new regulations for online animal sales in the next two weeks. The regulations are based on a new voluntary code of conduct for breeders and sellers. Paw Justice is happy that Trade Me is actively working to address the issue, but says a voluntary system is not enough.

“We applaud Trade Me for making changes but if the new code of conduct is voluntary, it won’t solve the problem of puppy milling - the only people who will volunteer are those who are likely to be already breeding and selling responsibly. We know there are many legitimate, responsible breeders and sellers on Trade Me however regulations which require mandatory compliance before people can list their animals are needed to deter irresponsible breeders who are only in it for the profit,” said Co-founder of Paw Justice, Craig Dunn.

As part of the campaign Paw Justice has been running a petition to make amendments to the animal welfare bill with the aim of making changes to the law.

“Having taken part in the 2013 amendment to the psychoactive substances bill with our Animal Strike campaign, we hope the petition demonstrates that there is overwhelming support for law change. However law changes take time, and in the interim we believe Trade Me should be leading the way by acting as an ethical and responsible company,” adds Dunn.

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