Breeders on Kijiji

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For those of you who are passionate about ethical breeding as I am...

I'm pretty sick of having dogs bought through Kijiji showing up at the Humane Society, so I posted an Ethical Breeder Checklist on their site. I got a bunch of positive feedback, and I noticed that the people who posted after I did were very detailed in their descriptions of living conditions etc - a success, as far as I was concerned. Of course, Kijiji removed it, because there wasn't a dog listed for sale in the ad. So I sent the following to appeal the decision:

The "pets" section of Kijiji has inadvertently supported and encouraged puppy mills, backyard breeders, and unethical breeders. These breeders have made thousands of dollars selling dogs they advertise on your website, but at what cost to the dogs? In the past month at the local Humane Society, I have seen a purebred German Shepherd, a 10 month old Golden Retriever, and a 7 year old Rottweiler. If any of them had come from ethical breeders, they would not be there. We've also seen abandoned animals, horribly abused animals, and puppies full of fleas and worms come in.

It would be nice to say "we're just providing the advertising service", but unfortunately that doesn't absolve you of responsibility. If you are going to provide a service that unethical breeders can take advantage of to increase sales, you should also be providing the tools to help the public understand what the difference is between an ethical breeder and unethical breeder so that they know what the danger signs are. You've taken some steps in the right direction, but it needs to go further.

I posted the "Ethical Breeder Checklist" in the "dogs for sale" category so it would be seen by the people who needed to see it. Hopefully the people who are considering buying dogs read it and ask more questions, and hopefully the people who are selling dogs take a good look at themselves and their standards and ask themselves if what they are doing is good enough.

Not only should you allow this checklist to be posted as an ad, I would like you to consider adding it to your site as a permanent resource. If enough people become educated, they will start to choose to buy from ethical breeders. Unethical breeders will either go out of business or improve their standards. It's a simple concept, but it has the power to change the futures of many, many dogs.

The link to the checklist is below:

http://www.shelterdogtraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Breeder-Checklist.pdf

Thanks,

Tara Monahan
 
I found Emma through Kijiji. Very ethical breeder. I have seen other very ethical breeders post on Kijiji. Kijiji has become the new classified ads that we used to see in the newspaper. Unfortunately, I don't think you will change what they allow to post, or what people will say in their ads. If the public doesn't want to be educated, the public will not be educated.
 
I agree that if they don't want to become educated, they won't. However, how about the people who want to make an ethical choice, but simply don't have the knowledge? Knowledge is power, and power is a choice. We can't choose the breeders for these people - but we can provide them with the knowledge necessary to make a choice on their own. There are definitely ethical breeders on kijiji - this checklist will guide people who are interested toward one.
 
I don't think you find these classified sites are that interested in this. They are in the business of making money, not educating people. If they won't post guidelines, other than boycotting the site, there is not a lot we can do about their sites.
 
I say good for you for trying!! If you can help change the mind of one person or help educate even one, you were successful...:wink2:
 
People looking to buy a puppy should pay the breeder a visit. Seeing is believing. If it is a puppymill or backyard breeder they may change their mind when they see how the dogs are kept. I don't mean bringing the pup in the living room where everything appears okay. I mean like asking to see their kennels or their big outbuildings. They probably won't let you. That is a big red flag. We all know pet stores are supplied by the mills. People need to be made aware of the conditions these dogs are kept in. It will be a better day when these puppymills are outlawed.
 
Good for you for being proactive in trying to make the buying public aware. Unfortunately there are more people not wanting to buy purebred now than there ever was so it would have to be changed from being registered with AKC/CKC to what to look for when you buy.
It shocks me the number of intact males I am seeing now. Even at class where Tinsel is the only apparent purebred and is neutered, the other two are Jr/pug and Bulldog/pug and are still sporting testicles. At the dog park that my daughter goes to there are intact rotties, labradors, lab/poodle crosses, wheatons, shepherds and Jacks. Notice I refuse to use designer names for the mixes??? I shudder to think that they are intact because they are being used in "breeding" programs. If Kijiji decided to allow some input to discourage mass breeding warehouses then I think we need to rework the checklist to include all breeds and mixes, not just purebreds.
 
I wish I had thought of that a few years ago.

I was on a campaign to try to root out the puppy mills in my area. In fact, I actually did report one to by-law and Humane Society and they agreed to put it "under watch". This September, this puppy mill in Quebec was finally busted. I don't claim that it was because of anything that I did personally, but I do believe that its the small steps we do individually that will finally pay off.

Congrats for trying! Unforturnately, with Kiiji, your post will quickly go to the bottom and not be seen within a day or two, as new posts come in.

The best scenario is to start a website with a catchy name that will hit the top of search engines for people looking for dogs. Then they click your website, thinking they are getting a list of breeders, only to get your advice instead.....

This is not to say that you can't get good pups off Kiijji or your local newspaper want ads - you can.

But it is about education. And wherever there is an opportunity to educate, by all means, do it! Good for you!
 
I don't think you find these classified sites are that interested in this. They are in the business of making money, not educating people. If they won't post guidelines, other than boycotting the site, there is not a lot we can do about their sites.
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Perhaps not, but I would rather try and fail, instead of not trying at all. If this doesn't work, I'll simply post it under Kijiji animal services. If I can prevent even one person from buying a pup from an unethical breeder, the effort is worth it.

Good for you for being proactive in trying to make the buying public aware. Unfortunately there are more people not wanting to buy purebred now than there ever was so it would have to be changed from being registered with AKC/CKC to what to look for when you buy.
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It's the opposite in my city - Kijiji is swamped with ads for "purebred dogs" with "no papers". At this moment on Kijiji there are Bull Mastiffs (no papers) going for $400, Springer Spaniels (no papers) for $500, German Shepherds (no papers) for $800, and Labs (no papers) for $650.

We also have a lot of the popular mixed breed dogs (ie. lab/poodle etc.) - I've seen the prices of these range all the way up to $1400, depending on the mix.

When creating that checklist, I sent it out to a wide variety of breeders for feedback, and we had many discussions about the registration question. The question that kept coming up is whether or not people who breed these "designer dogs" are ethical breeders to begin with. For example, what is the breed standard for a pug/beagle mix? What are the inheritable diseases of a pug/beagle mix? What are the structural issues? What goals are the breeders trying to achieve through their breeding program with these dogs (especially considering the breeding program usually = one parent is a beagle, the other is a pug)? I do see your point however - perhaps there needs to be a "minimum standard" list as well, or a division of the list.

In the original Kijiji ad I posted, I also highlighted the fact that there are many purebred and mixed breed dogs at local rescue groups and on petfinder.com. With petfinder.com, it's possible to find virtually any mix of dog you want.

For the record (in case people think I have a huge problem with mixed breed dogs), I also own a mixed breed dog - she was my first dog, and I rescued her from the Humane Society.

I realize I'm probably much more passionate about ethical breeding than many people are, and it's because I'm on the front lines. I see first hand the advantages of ethical breeding, and the consequences of unethical breeding, and it breaks my heart. Three years ago we had 2 very elderly Shiba Inus come in - through the microchip, we were able to contact the original breeder, and she immediately arranged to drive (13 hours each way) to pick up these two dogs. Since then, hundreds of dogs (purebred and mixed breed) have passed through our faciity - not one other dog has been claimed by a breeder. And, to add on to Tagg's comment, 80% of the dogs who come through are not neutered or spayed - which is a whole other massive issue.
 
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