Blue cross launches BelgPAAG in a bid to improve animal welfare standards in Belgium and across Europe
Leading British pet charity Blue Cross is spearheading a new coalition to improve the welfare of pets for sale. The new Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG) launched yesterday by a coalition of individuals and organisations from across Belgium (BelgPAAG).
The new group will be urging anyone thinking of taking on a pet not to buy them on a whim online. BelgPAAG is encouraging people to do as much research as possible when buying a pet online, to avoid becoming victims by unscrupulous sellers who pay little attention to the welfare of the animals being sold.
BelgPAAG will be the third pet advisory group to be set up in Europe, sitting alongside PAAG UK and IPAAG. This initiative will see Blue Cross working collaboratively with colleagues across Europe as part of the EU Dog and Cat Alliance. The alliance has future plans to launch other PAAGs across Europe to help tackle the growing problem of poor animal welfare standards associated with the online sale of pets.
BelgPAAG members will conduct a three month review of various websites advertising pets online, recording good and poor practice in order to measure the severity of the problem in Belgium and flagging poor practice to website operators.
Blue Cross’ initial research showed that on a single day in January 2017, over 2000 adverts for pets were live across four of the main classified websites in Belgium.
Marleen Elsen, Chair of BelgPAAG and the National Organisation for Animal Protection said: “We know that many people in Belgium choose to purchase their pet online and we have become increasingly concerned that they are unwittingly purchasing poorly bred animals.
“We believe there is more leading websites in Belgium can do to address these problems and make the internet a safer environment for both pets and pet owners. This inaugural meeting will bring together key charities to discuss the current situation and how we begin to work with websites to tackle this issue.”
Becky Thwaites, Head of Public Affairs, Blue Cross said: “Blue Cross is delighted to see the launch of BelgPAAG, we hope that this is the first of many European Pet Advertising Advisory Groups. We know that online sales of pets is a growing problem and have seen the success PAAG in the UK has had in removing inappropriate ads and improving the standard of advertising and most importantly, improving the welfare of the animals.
“We look forward to working with our Belgian colleagues to ensure that BelgPAAG is able to protect consumers and improve the welfare of animals being bred and sold in Belgium.”
