Terms of Service/Rules

Welcome to East Texas Pets. These Terms of Service explain the rules for using our website, creating an account, posting a pet listing, contacting other users, and participating in our rehoming community.

East Texas Pets exists to support responsible, ethical, and compassionate pet rehoming. The site is not a breeder marketplace, puppy mill platform, pet-flipping service, or commercial animal sales website.

By accessing or using East Texas Pets, you agree to these Terms of Service, our Privacy Policy, our listing rules, and any additional community guidelines posted on the site. If you do not agree, you may not use the website.

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to create a listing, arrange a rehoming, contact another user about adopting or rehoming a pet, or otherwise participate in rehoming activity through East Texas Pets.

East Texas Pets is not intended for children under 18. We do not knowingly allow children under 18 to create accounts or submit personal information.

By using the site, you represent that you are legally able to enter into these Terms and that any information you provide is accurate, current, and complete.

2. Purpose of the Site

East Texas Pets is intended to help individuals, families, and qualified rescue-minded community members responsibly rehome pets when keeping the pet is no longer possible.

The site may be used for:

• Posting legitimate pet rehoming listings
• Helping pets find safe and responsible homes
• Connecting current pet guardians with potential adopters
• Sharing accurate information about a pet’s needs, temperament, and care
• Encouraging ethical rehoming practices

The site may not be used for commercial breeding, animal sales businesses, puppy mills, pet flipping, illegal activity, animal fighting, animal abuse, or any purpose that conflicts with responsible animal welfare.

3. Accounts

You may need an account to post listings, contact users, send messages, save listings, or use certain features.

You agree to:

• Provide accurate account information
• Keep your login credentials secure
• Use your own account and not impersonate another person
• Update your information if it changes
• Notify us if you believe your account has been accessed without permission

We may suspend, restrict, or delete accounts that violate these Terms, appear fraudulent, create safety concerns, or misuse the site.

4. Listing Rules

All pet listings must be honest, lawful, and created in good faith. Listings must be for real animals currently available for responsible rehoming.

When posting a listing, you agree to provide accurate information about the pet, including relevant details such as age, species, breed or breed mix, temperament, health needs, vaccination status, spay or neuter status, known behavioral concerns, and reason for rehoming.

You may not knowingly hide or misrepresent important information about a pet, including aggression history, bite history, serious medical needs, contagious illness, ownership disputes, legal restrictions, or any fact that could affect the safety of the pet, adopter, other animals, or the public.

5. Rehoming Fee Rules

East Texas Pets allows only modest rehoming fees intended to discourage impulse adoption and help confirm serious interest. Rehoming fees may not be used as a way to sell animals for profit.

Unless East Texas Pets gives written approval for a specific exception, rehoming fees may not exceed $50 per pet.

You may not:

• Charge a rehoming fee above $50
• Use the site to sell animals for profit
• List pets with bidding, auction, or “best offer” language
• Charge different prices based on breed, color, markings, rarity, registration status, or demand
• Use “rehoming fee” language to disguise a commercial sale
• Request deposits, holding fees, reservation fees, shipping fees, or transport fees in a suspicious or deceptive manner

Listings that appear to involve commercial sales, disguised sales, pet flipping, or excessive fees may be removed without notice.

6. No Breeders, Puppy Mills, or Commercial Sellers

East Texas Pets does not allow breeders, puppy mills, backyard breeders, commercial sellers, brokers, dealers, pet flippers, or anyone using the site to produce or sell animals.

You may not use the site to:

• Advertise litters for sale
• Sell puppies, kittens, or other animals as a business
• Promote breeding services
• Offer stud services
• Sell animals with registration papers as a selling point
• Advertise future litters
• Move animals from one owner to another for profit
• Collect animals for resale
• Operate as a broker, dealer, or middleman

We reserve the right to remove any listing or account that appears inconsistent with the purpose of ethical rehoming, even if the listing does not expressly use sale-related language.

7. Prohibited Animals and Listings

You may not post listings involving:

• Animals that are stolen or subject to an ownership dispute
• Animals you do not have legal authority to rehome
• Animals intended for breeding
• Animals intended for fighting, baiting, hunting abuse, testing, food, ritual harm, or any other harmful purpose
• Animals prohibited by local, state, or federal law
• Wildlife or exotic animals that cannot lawfully be transferred or kept
• Animals with false, misleading, or incomplete information
• Animals listed only to solicit donations, deposits, or unrelated payments
• Duplicate, spam, fake, or bait listings

We may remove listings that create legal, safety, welfare, or trust concerns.

8. Animal Welfare Requirements

Users must treat animals humanely and comply with all applicable animal welfare laws, cruelty laws, shelter requirements, vaccination rules, ownership rules, and local ordinances.

