“Unscrupulous breeders, puppy and kitten mill operators, and dishonest sellers, take advantage of the Craigslist ‘rehoming’ loophole and dupe families into paying exorbitant fees for animals.”

Animal protection advocate and actress Kim Basinger has urged Craigslist to put an end to animal abuse on its platform

 Writing a letter addressed to CEO Jim Buckmaster, Kasinger furthers the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s (ALDF) campaign to close a loophole in Craigslist’s policies.

While Craigslist’s official policy bans the sale of animals, it allows users to post ads for animals they are looking to rehome.

‘Rehoming’ loophole

According to the non-profit, this loophole allows users to trade animals on the platform, which often become victims of abuse, neglect or are purchased for nefarious reasons such as dogfighting.

Additionally, corrupt breeders, mill operators, and animal brokers take undue advantage of this loophole to sell critically ill animals as well as dupe families into paying for animals they never receive.

ALDF said that the Craglist’s policy leaves users not only at risk of purchasing unhealthy, nonexistent, or stolen companion animals — but also leaves countless other animals not classified as “pets” in danger as well.

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‘Maddening’

“It’s maddening to see thousands of postings each day from cities across the country of unscrupulous breeders, puppy and kitten mill operators, and dishonest sellers, taking advantage of the Craigslist ‘rehoming’ loophole and duping families into paying exorbitant fees for animals,” Basinger said.

 “Partnering with the Animal Legal Defense Fund, I implore Craigslist to exercise its ethical and corporate responsibility in seeing to the closure of the animal ‘rehoming’ loophole by prohibiting these posts once and for all.”

‘Take concrete action’

Animal Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Stephen Wells said: “We have heard from an alarming number of families who have been victimized by breeders and animal brokers on Craigslist, not to mention the cruelty and suffering inflicted on the animals themselves.

Additional reports from public experiences confirmed the extreme violence toward animals obtained from Craigslist. In one instance, a serial dog killer mutilated and killed 29 puppies by procuring the animals using the “free to a good home” advertisement bait on the website.

“We join Kim Basinger in urging Craigslist to ban users from posting animals to the website for any reason and will continue to shine a light on the ongoing reports we are receiving from victims until the company takes concrete action,” Wells added.

• Read: Graphic video shows Detroit cop mercilessly shoot pet dog in its own yard after it clashed with a K-9

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Mohsina Dodhiya

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