Dumped Pets Get Second Chance Online with Help from OZtion

Sydney, Australia – 6th December 2007 – OZtion, Australia's second largest online auction site (www.oztion.com.au), has today announced a free new online service to assist animal rescue shelters trying to find new homes for dumped pets.

The most recent statistics published by the RSPCA show that over 47% of the animals taken in by animal shelters are euthanased, with only 24% finding new homes.

In consultation with animal welfare and rescue groups, OZtion has developed a new section within their site designed specifically to assist animal shelters looking to find new homes for abandoned pets.

The new service is provided at zero cost to animal shelters and animal rescue organisations.

Philip Druce, Managing Director for OZtion commented, "At Christmas time every year, thousands of pets are dumped at animal shelters. OZtion's new pet listing service gives animal rescue and welfare organisations a totally free opportunity to advertise abandoned pets to the millions of Australians that visit our website each month. Our hope is that this new service will help reduce the appalling number of abandoned pets that are put down every year."

Isabel Bruaccie from Pug Rescue Victoria commented, "Our mission is to find new homes for abandoned and surrendered Pugs. It takes time, energy, money, and lots of love to keep our non-profit operating. We think that OZtion's new service for animal rescue organisations will make it much easier for us to raise money, and keep up our rescue work."

Andrea Corradina from Companions for Life in NSW commented, "Pets should be a lifetime commitment. Unfortunately many pets end up being abandoned or surrendered, and are put down. Companions for Life NSW is dedicated to rescuing animals and finding them new loving homes. I personally spend much of my time educating the public about the necessity of desexing their pets, and shining a spotlight on the awful conditions many animals endure when sold through pet stores. OZtion's support for animal rescue organisations will definitely make my job a little easier."

OZtion's pet category is a safe and convenient way to advertise animals for sale online. The new classified style listing format gives anybody looking to sell a pet an easy way to find suitable buyers. The classified style format provides the seller with great flexibility, so that they have the opportunity to determine whether or not the buyer is going to be a responsible owner before completing the transaction.

Any OZtion member with a seller account is able to list an animal for sale, for a fee of $3.99 inc GST per listing. OZtion will donate all listing fees received from standard pet listings between November 2007 and February 2008 to animal welfare and rescue groups.

As part of the new service, OZtion now offers animal rescue shelters the ability to set up a vShop free of charge. OZtion's vShop service allows animal welfare groups to establish a fully branded, easy to set up and maintain Internet shop. Within their vShop, the welfare groups can promote their cause and display animals available for adoption, as well as offer fundraising items for sale using OZtion's Zero Cost Listing service. Each vShop is created within the OZtion site, and benefits from the millions of monthly visitors to www.oztion.com.au.

With more than 1.6 million Australian visitors in November 2007, OZtion now has over 214,000 registered members. OZtion's online product listings have grown 51% in the last 12 months, currently averaging 460,000 simultaneous items for sale.

Membership at OZtion is free. Anybody can join and purchase products. OZtion offers extensive online safety features, including in-depth identity verification measures.

Items listed for sale via OZtion are offered by businesses or individuals that have been security verified by OZtion's unique seller verification process.

About OZtion
OZtion is an Australian online auction site, based on unique Australian designed and developed technology. Based in Melbourne, OZtion has grown enormously to become the 2nd largest Australian online auction site. OZtion was recently voted Australia's best new website by the readers of Australian Netquide magazine. Visit www.oztion.com.au for more information.

Media Contact:  Sebastian Rice , seb@silverspan.com