Ad description
A brochure available on Animal Angels’ website www.animalangels.co.uk, seen on 1 February 2017, included the claim “Our membership of the National Association of Registered Pet Sitters and agreement to abide by their Code of Practice and Terms and Conditions is further indication of our commitment to professional pet care”.
Issue
The complainant, who believed the claim implied that Animal Angels was a member of the National Association of Registered Pet Sitters (NarpsUK), challenged whether the claim breached the Code.
Response
Animal Angels Ltd did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by Animal Angels' lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
The CAP Code stated that ads must not display a trust mark, quality mark or equivalent without the necessary authorisation. Also, they must not claim that the marketer had been approved, endorsed or authorised by any public or other body if it had not. We understood there was more than one association of pet sitters in the UK, and that some had similar names to NarpsUK. The complainant understood that Animal Angels was not a member of NarpsUK, and we had not seen evidence to the contrary. In the absence of any evidence from Animal Angels which demonstrated that they were a member of NarpsUK, we concluded the claim was in breach of the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.50 (Endorsements and testimonials).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Animal Angels Ltd not to claim that they were a member of NarpsUK or that they had agreed to abide by its Code of Practice and Terms and Conditions.
