Cattery photo theft is a more serious and more common problem than most breeders realise until it happens to them. Photos of kittens, breeding cats, and cattery environments are taken from legitimate breeders’ Facebook pages and websites and used by fraudsters to impersonate those breeders, take deposits from unsuspecting buyers, and disappear. The cats in the photos never existed in the fraudster’s possession. The buyer loses their money. The breeder whose photos were stolen faces a reputational crisis they had no part in creating.
I am a Full GCCF Judge and have been building cattery websites since 2004. I have seen this problem escalate significantly in recent years, driven by the increasing concentration of breeder content on Facebook and the ease with which images can be copied from social media. This article is about what happens, why it happens, and how a properly built website gives you more control than a Facebook page alone ever can.
How cattery photo theft works in practice
The process is straightforward. A fraudster identifies a Facebook page or website belonging to a legitimate breeder with attractive, professional photos. They download the photos and use them to create a fake listing — on Facebook, Pets4Homes, Gumtree, or a quickly built website that mimics the legitimate breeder’s presentation. They may copy the breeder’s text as well as the photos. They advertise kittens at a price that looks plausible but is often slightly below the market rate to attract buyers who are searching for a deal.
Buyers contact the fraudster believing they are dealing with the legitimate breeder. A deposit is taken — typically by bank transfer, which is difficult to reverse. Once the deposit is paid, communication stops. The fraudster disappears. The buyer has no kitten and has lost their deposit.
When the buyer later finds the legitimate breeder’s page and realises what has happened, the legitimate breeder is often their first point of contact. They may be angry, believing initially that the legitimate breeder was involved. The breeder now faces the task of proving they are innocent of something they knew nothing about.
Why Facebook makes breeders more vulnerable
Facebook images can be downloaded by anyone who can see the post. Public pages — which most cattery pages are, because limiting visibility reduces their marketing reach — mean that every photo posted is visible to everyone, including people with bad intentions. Facebook does not notify you when your images are downloaded. It does not prevent reuse. And because Facebook pages are often the primary or only place a breeder’s photos appear, there is no reference point that clearly establishes which version of the photos is the original.
A top breeder I know with a significant Facebook following made the decision to stop posting high-quality photos of kittens online after her images were stolen and used in multiple fraudulent listings within the same year. Her kittens’ photos were appearing in fake adverts in counties she had never sold to, with phone numbers she did not recognise. The erosion of trust among buyers who had seen these fake adverts was real and lasting.
She is not alone. This is a documented and growing pattern across the cat fancy, and breeders who have experienced it consistently describe it as one of the most distressing things that has happened to them in their breeding career.
What a website does that Facebook cannot
A website does not prevent theft entirely. Photos that are publicly visible online can always be downloaded. But a properly built website gives you tools and context that significantly strengthen your position.
Domain longevity and history. A website that has existed at the same address for several years, with a trackable registration history, is a credibility signal that a fraudulent site cannot fake. If a buyer searches for your cattery name and finds both your legitimate site and a fraudulent listing, the site with years of history is clearly the original. This distinction is harder to draw when all your content lives on Facebook, where pages can be created and deleted rapidly.
Watermarking and attribution. Photos published on a website can be watermarked with the cattery name and website address. Watermarks do not prevent theft, but they make it harder for stolen photos to be passed off as the fraudster’s own, because the legitimate cattery’s details are embedded in the image. A watermarked photo that appears in a fraudulent listing is evidence of theft, not just coincidence.
A definitive reference point. When a buyer suspects they are dealing with a fraudulent seller, a Google search for the cattery name should return the legitimate website as the first result. That website is the ground truth — the place where genuine contact details, genuine photos, and the genuine history of the cattery are documented. Without a website, there may be no authoritative source that a confused or suspicious buyer can find.
Consistent presence under your control. Your website URL is yours. It does not change when Facebook updates its algorithm. It does not depend on anyone else’s platform to remain visible. When you report fraudulent use of your images, you can point to your website as the originating source, with a creation date that precedes the fraud.
Practical steps for breeders who are concerned about photo theft
Build the website first, and make it the primary location for your best photos. Facebook can reference the website, but the highest-quality images of your breeding cats and kittens should live where you have the most control.
Watermark every photo you use online with your cattery name and website address. Software and phone apps make this easy. It takes a few minutes per photo and significantly increases the friction for fraudsters who want to pass your images off as their own.
Perform regular Google reverse image searches on your best photos. This involves uploading the image to Google Images and searching for other places it appears online. If your photos are being used elsewhere without your knowledge, this is how you find out.
If you find your images being used fraudulently, report the listing to the platform immediately. Keep a record of your original file creation dates as evidence of ownership. Platforms take image theft reports seriously when evidence is provided.
And consider whether the volume and quality of images you share on Facebook is proportionate to the risk. Some breeders choose to share slightly lower-resolution or cropped versions of their best photos on social media, keeping the full-resolution originals for their website where they have more context around them.
The cat breeders websites page explains how Cats Whiskers Web Designs builds cattery sites that work as your definitive online reference point.
Frequently asked questions
Is cattery photo theft common?
It is more common than most breeders realise until it affects them directly. The combination of high-quality photos on public Facebook pages and the ease of downloading social media images has made legitimate cattery content a resource for fraudsters. Breed groups and breeder forums report cases regularly, and the frequency appears to be increasing.
Can I copyright my cattery photos?
In the UK, copyright in a photograph belongs to the person who took it from the moment of creation. You do not need to register copyright or take any specific action. The difficulty is not ownership — it is enforcement. Proving that you took a photo and that someone else has used it without permission is straightforward in principle but can be time-consuming to pursue in practice. Watermarking helps by making the connection between the photo and your cattery explicit.
How do I find out if my photos are being used elsewhere online?
Google Reverse Image Search is the most accessible tool. Visit images.google.com, click the camera icon, and upload the image you want to check. Google will return any pages it has indexed that contain the same or similar image. This will not find every instance of theft — newly created fraudulent listings may not yet be indexed — but it will reveal existing uses.
What should I do if I find my photos being used in a fraudulent listing?
Report the listing to the platform (Facebook, Pets4Homes, Gumtree, or wherever it appears) using their reporting tools for copyright infringement or fraudulent content. Provide evidence of your original ownership, including original file creation dates if available. Post a warning in relevant breed Facebook groups so that buyers are aware. Keep a record of the fraudulent listing before it is removed.
Does watermarking photos prevent theft?
Watermarking does not prevent a determined thief from downloading and using your photos. It does make it significantly harder for them to pass the photos off as their own, because the watermark connects the image to your cattery. A fraudulent listing using watermarked photos displaying a legitimate cattery’s name is visibly inconsistent, which may deter buyers and makes the theft more obvious when reported.
Can I make my Facebook page private to prevent photo theft?
Restricting your Facebook page to followers or using privacy settings reduces visibility to people who are not already following you. This does reduce the risk of photo theft from people who find you through search. However, it also significantly reduces the marketing reach that makes a Facebook page useful. Most breeders find this trade-off unacceptable, which is why other protective measures are more practical.
Why do fraudsters target pedigree cat breeders specifically?
Pedigree kittens are high-value items sold to buyers who are often emotionally invested in finding a specific breed. The combination of high purchase price, deposit culture, and buyers who may not be experienced enough to fully verify a seller makes pedigree kitten sales an attractive target for deposit fraud. The photos available from legitimate breeders’ public pages make it easy to build a convincing fraudulent listing.
