With over 10 million members, and over 30 thousand responses to pet adverts every month, Preloved makes safeguarding a priority. Maintaining pet safety standards on Preloved involves a number of different teams and technologies, working together. So what safeguarding measures are in place on Preloved.
Listing Guidelines
There’s a comprehensive list of guidelines for people advertising on Preloved, which includes a section on animals and what we will not permit on our platform. These listing guidelines are also built into the Place An Advert journey. Whereas some websites will remove a published advert if it doesn’t meet their guidelines, here at Preloved we simply don’t allow the adverts to be submitted.
The listing process must have all details included, such as a minimum number of photographs, microchip numbers, breeder license numbers, and Article 10 certification numbers.
Experienced Welfare Moderators
Only when all of these details are included will an advert be submitted for review by our team of experienced Welfare Moderators. They look to make sure animals look healthy, happy, safe, and housed appropriately. They make sure Mum is visible in images where legally necessary. Any concerns raised by our moderators are dealt with swiftly and, where necessary, adverts are removed and members banned.
Lucy’s Law & Unscrupulous Sellers
Our policies ensure we fully adhere to Lucy’s Law by reviewing member advert activity and obtaining copies of all Licensed Breeder certification prior to any adverts being placed.Lucy’s Law prevents third party sales by calling anyone breeding 3 litters in a 12 month period to be licensed by their Local Authority.
We’re proud to have introduced the 3 Litter policy to site several years ahead of Lucy’s Law which meant our systems were already equipped to deal with the change.Our system detects the number of litters sold by each member and freezes accounts if a license is required, preventing members to sell more litters.
All adverts on Preloved by a licensed breeder will include their license number alongside the local authority within the Additional Information section.
ID Verified Members
We’ve spent 25 years improving our member ID procedures. We offer all members free government-grade ID verification to offer both buyers and sellers traceability and transparency in the rehoming journey. We also ask members posting pet adverts to verify their registered address via PIN details.
Deposit Scheme
We offer a deposit scheme to help members transfer money safely when making a purchase. Only when both the buyer and seller are 100% happy and confident in the transaction are the funds transferred.
Reporting Adverts
Every advert on Preloved includes a Report Advert function. This allows our members to contact Preloved’s Welfare Moderators directly via the advert itself to share any concerns. The adverts are then investigated and action taken where needed. Members are removed if we feel it’s necessary, and welfare concerns shared with the relevant authorities.
Pet Safety Standards: Advice On All Adverts
Every advert on Preloved comes with guidance on how to buy safely. It provides everything from a buying checklist to details on how to make payments and how to report any concerns you might have with the advert.
Engaged with PAAG & Policy Revisions
Preloved is one of just 8 websites in the UK that work with the Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG) to help improve the rehoming journey for millions of Brits. PAAG provide vital information to support pet owners and would-be owners. and we take advice directly from PAAG members such as British Veterinary Association, Dogs Trust, Cats Protection, and World Horse Welfare.
Preloved’s policies are largely driven by the PAAG members, leading to us banning a number of species and breeds, adding Listing functionality, and increasing the number of photographs and word counts needed for adverts.
Authorities Data Requests
We work closely with a number of organisations that deal with prosecuting animal welfare issues. We share certain data with the authorities, abiding by strict GDPR rules, to help support prosecutions and criminal convictions.
Preloved continues in their commitment to improving pet safety standards in the UK.
