Report a concern
Sources checked
Email info@petsales.net.au about a scam using our name, an animal you’re worried about, or anything else. You don’t need an account. We reply within 2 working days to say we’ve got it.
- Someone in immediate danger? Call 000. We’re not an emergency service.
- Animal in danger? Contact the RSPCA in the state or territory where it is (numbers below). In the Northern Territory, contact the NT Government’s Animal Welfare Branch. Don’t wait for us.
- Paid a scammer? Call your bank now. What to do next.
There are no ads, check stamps or messages on Pet Sales Australia until listings open, and ads from the old site haven’t carried over. If someone sends you a “Pet Sales Australia” ad, or says they’re from us and asks you to pay or for your bank or card details or a sign-in code, treat it as a scam and tell us.
Jump to: How to report · People pretending to be us · What happens next · For authorities
If it’s urgent
Someone is in danger
If someone is in danger or threatening you, or a crime is happening, call 000 in an emergency. Otherwise, call police on 131 444, the non-emergency line. Then tell us.
An animal is in danger
If an animal is in danger, or being neglected or treated cruelly, contact the RSPCA in the state or territory where it is. In the Northern Territory, contact the NT Government’s Animal Welfare Branch. Don’t wait for us.
A pet locked in a hot car? Call police straight away: 000 in an emergency, or 131 444. Most RSPCA phone lines aren’t open around the clock, so if an animal’s life is in immediate danger and you can’t get through, call police on 000 or 131 444.
| Where the animal is | Who to contact |
|---|---|
| ACT | Access Canberra, 13 22 81 (Domestic Animal Services and RSPCA ACT), or RSPCA ACT, 02 6287 8100 |
| New South Wales | RSPCA NSW, 02 9770 7555 or 1300 278 358 |
| Northern Territory | NT Animal Welfare Branch (NT Government), 1300 720 386 |
| Queensland | RSPCA Queensland, 1300 264 625 |
| South Australia | RSPCA South Australia, 1300 477 722 |
| Tasmania | RSPCA Tasmania, 1300 139 947 |
| Victoria | RSPCA Victoria, 03 9224 2222 |
| Western Australia | RSPCA WA, 1300 278 358 |
Outside NSW, you can also report online through the link, but phone if it’s urgent. Some states send reports about commercial farm animals or wildlife to a government agency instead. In Victoria, that’s the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, on 136 186. The RSPCA’s reporting page lists every state’s contacts.
If the animal is advertised on Pet Sales Australia, tell us too, with the link.
Not urgent, but worried about a breeder, or an ad without a source number? See how to report a puppy farm for council and state contacts.
You’ve paid a scammer
Paid a deposit, and now the seller has stopped replying or blocked you? Act straight away.
- Call your bank or card provider now. Ask them to stop the payment.
- Don’t pay anything more, even for “transport”, “crate” or “insurance” fees. Scammers keep asking for more until you stop.
- Screenshot the ad now, in case it’s taken down. Keep the messages, your receipt and the account details you paid.
- Report it to Scamwatch, and to police through ReportCyber.
- If they have your ID details, contact IDCARE, a free identity and cyber support service, on 1800 595 160.
- Then email us at info@petsales.net.au, with “Scam” in the subject.
We can’t get back money you paid a seller: we don’t hold payments between buyers and sellers. If you’re not happy with how your bank handled it, you can complain to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. More in our pet scam guide.
Not paid yet, but unsure about an ad? Stop replying, and don’t pay. Read the warning signs, and how to look up a breeder’s number before you pay.
Child sexual abuse material
Don’t copy, screenshot or share it. Report it to police or the eSafety Commissioner. If a child is being groomed or exploited online, report it to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation.
How to report
Email info@petsales.net.au about anything. You don’t need an account. If it fits, put one of these in the subject:
- Welfare concern: an animal you’re worried about
- Scam: a scam, or someone pretending to be us or a seller
- Copied listing: someone using your photos, words, name or numbers.
Tell us:
- what happened, and when
- a link to the ad or page, if there is one
- what you’d like us to do.
If someone contacted you pretending to be us, forward what they sent.
Your name is optional, except for a privacy or defamation complaint. Don’t send your own card or bank details, passwords, sign-in codes or ID documents. If you send a receipt, cover your card or account number.
