Pets.ca - Posting rules & Policy - Read before posting

[marko]

The pulse of this forum - Please read this to get a feel for this Bulletin Board - Some of this information is already covered in the rules and is repeated here again due to its importance.

- This board is run and monitored by 2 Administrators (Admins) and a growing number of Moderators (Mods) who are here to help you and to enforce the rules.

First and foremost this forum is dedicated to providing useful information to pet owners on all matters pet related. Everyone is welcome and everyone is invited to read posts and to post questions and answers. That said, this board has been up for several years and it has developed a certain pulse.

Most people on this forum are against declawing cats, and are against banning specific dog breeds. Most people on this forum are VERY pro spay/neuter, and are against backyard breeding. Most people on this board will beg, borrow and max out their credit cards to see a veterinarian when their pets are ill.

That said, all posts are to be responded to in a polite manner. Please EDUCATE or IGNORE posters that you don't agree with. Respond with kindness or do not respond at all. Rudeness from newer or older members will not be tolerated and may result in the member being removed without warning.

We at Pets.ca subscribe to the philosophy that all pets MUST be treated ethically and responsibly.
Anyone posting that their pet suffers from any condition that requires immediate veterinary care is in our opinion an irresponsible pet owner and is ON THE WRONG BULLETIN BOARD.

Do not post questions that require immediate veterinary care. Instead, pretend that your dog or cat that is suffering is your mother, father or child. What would you do then? You would take them to a doctor immediately. If you are reading this and you are saying to yourself but it's just a dog, a cat a......., then you are on the wrong board. We are proud that the VAST majority of registered members SHARE our philosophy. If you are writing about someone else's pet, still don't post on this site. Tell them to take their pet to a veterinarian.

THE INTERNET IS NOT THE PLACE TO SEEK EMERGENCY VETERINARY MEDICAL ADVICE.

If your pet is seriously ill, bleeding, can't move, hasn't pooped or peed in a couple of days, is vomiting, has green mucus coming out of the nose or eyes, hasn't eaten or drank in a few days, is pooping blood, is coughing blood, has a bloated tummy, cries when touched or picked up.....Then please take the poor animal to the VETERINARIAN ASAP.......Do not waste precious time posting on this or other bulletin boards or chartrooms. Your pet needs to be seen by a real live veterinarian immediately. Many pets have died waiting for advice when they should have been at the doctor's office.

Veterinarians on this board only answer a small number of all questions asked and WILL NOT answer any life threatening questions whatsoever.

If you cannot afford vet care - Check to see if your vet or another vet can take payments, or check to see if any veterinary school or college facility can help. Call your local humane shelter or a local rescue organization to see if they can help. The SPCA has written this article that may help you with additional ideas. To avoid getting yourself in a financial bind, pet insurance is a great idea.

TROLLING - SPAMMING - SWEARING - RUDENESS - SELLING etc.

- Anyone posting that their pet is suffering from a condition that requires emergency medical treatment is assumed to be trolling. Trolling is when people post messages deliberately to inflame other users or manipulate the board for their own gain or pleasure. We will not tolerate this and can and will ban people without warning, and delete all their posts.
- Registering more than one identity is grounds for banning.
- Swearing and being deliberately rude to other members is not permitted on this site.
- Slandering any person or organization is not permitted. If you want to warn people about another person or organization then you may only do so by private messaging or by emailing those people directly, never in any open forum.
- Spamming, selling anything of any kind, any type of self-promotion, or linking to any commercial site in your signature is prohibited.

Over 95 percent of the people that come to this site respect the rules, and we thank all of you. You have made this site one of the best pet information sites on the Internet. You have our thanks and our gratitude. We even apologize for having to write all of these rules and redundant information. Unfortunately 5 percent of all our visitors still add up to a lot of wasted time and aggravation.

Since thousands of people come to the boards daily it is impossible for us to be on top of all threads AT ALL TIMES.

- If you feel a particular thread or person has broken the rules, please send the thread URL to a Mod or the ADMIN by PRIVATE MESSAGE ONLY - NEVER in an open forum. We will take the appropriate action and we thank you for bringing the matter to our attention.

- All that said, we hope that all of you who are left enjoy your visit and learn from this site.

Thank you,

The Pets.ca site and bulletin board Administrators/Moderators.

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The owners of the Pets.ca bulletin board have the right to ban any user for any reason.

Pets.ca forum rules

1 - Who is welcome

Pets.ca is dedicated to providing pet information and this moderated board has become a popular resource for pet lovers worldwide. Users are free to post questions and answers on a variety of pet related and non pet related topics in appropriate forums. Most of the common questions that pet owners have, have been answered by different members many of whom provide excellent insight and tips based on their experience. Some of the members that answer questions are experts. Although most questions are answered regular members, the rare question is answered by a veterinarian. There are a lot of highly knowledgeable members on this board that share their information freely. Everyone that has an interest in pets is welcome on our board so long as they respect our rules. The main rules are, always be polite, don't try to sell anything, don't slander anyone, don't dispute the rules. Posting on our board should be considered a privilege.

