Advertising cats and dogs for sale


If you sell or rehome a cat or dog of any age in the ACT, new laws now require you to include the following information in the advertisement:

This includes advertisements that are:

Sellers of cats and dogs, including anyone giving away or rehoming a cat or dog, are also required to provide the new keeper of the cat or dog with identifying information for the animal to ensure they can arrange to update the cat or dog’s microchip or the dog’s registration.

The new advertising requirements apply to everyone, regardless of how old the cat or dog is, whether you intended on your cat or dog having a litter of kittens or puppies, if you are a licensed breeder, and whether you are selling for profit, giving away or rehoming the cat or dog. This means even if you are not receiving payment, you are still required as the seller to provide identifying information both in the advertisement and directly to the recipient after sale.

These new requirements help align the ACT with other jurisdictions in Australia, such as NSW, and build on existing ACT laws intended to improve the traceability of pets, facilitate compliance action against irresponsible pet owners and address illegal breeders.

Selling or rehoming a cat or dog

When selling or rehoming a dog in the ACT, you must also notify Domestic Animal Services of the transfer of ownership within 14 days by emailing dogcontrol@act.gov.au.

You must provide the new keeper of the cat or dog with the animal’s identifying information to ensure the new owner can arrange to update this with their details.

Cats over 3 months of age and dogs over 6 months of age must be desexed prior to being sold. The only acceptable circumstances where a cat or dog over the specified age can be sold without being desexed are if you hold a special permit for the animal to not be desexed, if the animal is a racing greyhound, or if a registered veterinarian has given written evidence that desexing the animal would be a serious risk to its health.

All cats and dogs in the ACT must be microchipped with a unique identifying number and contact details of the owner either by 12 weeks of age or if being sold under 12 weeks of age. It is your responsibility to ensure your cat or dog’s microchip contains up-to-date information.

Buying or adopting a cat or dog

If you are the new keeper of a registered dog that has been sold or rehomed to you, you must notify Domestic Animal Services that the dog is now under your care by emailing dogcontrol@act.gov.au. This should occur within 14 days of the transfer of ownership.

If you have been the keeper of a dog for over 28 days and the dog is over 8 weeks old, you will need to either have the dog registered if it is unregistered or update the existing registration with your details. It is an offence under the Domestic Animals Act 2000 not to register a dog in your care or update the dog’s registration details if the dog has been in your care for over 28 days.

For cats and dogs that come under your care, you must ensure the unique identifying microchip is updated with your contact details. If for whatever reason the cat or dog is not yet microchipped, or the microchip is faulty, you must have a new microchip implanted by an authorised person.

Illegal breeding

The new advertising requirements introduced under the Domestic Animals Act 2000 help to facilitate the enforcement of existing laws and improve the traceability of animals sold by illegal breeders, particularly online sales.

While Canberra’s licensed breeders are doing the right thing, many kittens and puppies are bred illegally, either intentionally for profit or unintentionally. Licensed breeders must abide by the breeding standard, and this ensures the welfare and wellbeing of the parent animals, kittens and puppies.

Enforcing the new laws

Improving the traceability of cats and dogs sold by individuals, breeders and organisations is part of a broader effort amongst Australian jurisdictions to uphold animal welfare standards and responsible pet ownership.

Previously, tracking down problem breeders has been made difficult by a lack of identifying information available to determine who the seller is. The contact numbers available to potential buyers on some advertisements are unfortunately not enough to take compliance action against illegal breeders, and it can be difficult to determine which sellers are repeat offenders. The new advertising laws in the ACT will not only help to facilitate compliance action on illegal breeding, but will also contribute to an improved culture around the responsible sale and rehoming of cats and dogs in the ACT.

Where a suspected non-compliant advertisement for a cat or dog is found, Domestic Animal Services will investigate the case and, if the issues are confirmed, a range of penalties may be enforced depending on the severity of the case at hand. In extreme cases, the dog or cat may have to be seized pending further investigation and cooperation with the RSPCA ACT may be required. For less severe cases, formal warnings may be issued.

Infringements relating to the sale of cats and dogs

The main penalties under the Domestic Animals Act 2000 that apply to the new advertising requirements for cats and dogs are outlined below. It is your responsibility to know the rules and sell, buy or manage your cat or dog responsibly.

Selling or buying a cat or dog outside of the ACT

The new rules in the ACT around advertising cats and dogs for sale bring the ACT in line with NSW. This ensures all advertisements for the sale or rehoming of cats and dogs are legitimate and compliant with laws around desexing, registration, microchipping and animal welfare, as they must now contain enough identifying information for appropriate action to be taken by authorities.

The new laws for advertising cats and dogs in the ACT only apply to sales from within the ACT. Any cat or dog sales from NSW including rehoming or giving away a cat or dog are regulated under NSW advertising laws, which also require identifiers in advertisements. Despite some NSW-based advertisements being available to ACT buyers, these advertisements do not come under the ACT’s laws.

If you are advertising from within the ACT to potential buyers who are based in NSW, the ACT laws still apply to you and you must include the appropriate identifying information in your advertisement; either a breeding license number if you are a licensed breeder, or your name/ABN and the microchip number for the animal/s being advertised.

Let us know if you have concerns

If you have concerns around the sale of cats or dogs in the ACT, such as an advertisement without the proper identifier or a suspected illegal breeder, you can contact Domestic Animal Services on 13 22 81 or via email at dogcontrol@act.gov.au. For serious animal welfare concerns please contact the RSPCA ACT, which provides animal welfare inspectorate services under the Animal Welfare Act 1992.

If the advertisement or breeder in question is based in NSW, please note Domestic Animal Services does not regulate non-ACT sellers. In these cases you can notify the RSPCA NSW, Animal Welfare League NSW or NSW Police.

We acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the ACT and recognise any other people or families with connection to the lands of the ACT and region. We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.

To see how we are building stronger relationships with the Traditional Custodians of the ACT view the Reconciliation Action Plan.