About Pets4Homes

About Us

Pets4Homes (www.pets4homes.co.uk) is the UK’s largest online pet marketplace, relied upon by up to 7 million people monthly, and helps rehome over 2,500 pets each day. Founded in 2005 and acquired by Pet Media Group in August 2019, Pets4Homes prioritises responsible practices and works to ensure trust, safety, and convenience for buyers and sellers. Through its focus on safeguarding animal welfare (and ensuring a safe and efficient process for buyers and sellers), Pets4Homes has earned a rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot (with over 9,000 reviews and counting!).

What We Do

For those looking to buy or adopt a dog, cat, horse, rabbit, fish, bird or reptile, the Pets4Homes community provides a safe environment in which to find their dream pet, alongside expert advice on animal health and veterinary care, tips on what to look for in a reputable breeder, and secure payment through the Pets4Homes Pet Payments service. Pets4Homes connects a high volume of serious buyers with responsible breeders and is also trusted by a number of leading UK animal shelters and charities.

Do We Check The Adverts Placed on Our Site?

Yes, we manually approve the majority of adverts that are placed on our Pets4Homes website in addition to applying other tools and safeguards (see below). We are confident that we operate the most stringent safeguarding policies of any site in the UK, however we are not an enforcement agency and cannot visit any of the advertisers homes, therefore, it is ultimately a buyer’s responsibility to make any necessary checks on the advertisers before buying or adopting a pet. To help prospective pet owners we provide thorough checklists to help ensure a potential pet’s wellbeing and a successful rehoming, as well as advice on the responsibilities of each buyer. We also benefit from - and are grateful for - an extra level of vigilance provided by our users who raise concerns about adverts, or report back to us after a visit to a seller which has proved unsatisfactory in some way. In the event of any concerns, however small, report them!

How Do We Uphold the Trust & Safety on Pets4Homes?

• Verification checks - Pets4Homes has a number of verification features within the platform. The platform requires licenced breeders to submit a copy of their licencing details and displays these publicly where relevant. Additionally, each seller is required to confirm their UK-based phone number, adding an additional layer of security on top of Pets4Homes’ own tools and manual moderation efforts.

• Animal welfare, regulations and advice - Pets4Homes has a zero tolerance approach to puppy farming and the unethical selling of animals. Adverts submitting for posting on Pets4Homes undergo automated review (with many being manually reviewed) to ensure that these adhere to our strict animal welfare standards, resulting in around 40% of submitted adverts being rejected and never going live. Unacceptable listings include: pets advertised as gifts or presents; puppies without a photo of the mother; pets imported for the purpose of being sold; sellers offering a delivery or courier service; ‘designer’ pets, amongst many other additional factors.

• Pets4Homes Pet Payments service - we accept payments for pets through Pets4Homes. The first anti-fraud feature of its kind in the European market. By paying through Pets4Homes, buyers can safely pay the full amount for their pet, via our partner Stripe, knowing they are covered by the Pets4Homes Guarantee. In case the buyer doesn’t receive their pet or the pet becomes critically ill after collection, Pets4Homes will guarantee a refund to the buyer.

  This means greater peace of mind for buyers while the seller can easily build trust with new buyers. This service is free-of-charge for sellers, while buyers are charged a small fee.

• Community guidelines - With over 6,000 articles written by veterinarians, reputable breeders and experts, Pets4Homes offers advice to buyers and sellers on pet health, care, and behaviour. Additionally, Pets4Homes has full breed profiles and thorough rehoming checklists for each pet type, as well as a Trust & Safety portal.

In addition to our own Trust & Safety team, Pets4homes offers an in-platform ‘report’ function, which is monitored around the clock, 7 days a week, by our Trust & Safety team. All reports are investigated, and Pets4Homes liaises with local councils and the RSPCA, to resolve potential concerns from the community. Pets4Homes also upholds the Animal Welfare Act, Lucy’s Law, PAAG’s minimum standards and is actively petitioning the Government to ban unethical importing of puppies, to prevent the abuse of animals and puppy farming.

Do you prevent puppy farmers or dodgy breeders abusing your site?

Yes, we do our utmost to prevent puppy farmers from trying to use our website. We do this by monitoring the number of adverts we allow each advertiser to place, and check an advertiser’s local authority breeders licenses to make sure they are valid. Just because a breeder has a valid council license to breed dogs, does not mean we will automatically allow them to use our service. If we believe someone to be a large commercial breeder and not looking after their dogs, we will prevent them from using our platform.

We also work closely with local councils and animal welfare organisations to prevent known puppy farmers from using our website. Our Pets4Homes.co.uk website was founded for pet owners, responsible hobby breeders and rescue centres, and we have zero tolerance approach to irresponsible individuals attempting to abuse our platform.

What kind of adverts do you not allow on the site?

We have a list of standards we have created that we stick to when approving or banning adverts. You can read them by clicking here. We also follow the Pet Advertising Advisory Groups (PAAGS's) minimum standards.

How can I can contact Pets4Homes.co.uk ?

You can contact us via email using our 'Contact Us' form.

Regards,
The Pets4Homes Team