Pet sale agreement for a private sale

What the agreement records

• The seller and the buyer: names, addresses, phone and email.
• The animal: name, breed or mix, sex, date of birth, color and markings, microchip number, and any passport, health certificate or registration number.
• Vaccinations as a vet recorded them, and a tick list of the papers handed over.
• Health as the seller knows it, with the date of the last vet visit.
• The price, how it was paid, a receipt by initials, and the date and place of the handover.
• Four short clauses, the “as is” choice, a box for anything else you agree, and signatures.

Who it is for

Two private people: someone selling their own dog or cat to a new home, and the person buying it. A breeder or a pet shop sells as a business, and many places give buyers from a business rights that a private form cannot take away; several US states have “pet lemon laws” for exactly those sales. If you give a pet away for free, the rehoming agreement fits better.

• Pet rehoming agreement

The clauses and the law behind them

Sale-of-goods law differs by country and, in the US, by state. The form only uses ideas they share; the US Uniform Commercial Code is one common example:

• A sale passes ownership (title) from the seller to the buyer for a price; the first clause says exactly that. UCC § 2-106 (opens in a new tab)
• In law, animals are usually property: the Code counts them among goods and even names the unborn young of animals. UCC § 2-105 (opens in a new tab)
• A seller is expected to have the right to sell; the second clause has the seller confirm it. UCC § 2-312 (opens in a new tab)
• Words such as “as is” can exclude the buyer’s implied warranties unless the circumstances say otherwise; the form lets you tick it or not. UCC § 2-316 (opens in a new tab)

As is, or not

Tick “sold as is” only if you both mean it: the buyer has seen the animal and takes it as it is. Leave it at “not sold as is” and the buyer keeps whatever rights the law where you live gives them. Whatever you tick, the seller writes down every health problem they know of.

How to use it

1. Fill it in together before the handover, on screen or on paper, and print two copies.
2. Check the microchip number against the vaccination record or passport; a vet or a shelter can scan the chip.
3. Tick each paper as it is handed over.
4. Sign both copies and keep one each; if the price was paid in cash, the seller initials the receipt line.
5. After the handover, move the microchip registration to the buyer. Many registries ask the previous owner to confirm the change.