Should e-commerce allow animal trading?

Screenshots of pet turtles sold as products in a digital marketplace have been circulating on the internet. The multinational e-commerce platform reportedly allows trade of animals with close-to-no care of the said living creature. The screenshots show that at least one seller warrants replacement if “the item” dies upon arrival.

#racunshopee, an internet culture that has become part of the marketplace’s marketing ploy to attract users, also provides at least one video evidence. One #racunshopee video shows the original poster unboxing a poorly-packaged parcel, from which they took out what seemed to be a tightly taped plastic bowl encasing two small turtles. Netizens posted mixed responses on the “product’s” page, with some complaining that the turtles arrived with injuries ranging from bleeding to limb losses as shown on @nathasatwanusantara’s Instagram stories on 21 January.

Later, it was revealed that small turtles are not the only animals being traded. On Instagram, @ecommurz shared more screenshots of snakes and puppies as a moneymaking commodity. Another news also reported a viral video of a king cobra escaping one of its parcels during shipment from Surabaya to Semarang. At this point, not only the trade threatens the animals’ well-being, it also endangers the expedition team.

Animal lovers are livid over this issue. Non-profit animal-welfare organisations, such as Natha Satwa Nusantara (@nathasatwanusantara) and Jakarta Animal Aid Network (@jakartaanimalaidnetwork), have started to bring this up to public attention via their Instagram account.

This is not the first time Shopee has come under fire for allowing animal traders on its platform. Model Manohara Odelia, who is also a vocal supporter of Jakarta Animal Aid Network, posted on her social media account a screenshot of Shopee’s similar blunder in 2019. The e-commerce platform responded with a promise to shut down the accounts of these animal traders. Our team has reached out to Shopee for further information and is currently awaiting their response.

Meanwhile, we tried to find any policy regarding animal tradein Shopee and five other marketplaces. In its general policy, Shopee prohibits the trade of endangered animals and goods made of endangered animals in accordance with government regulations. Tokopedia, however, appeared to allow the trade of pets for Official Seller, a level any seller could reachthrough a specific upgrade.

Bukalapak, on the other hand, states explicitly in its policy that it prohibits the trade of animals, including pets. Lazada and Blibli don’t seem to have any specific policy related to animal trade, and after further inspection, there doesn’t seem to be any animal-selling merchant.

Looking at the present law regarding animal trade, Law No.5/1990 on Conservation of Living Natural Resources and Its Ecosystem criminalises the trade of endangered animals. The same law applies to digital commerce. Even though there seems to be no specific law that regulates pet trade, the same law also specified that animals are commodities, in which the delivery procedure should follow the procedure applied to land, sea and air shipment.

However, Article 66 Paragraph 2 of Law No.18/2009 on Husbandry and Animal Health stated that animal transportation shall be conducted properly so that the animal feel free from fear and pressure as well as free from torture.