9 Dec 2025
The Pet Advertising Advisory Group says progress is being made but more still needs to be done.
Allister Webb
Job Title
Welfare and veterinary groups have urged prospective pet owners to be vigilant this Christmas after hundreds of suspicious pet sale adverts were found online.
The Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG), whose member organisations include the BVA, said a total of 436 adverts had been identified on participating platforms that breach its standards.
Although significant progress is considered to have been made on several welfare issues, officials have described the latest figures as “shocking” for the problems they still indicate.
Group chair Claire Wilson-Leary said: “We urge potential pet owners to consider adopting a rescue pet, rather than buying from online adverts.
“If potential owners do look online to find a pet, they should take care not to be scammed into buying a pet bred in terrible conditions, which could lead to a lifetime of medical or behavioural issues – or even death from disease.”
The warning is based on the findings of five days of analysis carried out by volunteers from several organisations in late October.
The most common problem was the lack of a recognisable photo of young animals with their mothers, which accounted for 38.36% of all reported issues.
Around 11.4% of reported adverts also failed to include a clear and accurate picture of the animal for sale, with 8% not listing the type of sale being offered.
The group has also said that around one in six (17%) of all adverts moderated on social media over a single week this summer were thought to be scams.
Ms Wilson-Leary said PAAG members were encouraged by the recent introduction of new standards across some participating websites.
But she added: “More must be done to ensure young animals are consistently shown with their mother, as this remains the least enforced standard year after year.”
