Pets can be bought online in China

[davidc4430]

Live animals can be bought online in China, but they might not arrive that way

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-11/live-animals-bought-online-in-china-and-mailed-in-the-post/10...

i have bought tropical fish online from aussie sellers, my limited experience is those sellers have done a super job, the fish arrive in sturdy foam boxes via courier. they are packed in designed fish bags usually doubled up and sealed well from leaking. pure oxygen is put into the bags not just air. instructions are included to tell you how to best introduce the new fish to your tank.

and they usually have an 'arive alive' garantee.

[davidc4430]

i must add, i would never buy anything like a dog or cat to be delivered via mail.

[springyzone]

I can't imagine buying a cat or dog without seeing it but I wouldn't be against a careful courier service by a pet company. As long as it wasn't too long distance or anything. I can see it being a help to people who were perhaps a bit older or didn't have a licence or whatever.

One thing I have found with getting my animals from pet shelters is that we as owners were always vetted. I have had to fill out pages of questions about previous pets, theeir life spans, size of my yard, other pets, ages of those living in the house etc before we have been allowed to take an animal. I even had to take in a dog I already owned to make sure it and the new dog were compatible & able to get along.

So I think for any sale of pets (whether at a shelter/through a shop/delivered etc) there really needs to be some sort of systematic vetting done, maybe owners should have to get a licence. I don't know the answer but maybe the govt needs to set up some sort of system so those with previous histories of cruelty or neglect can never own an animal again.

[go-tazz]

This is where the RSPCA and the law should just step in and say NO.

The risks associated with unkown pets behaviour can have horrific consequences for other pets and the

owners,(trying to sell them this way leaves it open for sellers to get rid of any of their suspect stock).

It would also increase pupyy farms again and it's about time that they started shutting the majority of those

down,(there are enough animals that go through shelters to make up the numbers),

[zanadoo_56]

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@springyzone wrote:

I can't imagine buying a cat or dog without seeing it but I wouldn't be against a careful courier service by a pet company. As long as it wasn't too long distance or anything. I can see it being a help to people who were perhaps a bit older or didn't have a licence or whatever.

One thing I have found with getting my animals from pet shelters is that we as owners were always vetted. I have had to fill out pages of questions about previous pets, theeir life spans, size of my yard, other pets, ages of those living in the house etc before we have been allowed to take an animal. I even had to take in a dog I already owned to make sure it and the new dog were compatible & able to get along.

So I think for any sale of pets (whether at a shelter/through a shop/delivered etc) there really needs to be some sort of systematic vetting done, maybe owners should have to get a licence. I don't know the answer but maybe the govt needs to set up some sort of system so those with previous histories of cruelty or neglect can never own an animal again.

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Maybe its stricter if you're getting a dog.  I havent be asked half that stuff when choosing a cat from my local (RSPCA) shelter.

[davidc4430]

you can of course purchase very expensive speacial breeds of cats and dogs from interstate from breeders.

but only deal with breeders registered to that states governing body.

its most likely going to cost you an arm and a leg on top of the price of the animal for all the paperwork, vet checks, transport costs ect ect.

not something your average 'i just want a dog' buyer would be willing to pay.

plus the breeders rely on their reputations, bad outcomes and the business would die.

i have an aunt in sydney who breeds and sells bichon frize dogs, she sells them all over the world but is about as protective of her dogs as you can get. her dogs will only go the the best buyers. shes been in the breeding/showing business for at least 35 years.

i'm a bit out of touch these days so she may have retired from it as she would be nearing 80 now.

but i know she would never sell a dog without crossing every T and dotting every i.

but me, i would never buy a cat or dog without meeting the dog or cat first.

thats why i now choose greyhounds and burmese. greyhounds are plentiful and need the homes. burmese have the right temperment and breeders via the governing body are easy to locate. wish they still cost $200 like my first one did though, Rosie cost $800.

but spread over 15+ years its not so bad.

[myoclon1cjerk]

Imagine paypal's cut for a blue whale.

[zanadoo_56]

I know cat breeders in Oz have sent cats interstate by air, for breeding and showing purposes but I don't know of any who would buy a pet totally unseen and have it sent to them.  I have heard though that when buying a potential show cat or kitten from overseas (especially in the early days of bringing a new breed to Oz) it would not be unusual to have someone they trust in that country to assess the pet on their behalf before purchase.  It's also worth knowing that the cattery they may be buying from would already have a good reputation, a proven high breeding and showing standard, and has probably been visited by other members of the show circuit.

It's quite interesting reading about the 'early days' of bringing (for instance) Burmese cats to Australia.  The first Burmese to Oz, (Chamption) Tomahawk was big news and his arrival was covered by ABC TV.  With long periods in quarantine and the long journey here it was probably far more risky than nowadays.

With puppy and cat farms in Oz nowadays though, this is where the real issues lie.  Profit fro selling is all they are interested in, not the welfare of the pets and not even acquiring success in the breeding and showing circuit.

[tasfleur]

"Imagine paypal's cut for a blue whale"

               

[lyndal1838]

Cats and dogs are not the only animals imported from overseas.

There have been a number of pony breeds imported....Shetlands, Welsh Ponies, Riding Ponies.  We have had ponies descended from all three of these imported breeds.

And there are plenty of race horses bred from imported sires and dams and the Arabian horses in Australia mostly go back to some horses that arrived with the First fleet and later in the early 1800s there were some pure Arabian stallions imported.

Importing purebred animals from overseas is not all that new or unusual.