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Over 1 in 10 pet owners have been duped into buying
counterfeit pet medicines online
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62% agreed that they find it difficult to tell which
are legitimate and which are fake
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And 87% of shoppers purchased pet parasite prevention
products from un-accredited sites that have been known to sell
counterfeit pet medicines
With Covid-19 resulting in a 129.5% increase in online shopping
sales - in May alone - over 1 in 10 pet owners have been duped
into buying counterfeit pet medicines online. Such pet owners had
concerns about the authenticity of pet medicines that they’d
ordered online in good faith and, on reporting the issue,
received confirmation that the products they’d bought were indeed
fake.
However, the true number of owners affected is likely to be
higher, as a further 12% of pet owners said they believed that
they may have received fake pet medicines, but had not gone down
the route of reporting these to find out for sure.
Illegal traders use real imagery and adverts to sell fake
products at a slashed down price, which can often entice the high
numbers of pet owners who like to shop online. And there’s a
great deal of fake product out there!
New research by Seresto Flea and Tick Control collar shows that
factors that made pet owners feel they may have bought fake
product included the medicine having a strange smell, the
medicine not seeming to work properly or making their pet unwell,
or the medicine having a false expiry date.
Unbeknown to most pet owners, counterfeit medicines come in many
forms. They can often look, smell and feel like the real thing
but can contain completely different active ingredients, an
incorrect dose of ingredients, or no ingredients at all.
Counterfeit packaging can be so convincing that, when buying pet
medicines, 62% agreed that they find it difficult to tell which
are legitimate and which are fake.
Unfortunately, these products continue to be sold illegally, and
research showed that 87% of shoppers purchased pet parasite
prevention products from un-accredited sites that have been known
to sell counterfeit pet medicines (such as eBay and Wish).
Unsurprisingly, of those pet owners who felt they had been duped
by counterfeit goods, 42% felt worried while 38% upset meaning
this is a real issue for many.
Joining us to provide some clarity on the correct medicines we
should buy our pets, and give some top tips to spot fake ones
online, is TV Vet Rory Cowlam.
Questions:
Were you surprised by the research?
What could the effects of these fake medicines be on pets and
families?
How can people tell whether a medicine is genuine or fake?
Are there any retailers you’d advise people to steer clear
of?
Where can people go for more information?
