Privacy Policy

East Texas Pets respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, and protect information when you visit our website, create an account, post a pet listing, contact another user, or otherwise use our services.

East Texas Pets is intended to help individuals and rescue-minded community members responsibly rehome pets. We are not a breeder marketplace, puppy mill platform, or commercial pet sales service.

By using East Texas Pets, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information that you provide directly, information collected automatically when you use the site, and information we may receive from third-party services you choose to use.

Information You Provide

We may collect the following information when you create an account, post a listing, send a message, or contact us:

• Name or display name
• Email address
• Username and account login information
• City, county, general location, or service area
• Phone number, if you choose to provide one
• Pet listing details, such as pet name, species, breed, age, sex, temperament, medical status, vaccination status, spay/neuter status, rehoming reason, and adoption requirements
• Photos or other images you upload
• Messages sent through the site
• Reports, complaints, moderation requests, or support messages
• Any other information you choose to submit

You should not post your full home address, private financial information, government identification numbers, or other highly sensitive information in a public listing.

Public Listing Information

Pet listings are intended to be visible to other users and visitors. Information you include in a public listing may be seen, copied, saved, or shared by others.

Public listing information may include:

• Pet photos
• Pet description
• General location
• Rehoming details
• Contact options you choose to make available
• Your public username or display name

Please use care when deciding what to include in a listing.

Messages and User Communications

If East Texas Pets provides on-site messaging or contact forms, we may process and store messages so users can communicate about pet listings, respond to inquiries, prevent abuse, investigate reports, and maintain site safety.

We do not guarantee that messages are private from site administrators, moderators, hosting providers, security tools, or other service providers who may need access for legitimate operational, safety, legal, or support reasons.

Information Collected Automatically

When you use the site, we may automatically collect:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Device type
• Operating system
• Pages visited
• Date and time of access
• Referring website
• Approximate location based on IP address
• Cookies and similar tracking information
• Security logs, error logs, and spam-prevention data

This information helps us operate the website, prevent fraud and abuse, improve performance, and protect users.

Social Login or Third-Party Account Information

If we allow users to sign in using Facebook, Google, or another third-party account, we may receive information from that service, such as your name, email address, profile identifier, or profile image, depending on your settings and the permissions you approve.

We do not control the privacy practices of third-party login providers. Their own privacy policies apply to their services.

2. How We Use Information

We may use collected information to:

• Create and manage user accounts
• Publish and manage pet rehoming listings
• Allow users to contact each other about listings
• Send account, listing, message, and safety notifications
• Respond to support requests
• Review listings for compliance with our rules
• Prevent breeders, puppy mills, scammers, spam, harassment, and other misuse
• Investigate reports or suspicious activity
• Improve website functionality and user experience
• Maintain website security
• Enforce our Terms of Use, listing rules, and community standards
• Comply with legal obligations
• Protect the rights, safety, and welfare of users, animals, and the public

3. Notifications

If you choose to receive notifications, we may use your email address, phone number, or connected messaging service to send alerts about:

• New messages
• Listing responses
• Account activity
• Listing status updates
• Safety notices
• Policy or site changes

You may opt out of non-essential notifications where available. Certain account, security, legal, or transactional messages may still be sent even if you opt out of optional notifications.

4. Cookies and Similar Technologies

East Texas Pets may use cookies, local storage, and similar technologies to:

• Keep users signed in
• Remember preferences
• Improve site performance
• Prevent spam or abuse
• Analyze general site usage
• Support security tools

You can usually control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect site functionality.

5. Analytics

We may use privacy-conscious analytics tools to understand how visitors use the website. Analytics may collect information such as pages visited, device type, browser type, approximate location, and general traffic patterns.

We do not use analytics to sell personal information.

If advertising, remarketing, tracking pixels, or behavioral ad tools are added in the future, this Privacy Policy should be updated before those tools are used.

6. How We Share Information

We do not sell personal information.

We may share information in the following limited situations:

With Other Users

Information you include in public listings may be visible to other users and visitors. If you contact another user or respond to a listing, information you choose to share may be visible to that person.

With Service Providers

We may share information with trusted service providers who help us operate the website, such as:

• Website hosting providers
• Email delivery services
• Security and spam-prevention tools
• Backup providers
• Analytics providers
• Messaging or notification providers
• Payment processors, if payments are ever enabled

These providers may access information only as needed to provide their services.

