Gumtree bans the sale of donkeys
The popular e-commerce website Gumtree South Africa has decided to ban the sale of all donkeys and mules on its website.
This after the National Council for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) lobbied to the website for the removal.
In a statement, the NSPCA said it is a significant step towards their ultimate goal of having no live animals traded online.
Online trading gives a forum to dubious practices including backyard breeding, trading in wildlife and exotic animals, the organisation said.
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"Online advertising effectively treats animals as commodities - which they are not."
In January the Mail & Guardian revealed that an alleged Chinese syndicate was illegally slaughtering donkeys. It had stocked more than 5 000 skins in a shack and a metal container in Benoni.
Upon arrival police confiscated the skins. People who work in the area told the publication that "the skins belong to the Chinese" and that a truck often came to collect the skins. The skins are estimated to be worth up to R7 000 each.
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In the statement the NSPCA thanked Gumtree for the major step forward.
"We call upon other websites to follow this worthy lead and to widen this to include all animals."