Birmingham cat rescued after being put up for sale on Vinted

A cat that was put up for sale on Vinted has been rescued by a Birmingham animal charity.

The three-year-old pet was listed by a seller on Wednesday for £30, before Abi Left, the founder of Left Paw Cat Rescue in Kings Heath, spotted the advert and was among volunteers from the charity who stepped in.

Ms Left said it “was not a first” for a cat to be rescued from an online seller, but it was now “safe and sound” after being taken into foster care.

In a statement Vinted said: “We absolutely do not condone this kind of behaviour”, adding that the listing had been removed from the platform on Wednesday “as soon as they became aware of it”.

Ms Left said the seller did not ask her any questions before she handed over the cat.

“I didn’t even say I was from a rescue (centre), she didn’t do any checks she was just very very happy to hand her cat over to me.”

The founder added that the seller told her “people had been having a go at her” for trying to sell the cat on the site, and she “did not see what was wrong with it”.

A statement from Vinted said the site “is not a place for the sale of animals, as stated in our Catalogue Rules”.

“Vinted takes action on reports of prohibited items on the platform, either through our own technology, such as software tools designed to detect prohibited listings, or through member reports,” it added.

Ms Left said the price that the cat had been listed for, £30, demonstrated the owner placed “no real value on his life”.

She added that the cat had been “very scared” when he was collected from the seller’s home and continued to hide from its foster carers but that was “normal” and it would “take a few days for him to come out”.

“At least he’s safe, we know he’s in the right hands and hasn’t accidentally ended up in the wrong hands,” the founder said.

“Members can report listings that appear to involve prohibited items or otherwise break our rules,” Vinted’s statement added.

“Each report is reviewed promptly, and any non-compliant listing is removed.”