Craigslist pet rules: rehoming is allowed, selling isn't

Pet posts get removed on Craigslist more than almost anything else, and nearly always for the same few reasons. The rule itself is one line on Craigslist's prohibited list:

pet sales (re-homing with small adoption fee ok), animal parts, stud service

That's the whole policy. Everything else follows from it.

What's allowed

• Rehoming a pet you can no longer keep.
• A small adoption fee. Craigslist doesn't set a number, but "small" means a rehoming fee, not a market price.
• Posting in Community › Pets. That's the only place animal posts belong.

What gets removed

• Selling animals. Breeder listings, litters for sale, "pick of the litter," anything priced like a sale.
• Stud service. Banned outright.
• Posting in the wrong section. A dog in for sale, a bird in community activities, a puppy in general. Craigslist lists miscategorized content as prohibited, and users flag pet posts in other sections quickly.
• Endangered or protected species, and animal parts.
• The same pet in many cities. Craigslist prohibits overposted, cross-posted and nonlocal content. A rehoming post belongs in the city where the animal is.

Where pet supplies go

Cages, tanks, crates, beds, saddles and other supplies are regular for-sale items and go in for sale. Pet services (grooming, walking, sitting, boarding, training) go in services › pet. Only posts about rehoming an animal belong in Community › Pets.

Writing a rehoming post that stays up

• Say it's a rehoming and why, in plain words.
• Mention the fee as a rehoming or adoption fee rather than a price.
• Be specific about the animal: species, age, temperament, health, vaccinations or certificates.
• Use your own photos of the actual animal.
• Give the pickup area, not a shipping offer.

Cost and how long it lasts

Community is free to post in, so a pet post costs nothing on Craigslist. Free posts run 45 days in most markets and 30 days in the biggest metros. We measured it: pet posts in San Antonio and Atlanta stayed up 41 to 45 days, while in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago they came down around 30.

If you use a posting service

When you order a pet ad through Scale Classifieds, our order form checks for animal ads placed outside Community › Pets and asks you to switch the category before checkout, so the ad goes where Craigslist will keep it. Pet orders are also reviewed by a person before posting. A pet post costs $15 with us, since Craigslist charges nothing for the category.