Pet buyers are spending hundreds – sometimes thousands – of dollars on “purebred” cats that turn out to be fakes, rescue organisations are warning. 

One agency said they knew buyers who had splashed $7000 on a pair of moggies advertised as Maine Coons. 

Online sellers have duped buyers who lack experience in identifying genuine breeds by using convincing photos and scarcity marketing, the organisations said. 

In some cases, they used fake paperwork or incorrect microchip claims to falsify the heritage of kittens they were selling. 

Several buyers had surrendered their fake purebreds to rescues, which increased the number needing to be rehomed. 

Meanwhile, rescue agencies were struggling to rehome genuine pedigree cats because their low adoption fees made people suspicious they were not getting a quality cat. 

“The common factor in nearly all these situations is that the cats were purchased online through platforms people view as trustworthy,” cat rescuer Frances Howley said. 

Howley runs Kitty Haven, a Christchurch-based rescue that helps about 300 cats per year. 

Cat rescuer Frances Howley said these two domestic short-haired cats came into her rescue as a 'Russian Blue cat' (left) and a 'Bombay cat', but appeared "very different" from purebred cats of those varieties. 

“Every grey cat that seems to be out there is a Russian Blue, but no, it’s just a grey cat,” she told the Herald. 

“If you can put it up on Trade Me for $2000, people think it’s legit.” 

Earlier this year, a couple who were moving overseas surrendered their cats to Howley, which they had paid more than $7000 for. 

The pair were sold as Maine Coons and the couple had intended to breed them, but Howley said they turned out to be regular domestic medium-haired cats. 

Howley met another man who paid $1500 for a cat he believed was a purebred Persian, which came with a microchip and paperwork seemingly proving the claim. 

She said the cat was simply an ordinary domestic cat – “not even long-haired”. 

She had also met buyers who paid about $3500 each for cats advertised as Bengals, which turned out to be a tabby and a short-haired domestic cat instead. 

Howley was “regularly meeting devastated owners” who discovered they were scammed by a breeder who then disappeared or blocked contact with them. 

While she believed the cats they bought were “still deserving of love”, the emotional and financial impact on buyers could be “enormous”. 

In Wellington, a kitten was left abandoned in an empty flat after its owners failed to sell it off as a fake Siamese cross. 

Kirihaka Stewart, who runs foster-based Pōneke Ngeru Rescue, had seen the kitten previously advertised on Trade Me for $400, but believed it was a tabby. 

Two weeks after Stewart saw the listing, the owners then posted on a local Facebook page saying they needed to give the kitten away because they were moving up north. 

Their landlord discovered the kitten had been left at the property in a dog crate a day or two after they moved out, and contacted Stewart’s rescue for help. 

“For someone who is supposedly breeding Siamese, you’d think they’d take slightly more care about the animals they have,” she said. 

Earlier this month, Stewart posted on social media about being frustrated at online sellers trying to pass off “moggy” (mixed-breed) cats as purebred. 

She posted screenshots of Trade Me listings she believed to be fake. 

One of those listings, which 157 people added to their watchlist, advertised “gorgeous ragdoll kittens” for $600 each, which appeared to be tabby cats. 

Several sellers advertising purebred cats had high ratings on Trade Me but the Herald could find no mention of cats or other animals in their reviews. 

Stewart advised people who wanted a pedigree cat to contact ethical breeders endorsed by registries like the New Zealand Cat Fancy. 

New Zealand Cat Fancy chair Ngaire Dixon, who is also a veterinarian, said she had discussed pedigree cat scams at the World Cat Congress event she attended in April. 

The word “purebred” was used in many listings and Dixon was worried it was helping mislead buyers who thought it meant the same as “pedigree”. 

A pedigree cat was a cat that came with documents to prove its genetic ancestry aligned with a specific breed, while a purebred cat could look or act like a specific breed but lacked the proof, she said. 

“If people are prepared to pay huge amounts for a scam, then that is hugely, hugely concerning.” 

Dixon also noted unauthorised crosses of purebreeds could be “harmful” because they could introduce health issues from one breed into another’s gene pool. 

These sales undermined the work of registered breeders who made large investments in the health and welfare of their cats, including genetic testing. 

She wanted to see online marketplaces in New Zealand follow in the steps of overseas outlets such as Gumtree in Australia, which restricted animal sales to registered breeders. 

Trade Me’s policy and compliance manager James Ryan said the online marketplace had measures to prevent the false advertising of animals, including a community reporting tool. 

“I can confirm that we do take action against members who breach our policies,” Ryan said. 

“This includes removing listings and, for more serious or repeat offences, placing restrictions on accounts or banning members entirely.” 

Ryan said a cat seller’s ratings may not contain any mention of cats because animal listings were “classified” on Trade Me so rehoming and payment were conducted away from the site. 

He said all animal sellers “must agree to” Trade Me’s Code of Animal Welfare, as well as their overall terms and conditions and the Fair Trading Act. 

But Trade Me’s website said the code was “voluntary” and several animal listings showed sellers had not indicated compliance with the code. 

Janhavi Gosavi is a Wellington-based journalist for the New Zealand Herald who covers news in the capital.