Acceptable Use Policy

You must not use our services:

1. (a) in any way that breaches any applicable law or regulation;
2. (b) in any way that is unlawful or fraudulent, or has an unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect;
3. (c) to harm or attempt to harm any person or any animal;
4. (d) to transmit any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material;
5. (e) to knowingly transmit any material that contains a virus or other harmful code;
6. (f) to impersonate any person, or misrepresent your identity or your affiliation with any person; or
7. (g) to collect or harvest data about other users.

The register exists so that lost animals can be returned. Searching it, or seeking information from it, for any other purpose is a serious matter.

You must not:

1. (a) request keeper details unless you are entitled to them under the Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023 or the equivalent legislation applying in Wales;
2. (b) hold yourself out as a veterinary surgeon, veterinary nurse, local authority officer, police officer or authorised rehoming organisation when you are not;
3. (c) use keeper details for marketing, debt collection, tracing a person, or any purpose other than the return or care of the animal;
4. (d) register an animal you do not keep, or record details you know to be false; or
5. (e) attempt to search the register at scale, by automated means, or to build a copy of it.

We log every enquiry. We audit them. Where we find misuse we will suspend access immediately, report the matter to the Information Commissioner's Office, and where appropriate report it to the police and to the professional regulator of the person concerned.

These standards apply to any content you contribute, including profiles, photographs, reviews, messages and posts, and to any contact you make with another member.

Content must be accurate where it states facts, genuinely held where it states opinions, and must comply with the law.

Content must not:

1. (a) be defamatory, obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory;
2. (b) promote or depict cruelty to any animal;
3. (c) promote or facilitate the sale of an animal in breach of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, including the restriction on third party sales of puppies and kittens;
4. (d) bully, insult, intimidate or humiliate any person;
5. (e) infringe any copyright, trade mark or other intellectual property right;
6. (f) be likely to deceive any person, or breach any legal duty owed to a third party;
7. (g) give the impression that it comes from us when it does not; or
8. (h) contain the personal data of another person without their agreement.

Reviews must be based on genuine personal experience. Writing, commissioning or publishing a false review is a banned practice under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. We remove reviews we believe to be false and we may close the account concerned.

Play dates, walk groups and meetings arranged through our community features are arranged between members. We are not present, we do not supervise them, and we are not responsible for what happens at them.

Meet in a public place the first time, tell someone where you are going, and do not give out your home address until you are comfortable doing so.

You are responsible for your own animal at all times, including keeping it under control in public, complying with the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and with any public spaces protection order that applies, and making sure it is up to date with vaccinations before it mixes with other animals.

Do not bring an animal to a group meeting if it is unwell, if it is showing signs of infectious disease, or if it has a history of aggression towards other animals or people.

If you see content or behaviour that breaches this policy, report it using the report function or contact us. We will look at every report.

We will determine, at our discretion, whether this policy has been breached. Where it has, we may take any of the following steps:

1. (a) remove the content;
2. (b) issue a warning;
3. (c) suspend or permanently withdraw your access to the community features;
4. (d) suspend or end your Membership without refund;
5. (e) take legal action for any resulting cost or loss;
6. (f) disclose information to law enforcement or to a regulator.

If we take action against you we will tell you what we have done and why, and you may challenge the decision through the Complaints Procedure.

The actions described in this policy are not exhaustive and we may take any other action we reasonably consider appropriate.