Watch out for people pretending to be us
- We don’t sell, breed, transport or deliver animals, or hold, protect or guarantee payments or animals. Anyone offering to do that as Pet Sales Australia isn’t us. Nor is anyone who charges to handle a complaint, or offers to recover your money.
- We’ll never ask you, by email or message, for your bank or card details or a sign-in code, or ask you to pay another member. Until listings open, we don’t charge for anything.
- Our emails come from info@petsales.net.au, though that can be faked.
Seen one? Forward it to info@petsales.net.au with “Scam” in the subject, and report it to Scamwatch.
What happens next
We reply within 2 working days to say we’ve got your report.
Working hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, Melbourne time, not counting Victorian public holidays.
We check the listing, conversation or records involved, and may ask the other person for their side.
After that, we may:
- do nothing
- ask the seller to fix the listing
- remove the listing
- warn, suspend or close an account
- refer it to an authority, such as the RSPCA or police.
A person decides whether to remove a listing for good, suspend or close an account, or pass anyone’s details to an authority or police.
We’ll email you what we did. We may leave out details to protect someone’s privacy or safety, or an investigation. If you disagree, ask us to look again, and a person will.
Who we tell. We don’t tell the person you reported who you are, unless the law requires it. If you report a conversation you’re in, they may guess. We may give the relevant authority your report, the listing’s and seller’s details, and your contact details, so they can ask you about it. Claude, an AI assistant made by Anthropic in the United States, reads every email sent to info@petsales.net.au, so your email goes to Anthropic, but not the files attached to it. Our Privacy Policy explains what we keep, for how long and what a review uses.
What we can’t do. We can’t settle a dispute between a buyer and a seller, make anyone refund a deposit or take an animal back, or recover money you paid another member. We can’t give you another member’s private details, unless a court orders us to or the law requires it.
The NSW Government’s buying a pet page says a pet bought from a business comes with consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law. That page and Western Australia’s Consumer Protection both say the guarantees don’t cover a one-off sale by a private seller. Your state or territory’s fair trading or consumer affairs office can explain your rights.
False reports. If we find someone reported something they knew was false, or to cause trouble, we treat it as a broken rule (Terms of Use clause 8.3): a warning, then suspension if it happens again within 12 months. An honest report that turns out wrong is fine.
Someone copied your photos, ad or registration number
If someone has used your photos, words, name or registration number (source number, BIN or supply number) in an ad, report it to the site it’s on. If it’s a fake website, report it to Scamwatch. With your consent, Scamwatch can use your report to help remove scam websites, ads and contact details.
If the copy uses our name, email us the link and proof it’s yours, such as your original photos or a registration certificate. Put “Copied listing” in the subject. We treat it as a scam report.
For authorities
Police, councils, animal welfare authorities and RSPCA inspectors can email info@petsales.net.au from an official address, with “Authority request” in the subject.
- Name the listings (links are best) or accounts, and the law you rely on.
- Before we disclose anyone’s details or remove anything, we confirm the request using contact details we find ourselves, such as your organisation’s published phone number.
- We share only what that law allows, or what’s needed to protect an animal or person at risk. We record what we disclose, to whom and why.
- We may put a listing on hold while we confirm a request, and while you look into it.
- A person reads authority requests, and decides each time we pass anyone’s details on.
Once listings open, before each listing goes live, the seller accepts that we may pass their details and their animals’ details to animal welfare authorities, councils or police after a report of, or if we suspect, poor animal welfare or a breach of animal welfare, sale or advertising laws.
The eSafety Commissioner can send notices to the same address.
Other complaints
For a complaint about your privacy, defamation, our fees or a decision we made, see our Complaints page. You can report an intimate image shared without consent, and illegal or restricted online content, to the eSafety Commissioner straight away. If someone is blackmailing you over an intimate image, for money or more images: if you’re under 18, report it to the ACCCE; if you’re 18 or older, report it to the platform where they contacted you, then to eSafety if the image is shared or the platform doesn’t help. For cyberbullying of a child, or serious online abuse of an adult, you can go to eSafety once you’ve reported it to the site or service where it appeared and it hasn’t been removed.