After years of enjoying the benefits of Petfinder.com as an effective adoptions networking page, we have become increasingly concerned with the fact that Petfinder is now facilitating the frequent exchange of unaltered pets.

The “Post an ad” tab says that “all postings for ‘Adoptable Pets’ will be reviewed before appearing on the website.” Clearly, the ads are not being reviewed. People are abusing the site and posting pets “for adoption” that are actually for sale if you email and ask about the fee. The posting page does not mandate that only spayed and neutered pets be posted; nor does it mandate that all health information about the pet be included in the description. And even if the posting page did require this, there is no way to verify that site users will follow the rules.

Pets are also changing hands with zero screening process; not to mention the fact that many of these pets are not up to date on shots or heartworm preventative and most importantly, are not spayed or neutered.

This contradicts the mission of Petfinder and threatens the credibility of legitimate rescue and animal welfare organizations. Based on Petfinder’s reputation, people who adopt from Petfinder postings assume it is only via legitimate rescues and rescuers.

As Petfinder rescuers and members of the animal rescue community, we are officially requesting that you remove this portion of your site. Lost and found ads are appropriate. The “Pets in Need of Homes” ads are not. One possible alternative to this service, more in line with Petfinder’s stated mission, would be to offer information to people who need to re-home their pets and directing them to the many valuable and helpful resources available to them.

We are looking forward to your cooperation in making sure that as many homeless pets are placed in loving homes in the safest possible manner. As Mike Fry, Executive Director of Animal Ark, has stated in a previous letter regarding another issue, Petfinder.com gets a multitude of fresh content on a daily basis from its member organizations. This is an important part of Petfinder as a successful online marketplace, and as such, we feel that our opinions should be honored regarding this matter.