Four Paws

Petition

Stop the cruel puppy trade on social media

Sign now

Social media platforms Facebook and Instagram (owned by Meta) have unknowingly become a favourite place for unscrupulous dealers to advertise countless puppies each year.

Easy access to buyers is fuelling the cruel and illegal puppy trade and the suffering of puppies. FOUR PAWS investigations have found Facebook groups with dogs for sale aimed at the European market with more than half a million members. We believe this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Sign the petition for Meta to close loopholes that allow unregulated and cruel traders to advertise dogs on Facebook and Instagram.

Learn more

Countless puppies suffer in Europe's illegal pet trade, bred in grim conditions on puppy farms, sold online, and often separated from their mothers too early. Many endure harrowing journeys across borders and arrive sick or even die shortly after reaching their new homes.

Illicit sellers exploit social media platforms to evade regulations, with 32% of puppy buyers who bought their puppies during the Pandemic finding their pets advertised on platforms owned by Meta (Facebook and Instagram). Investigations reveal dealers offering underage puppies, dogs subjected to cruelty, and those with severe aesthetic alterations.2

These dogs often originate from unregulated puppy farms enduring cramped, unsanitary conditions and lacking proper veterinary care. Sold at just a few weeks old, they are transported across vast distances, with buyers unaware of the grim origins.

Despite Meta’s platform rules prohibiting private sales of animals on Facebook and Instagram, enforcement remains lax, allowing cruel dealers to exploit loopholes and perpetuate this illicit trade.

You can help stop this!
Please sign to call on Meta to end the cruel puppy trade.

Call on social media platforms to protect puppies

Find out if we win

Can we email you to share updates on this and other critical ways to defend animals, including campaigning, fundraising and events?

We can only let you know whether we make progress on protecting puppies if you sign up to receive our emails. 

Are you sure? Choosing ‘No’ means you won’t receive any updates on our Protect Puppies campaign. You can unsubscribe at any time.

The information that you provide will be held by FOUR PAWS UK and your data may be analysed and publicly available information may be added to it in order to create a profile of your interests and preferences. For information on how FOUR PAWS UK processes personal data, please see our privacy policy. FOUR PAWS UK is registered as a data controller with the UK Information Commissioners Officer under registration number ZA283389. You can change how you hear from us via [email protected] or by calling +44 (0)207 922 7954.