You may not use East Texas Pets in connection with:

• Animal cruelty or neglect
• Abandonment
• Unsafe living conditions
• Animal hoarding
• Failure to provide food, water, shelter, or necessary care
• Threats to harm, dump, or abandon an animal
• Any attempt to pressure others into taking an animal under unsafe or dishonest circumstances

If we believe an animal is in danger or a user is involved in cruelty, neglect, fraud, or illegal activity, we may remove content, restrict accounts, preserve relevant information, and report concerns to appropriate authorities or animal welfare organizations.

9. User Responsibilities When Rehoming

If you are rehoming a pet, you are responsible for making careful, responsible decisions. East Texas Pets does not screen adopters for you and does not guarantee that any user is suitable.

We strongly encourage rehoming users to:

• Ask questions about the adopter’s home, experience, and ability to care for the pet
• Confirm that the adopter understands the pet’s needs
• Disclose all known medical, behavioral, and temperament information
• Use a written adoption or rehoming agreement when appropriate
• Meet in a safe public place when possible
• Verify identity when appropriate
• Trust your judgment and decline a placement that feels unsafe

You are responsible for complying with any applicable laws, lease restrictions, vaccination requirements, microchip rules, ownership transfer requirements, and local ordinances.

10. User Responsibilities When Adopting

If you contact a user about adopting or taking in a pet, you agree to act honestly, responsibly, and in the best interest of the animal.

You may not:

• Misrepresent your identity, home, experience, or intentions
• Acquire animals for resale, breeding, fighting, baiting, testing, food, or harmful purposes
• Pressure, threaten, harass, or manipulate a rehoming user
• Use fake accounts or false information
• Ignore disclosed medical, behavioral, or care needs
• Take an animal you are not prepared to care for

You are responsible for determining whether a pet is appropriate for your household, lifestyle, finances, other pets, children, housing situation, and local laws.

11. Safety Rules

Rehoming involves communication with people you may not know. Users are responsible for their own safety when communicating, meeting, exchanging information, or transferring a pet.

We encourage users to:

• Avoid posting a full home address publicly
• Use general location information in listings
• Meet in safe, public, well-lit places when possible
• Bring another adult when meeting someone
• Tell someone where you are going
• Avoid sending money to unknown parties
• Be cautious with deposits, transport requests, shipping requests, and urgent payment demands
• Report suspicious behavior to East Texas Pets

East Texas Pets is not responsible for offline meetings, communications outside the site, payments between users, transportation arrangements, injuries, losses, disputes, or outcomes related to rehoming.

12. Prohibited Conduct

You agree not to misuse East Texas Pets. Prohibited conduct includes:

• Posting false, misleading, fraudulent, or deceptive content
• Using the site for commercial animal sales
• Using the site as a breeder, puppy mill, broker, dealer, or pet flipper
• Charging excessive or hidden fees
• Harassing, threatening, stalking, or abusing other users
• Discriminating unlawfully against other users
• Posting hateful, violent, obscene, or abusive content
• Uploading malware, spam, or harmful code
• Scraping, copying, harvesting, or misusing user information
• Creating fake accounts or impersonating others
• Evading moderation, suspensions, bans, or listing removals
• Interfering with the operation or security of the site
• Using the site for unlawful activity

We may remove content, restrict features, suspend accounts, or ban users who violate these rules.

13. User Content

You are responsible for any content you post, upload, submit, or send through East Texas Pets, including listings, photos, descriptions, messages, comments, reports, and profile information.

By posting content, you represent that:

• You have the right to post the content
• The content is accurate to the best of your knowledge
• The content does not violate another person’s rights
• The content does not violate these Terms or applicable law

You grant East Texas Pets a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, display, reproduce, store, format, moderate, and distribute your content as needed to operate, promote, protect, and improve the site.

We may edit, reject, remove, hide, or restrict content at our discretion, especially if it appears unsafe, inaccurate, abusive, fraudulent, unlawful, or inconsistent with our mission.

14. Photos and Media

You may only upload photos or media that you own or have permission to use.

You may not upload:

• Photos copied from other websites without permission
• Images that misrepresent the actual pet being rehomed
• Graphic, abusive, exploitative, or disturbing images
• Images containing private personal information
• Images intended to deceive, manipulate, or scam users

We may remove photos or media that violate these Terms or create safety, privacy, copyright, or animal welfare concerns.

15. Messages and Communications

East Texas Pets may provide messaging, contact forms, email notifications, or other communication tools. These tools are intended only for legitimate communication about pet rehoming.

You may not use site communications to:

• Send spam
• Harass or threaten others
• Solicit unrelated products or services
• Request suspicious payments
• Conduct scams or fraud
• Move users off-site for deceptive purposes
• Send abusive, obscene, or unlawful content

We may review, restrict, or preserve messages when necessary for moderation, safety, abuse prevention, legal compliance, or support.

