Kijiji and Calgary Humane Society launch Breeder Certification Program
In honour of national Hug Your Cat day and our love of all things furry, we wanted to share an amazing program that we are running with the Calgary Humane Society.
As part of Kijiji Canada’s efforts to provide safe pet adoptions and sales, we have formed a partnership with the Calgary Humane Society. Starting this spring, the Breeder Inspection program will certify listings on Kijiji.ca with a ‘stamp of approval.’
This program was developed with an experienced Animal Health Technologist and will be used to inspect and certify Calgary and area breeders. Breeders who pass the inspection and will be awarded a badge that they can feature on their Kijiji ad.
Some of the things inspectors will be reviewing are:
- Conditions animals are kept in
- Overall health of animals
- Business practices of the breeder
Follow up inspections will be conducted to ensure the breeder’s practices remain in good standing.
This program will complement Kijiji’s screening of classified ads by ad reviewers, who will continue to review all ads posted to the site, including those posted to the pets category and stringent pets policies. We have a long history of supporting animal rescue agencies and in 2011 launched a page to allow users to search for pets from shelters however we are hoping this program help our customers who are looking to purchase their companion animal from a breeder.
Shawn McIntyre, our Community Relations Manager at Kijiji Canada worked with Calgary Humane to develop this program. We asked him some questions on the program and how it is going to be rolled out across Canada
Q. Can you give us some background on how this program came to be?
A. The idea actually came from numerous discussions with several groups, including the Calgary Humane Society, around how we could take our working-relationship a step further. CHS really championed the idea from the start.
Q. Why did Kijiji choose to pilot this program in Calgary
A. We are thrilled to pilot this in Calgary. CHS has been a long-time partner of Kijiji’s, and has helped us make many positive changes to our Pets category, including new policies, and a code of conduct. They have a great structure in place, and great ties with their local communities. It was the perfect place to try this program out.
Q. What is the objective of the program
A. The objective is to provide our users with an additional level of confidence when looking at companion animals on our website. We encourage users to adopt whenever possible, however if they are looking to purchase from a breeder, we want to highlight the really good ones that use Kijiji.
Q. Have breeders been receptive to this?
A. For the most part, they have. Some were a little apprehensive initially, but as we expected, the good breeders are proud of their business and facility, and those users have already started coming forward to voluntarily seek out this certification.
Q. How many breeders are currently enrolled in the program?
A. We have conducted several inspections already, with several more waiting to be conducted. We have started slowly, as to not overwhelm the Calgary Humane Society in their regular operations.
Q. What is the timeline for rolling this out in Canada?
A. We are already seeking out communities that might be interested in participating in similar partnerships. We hope to launch a few more by year’s end.
Looking to add a new pet to your family? Determine that a breeder has been meticulously inspected and passed by looking for a badge on their ad on Kijiji, which will indicate that the pet was listed by a breeder approved by the Calgary Humane Society.
If you are a breeder and want to set up an inspection email kijijisupport@kijiji.ca.
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