People have been using the popular Facebook-owned photo-sharing site Instagram to advertise animals for use in slaughter and religious rituals. Users can search for these animals -- which range from domestic pets to livestock to exotic animals -- through the hashtag #forsale.
Besides the obvious grim fates for the animals being sold, this trend has several long-term negative effects on animal welfare and the fate of society as a whole. Animal sales will encourage people to breed animals carelessly, and consumers may develop an addiction to cruelty and sadism which would threaten their neighbors and their neighbors' pets.
Instagram has ample funds to better police their site, but their terms of use currently have no guidelines for advertisement of items for sale, and do not mention animal sales. Please sign the petition to urge Instagram to ban the sale of animals on their site!
We, the undersigned, are concerned about the trend of Instagram users advertising pets for sale on your site, in some cases for sacrifice and slaughter. Users can search for these animals -- which range from domestic pets to livestock to exotic animals -- through the hashtag #forsale.
Besides the obvious grim fates for the animals being sold, this trend has several long-term negative effects on animal welfare and the fate of society as a whole. Animal sales will encourage people to breed animals carelessly, and consumers may develop an addiction to cruelty and sadism which would threaten their neighbors and their neighbors' pets.
We understand that your terms of use currently have no guidelines for advertisement of items for sale, and do not mention animal sales. We believe you have the means to ban animal sales on your site and remove offending listings, as eBay and Amazon currently do. Please make it a priority to enforce a ban on Instagram animal sales. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider our petition.