16. Donations, Payments, and Fees

East Texas Pets may allow limited rehoming fee information in listings, subject to the $50 maximum described in these Terms.

Unless otherwise stated, East Texas Pets is not a party to payments, donations, rehoming fees, transport fees, veterinary costs, deposits, refunds, or other transactions between users.

Users are responsible for evaluating payment requests and avoiding scams. We recommend avoiding payment methods that do not provide protection or traceability.

If East Texas Pets later offers paid features, donation tools, verification tools, or payment processing, additional payment terms may apply.

17. No Guarantee of Listings, Users, or Outcomes

East Texas Pets does not guarantee:

• That any pet listing is accurate, complete, or current
• That any user is truthful, safe, qualified, or suitable
• That any pet is healthy, vaccinated, trained, non-aggressive, or legally owned
• That a rehoming arrangement will be successful
• That a user will respond to messages
• That a listing will remain available
• That disputes between users can be resolved by East Texas Pets

Users are responsible for doing their own due diligence before arranging a rehoming, adoption, meeting, payment, or pet transfer.

18. Moderation and Enforcement

We may moderate the site to protect users, animals, and the integrity of the rehoming community.

We may take action including:

• Editing, hiding, or removing listings
• Removing photos or messages
• Limiting account features
• Suspending or deleting accounts
• Blocking repeat offenders
• Preserving information related to safety or legal concerns
• Reporting suspected cruelty, fraud, or unlawful conduct to appropriate authorities

We are not required to provide advance notice before taking moderation action. We may choose not to publish or restore content that we believe violates these Terms or creates risk.

19. Reporting Problems

Users should report suspicious, unsafe, fraudulent, abusive, or prohibited activity.

You should report:

• Breeders, puppy mills, or commercial sellers
• Rehoming fees above $50
• Fake or misleading listings
• Animal cruelty or neglect concerns
• Requests for suspicious payments
• Harassment or threats
• Users seeking animals for harmful purposes
• Stolen animals or ownership disputes

Reports may be reviewed by East Texas Pets, but submitting a report does not guarantee a specific outcome.

20. Third-Party Links and Services

East Texas Pets may link to third-party websites, social media platforms, messaging apps, payment services, maps, rescue organizations, shelters, veterinarians, or other resources.

We do not control third-party services and are not responsible for their content, policies, practices, security, availability, or actions.

Your use of third-party services is governed by their own terms and privacy policies.

21. Privacy

Your use of East Texas Pets is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which explains how we collect, use, share, and protect information.

By using the site, you consent to the collection and use of information as described in our Privacy Policy.

22. Copyright and Intellectual Property

East Texas Pets, including its name, design, layout, graphics, text, features, and other site materials, may be protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.

You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, scrape, or commercially exploit site content except as allowed by law or with written permission.

If you believe content on East Texas Pets infringes your rights, contact us at [Insert contact email] with enough information for us to review your request.

23. Service Availability

We may change, suspend, restrict, or discontinue any part of East Texas Pets at any time. We may also update features, remove features, impose limits, or change how the site operates.

We do not guarantee that the site will always be available, uninterrupted, secure, or error-free.

24. Disclaimer of Warranties

East Texas Pets is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of accuracy, reliability, fitness for a particular purpose, availability, merchantability, non-infringement, and suitability of any pet, user, listing, or rehoming arrangement.

You use the site at your own risk.

25. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, East Texas Pets and its owners, operators, volunteers, moderators, contributors, affiliates, and service providers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss, injury, dispute, claim, cost, or damage arising from your use of the site, reliance on listings, communication with users, meetings, payments, rehoming arrangements, pet behavior, animal health, or offline interactions.

Nothing in these Terms is intended to limit liability where doing so would be prohibited by law.

26. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless East Texas Pets and its owners, operators, volunteers, moderators, contributors, affiliates, and service providers from and against claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses arising from:

• Your use of the site
• Your listings, messages, photos, or other content
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of law
• Your interaction with another user
• Your rehoming, adoption, transfer, care, ownership, or handling of an animal

27. Termination

We may suspend, restrict, or terminate your access to East Texas Pets at any time if we believe you violated these Terms, created risk, misused the site, or acted contrary to the mission of responsible pet rehoming.

You may stop using the site at any time. Some information may remain in backups, logs, moderation records, reports, or legal records as described in our Privacy Policy.

28. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms 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 updated Terms are posted means you accept the updated Terms.

29. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to conflict of law principles, unless another law is required to apply.

Any disputes must be handled in the appropriate courts or legal venue unless otherwise required by applicable law.

30. Contact Us