PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
Press Release: Kijiji Continues to Profit from the Cruel Pet Trade: New Policy Bans Rehoming of Pets.
Montreal, December 12th 2014 – In the ongoing battle to end pet overpopulation, Kijiji continues to stab in the dark through yet another policy change. On November 26th of this year, Kijiji announced that they would no longer be allowing advertisements for ‘free pets’ thus discouraging families from rehoming their animals themselves and forcing them to sell their animals instead. ‘The stated objective is to stop those looking to take advantage of ‘bargain’ animals through free pet ads. Obliging an adoption fee, without any further restrictions, does nothing to discourage irresponsible, compulsive ‘purchases’ of pets,’ criticizes Gabriel Villeneuve, Director of Campaigns for SPA Canada. Let us remember how in March of 2014, Kijiji changed their classified ads policy concerning the sale of animals, requiring a fee of 4, 99$ per ad. With the ‘free pets’ section abolished, their new policy conveniently forces everyone to pay this fee. It is obvious that this policy is simply another way of profiting from a cruel industry: the pet trade.
In addition, this new policy does nothing to attack the actual source of the problem: the sale of animals for profit. With animal shelters still suffering from the pet overpopulation problem, all forms of for-profit sale of animals should be banned to stop the deaths of hundreds of thousands of animals in crowded shelters across the country. Since October of 2013, SPA Canada has an ongoing campaign requesting that Kijiji imitate their US equivalent, Craigslist, and ban the sale of animals on their website altogether. The goal was to discourage all forms of for-profit breeding and especially puppy mills, which are renowned for selling their animals on classified websites such as Kijiji as a report by Radio Canada in 2008 demonstrated. ‘Instead of banning the re-homing of pets, Kijiji should be banning the sale of animals to encourage adoption from shelters. With adoption sites such as www.petfinder.com available for families looking to adopt a pet from a local shelter, there is no need to continue encouraging people to sell animals as mere merchandise,’ remarks Mr. Villeneuve. Kijiji’s new policy is not a solution, or a step forward, it is a business strategy disguised as a good deed for animals.
About SPA Canada:
SPA Canada is a national nonprofit animal rights organization dedicated to creating awareness and educating people on respecting all animal species.
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Press release http://zc.vg/U9hie?m=0