Alarm at buy now, pay later plan for dogs, cats

PET stores are offering cats, dogs and other species for sale on payment plans.

Animal rights campaigners say the trend towards buying pets on layby will swell the number being abandoned or consigned to pounds, where there is a high risk that they will have to be put down.

Pets World is one NSW chain offering animals on payment plans.

Under the terms of the agreement, customers pay a 40 per cent deposit and the remainder over six months. They cannot bring the pet back or obtain a refund if it runs away or dies - nor are they entitled to compensation if the animal falls ill outside the 30-day "health guarantee".

Derek Knox, a volunteer with the charity CatRescue, said: "This is the dumbest and most socially irresponsible thing we have ever seen.

"If a person can't afford the full cost of the animal in the first place, how are they going to afford the food, the upkeep and the vets' fees?

"These animals are sold before they have been de-sexed, so there is also the risk that they will have kittens or puppies because the owner cannot afford to have them desexed, adding to the numbers that will end up being dumped."

Mr Knox said more than 60,000 healthy animals were killed every year in NSW pounds.

Karen Schlieper, supervisor of the RSPCA's Sydney animal shelter, said: "We are hugely concerned. A lot of pet store purchases are made on impulse and if people are offered this type of payment plan, there is a big risk that those who can't afford a pet will be enticed into buying one."

But Pets World director Jamie Buttigieg said: "The payment plan is interest-free and offers our customers an alternative from paying by credit card or cash or cheque.

"We take our responsibilities extremely seriously," he said.