For Safety, Enforcement, or Legal Reasons

We may disclose information when we believe it is reasonably necessary to:

• Enforce our rules or Terms of Use
• Investigate fraud, scams, breeder activity, puppy mill activity, animal cruelty, harassment, or abuse
• Protect the safety of users, animals, or the public
• Respond to lawful requests from law enforcement, courts, regulators, or government authorities
• Comply with applicable law
• Defend our legal rights

During a Website Transfer

If East Texas Pets is transferred, merged, reorganized, or operated by another organization, user information may be transferred as part of that process. We will take reasonable steps to ensure continued protection of personal information.

7. Rehoming Safety and Public Posting

East Texas Pets is designed to help people connect about pet rehoming. Because listings and communications may involve meeting strangers, users should take precautions.

We encourage users to:

• Avoid posting a full home address publicly
• Use general location information instead of exact addresses
• Meet in safe public locations when possible
• Carefully screen potential adopters
• Never send money to unknown parties without verifying legitimacy
• Report suspicious listings, messages, or behavior
• Follow all applicable local animal welfare laws and ordinances

East Texas Pets may review, remove, restrict, or report listings or accounts that appear to violate our rules or create safety concerns.

8. Pet Information

Pet listings may include information about an animal’s health, behavior, temperament, vaccination status, spay/neuter status, or medical needs. This information is provided by users and may not be independently verified by East Texas Pets.

Users are responsible for providing honest, accurate, and lawful information in listings.

9. Children’s Privacy

East Texas Pets is not intended for children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18.

Users must be at least 18 years old to create an account. Because pet rehoming involves legal, safety, and responsibility concerns, we require users to be at least 18 years old to post listings or arrange rehoming.

If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 18 without appropriate consent, we will take reasonable steps to delete that information.

Parents or guardians who believe a child has provided information to us may contact us at admin@easttexaspets.com.

10. Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures to help protect personal information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure.

However, no website, server, database, email system, or online transmission is completely secure. Users are responsible for keeping their login credentials confidential and for notifying us of suspected unauthorized account access.

11. Data Retention

We keep personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including:

• Operating user accounts
• Maintaining listings
• Providing messaging and notifications
• Resolving disputes
• Enforcing rules
• Preventing fraud or abuse
• Maintaining backups
• Complying with legal obligations

Deleted listings, accounts, or messages may remain in backups, logs, moderation records, or legal records for a limited time where reasonably necessary.

12. Your Choices

Depending on the features available on the site, you may be able to:

• Update your account information
• Edit or delete your listings
• Change notification preferences
• Request account deletion
• Request access to certain personal information
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Request deletion of certain personal information
• Opt out of optional communications

To make a privacy request, contact us at [Insert contact email].

We may need to verify your identity before completing certain requests.

13. Texas Privacy Rights

If you are a Texas resident, you may have rights under applicable Texas privacy law, depending on how the law applies to East Texas Pets. These rights may include the ability to request access to, correction of, deletion of, or a copy of certain personal data, and the ability to opt out of certain uses of personal data.

East Texas Pets does not sell personal information.

To submit a privacy request, contact us at [Insert contact email]. We will review and respond to requests as required by applicable law.

14. California Privacy Notice

If you are a California resident, you may have rights under California privacy laws, depending on how those laws apply to East Texas Pets.

These rights may include the right to know what personal information is collected, used, disclosed, or shared; the right to request deletion; the right to correct inaccurate information; and the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information.

East Texas Pets does not sell personal information.

To submit a California privacy request, contact us at admin@easttexaspets.com.

15. Do Not Track Signals

Some browsers offer “Do Not Track” signals. Because there is not a uniform industry standard for responding to these signals, East Texas Pets may not respond to Do Not Track signals at this time.

If we add advertising, retargeting, or cross-site tracking tools in the future, this section should be updated.

16. Third-Party Links and Services

The site may contain links to third-party websites, social media pages, payment services, messaging apps, maps, rescue organizations, veterinarians, shelters, or other resources.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, safety, or policies of third-party websites or services. Users should review the privacy policies of those third parties before using them.

17. User-Generated Content

Users are responsible for the content they post, upload, or send through East Texas Pets.

We may remove, restrict, or moderate user-generated content that violates our rules, appears unsafe, appears fraudulent, contains prohibited breeder or puppy mill activity, includes excessive rehoming fees, or otherwise conflicts with the purpose of the site.

Even after content is removed from East Texas Pets, copies may remain visible elsewhere if other users saved, copied, screenshotted, indexed, or shared it.

18. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make changes, we will update the effective date above.

If changes are significant, we may provide additional notice, such as a website notice or email notification.

Continued use of East Texas Pets after changes are posted means you accept the updated Privacy Policy.

19. Contact Us