2 - Forum rules and guidelines are not up for debate

Anyone openly debating the rules or guidelines we have set in place can be removed without warning. No complaining about the rules either. We have put a lot of time and effort into making this site run smoothly. Whining and complaining about the rules detracts from the primary goal of this board which is helping pet owners and helping pets. The Moderators that help run this site are very busy volunteers that work for free. If they ask you to do something do not fight with them, just listen. If you see your post vanish, live with it. If you see a member get banned live with it. Do not post about it, do not fight about it. If you feel a thread or post has broken the rules - PM (Private message) an Admin or Mod or use the report a bad post icon . Do not post about it or fight about it as it won't help, it wastes time and can result in your losing your privileges as well.

3 - Be polite - No flaming or insults

There is a 100 percent ban on rudeness. Although heated discussions are tolerated, always be polite. Again if you feel a post has broken this rule, do not post about it, do not fight about it. PM (Private message) an Admin or Mod or use the report a bad post icon . Posting about it or fighting about it won't help, it wastes time and can result in your losing your privileges as well.

4 - Slander

Slandering any person or organization in an open forum for any reason is not permitted and is grounds for immediate banning by the Admins or Mods. For the purposes of posting in THIS FORUM, slanderous statements include statements that members feel or 'know' to be true but have not been proven true or substantiated in a court of law. Please use words like In my opinion (IMO) - or in my experience when comparing brands of food or talking about products or services that you aren’t happy about. Members are entitled to their opinions - just please back them up. At the end of the day we WANT the best info out there for visitors. We want to educate current and future members. What we don't want are lawyer's letters and lawsuits. Both Pets.ca and members of this very forum have been involved in lawsuits regarding slander and defamation. It sucks for everyone involved. In terms of our policy, what will get modded or deleted are general statements without substance. Brand X is pure garbage. Company X doesn't give a crap about animals. Company X poisons animals. If company X IS poisoning animals - then back it up with something...We are not lawyers so members may well see examples not covered by this sticky...please just ask if you are concerned about anything. We are always learning. There will be mistakes - this forum is a work in progress but we are always here to help

5 - Registration and posting your email address/telephone number

Each visitor is allowed to register only one user name and can be banned if this rule is not followed. There is generally no restriction on username choice unless it appears to have been chosen for promotional reasons or to impede the running of the board in any way. In rare cases an Admin may notify a user and change a user's username. If you belong to a rescue organization, or work in that domain, do not register using a rescue organization name without the prior approval of a Mod or Admin.

Do not post your email address or telephone number (unless approved by the Admins or Mods) as there are security issues, privacy issues and spam issues all related to the posting of email addresses. Users that need to be contacted for one reason or another should state that they are to be contacted by PM. If they have no PM access they need to ask an Admin or Mod for help. The only exception would be if your pet is lost and then you can post your email address at your own risk.

6 - Advertising, self promotion and promotion in general

All bulletin board posts (which include the signature at the end of the post) are for purely personal/non-commercial use only. Unless specifically approved by an Admin, promoting your own, or any other another business, website or cause either directly or indirectly is not permitted. If you are in doubt, ask first. Non-profit organizations like charities, shelters and rescues can obtain special permission but must ask first. Please do not post fund raisers or petitions without the Admins' prior approval. Please direct all such inquiries to marko( at )pets.ca

7 - Manipulating our board

Users attempting to manipulate this board in any way through unscrupulous posting, registration, private messaging, or any other techniques deemed harmful to the board, at the sole discretion of the Admins and/or Mods will be banned without warning.

8 - Copyright

Pets.ca bulletin board users and site users agree not to post any material that is protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary information without the express permission of the owner(s) of said copyright, trademark or other proprietary right. All text posts made by Pets.ca bulletin board users or site users become the property of Pets.ca and can be used by Pets.ca in any way it sees fit and without any compensation to the user. In terms of images posted by bulletin board users and Pets.ca site users, the copyright for those images rests with the creator of the images, however you grant Pets.ca a perpetual, worldwide non exclusive license to show and/or modify the images on Pets.ca and in Pets.ca related media. Rest assured that Pets.ca has no interest in selling your images or making money off your images. We just care about the flow of information in bulletin board threads and throughout the Pets.ca website and how it can help future visitors.

9 - Pet emergencies

Please note that the answers given here ARE NOT meant as a substitute for actually bringing your pet in for professional medical care or attention by a qualified animal practitioner. If you have a pet emergency or serious problem, bring your pet to the veterinarian immediately. Do not waste precious time by posting life endangering questions on the bulletin board. These types of questions WILL NOT be answered by our specialists or other members. If your pet is vomiting, bleeding, has diarrhea, is not eating or drinking or looks and acts ill...then take that pet to the vet ASAP. If your dog is pregnant and is having complications see a vet. For other breeding queries, please ask either your vet or your mentor breeder.

10 - Our Liability

The answers or information contained on this site are for informational purposes only. Under no circumstances shall Pets.ca or any of its associates be liable for any damages resulting from the use of the Service or the Information contained therein. By posting on the Pets.ca bulletin board or by using the information in any way, you agree that under no circumstances shall Pets.ca or any of its associates, members, or users be liable for any damages resulting from the use of the Service or the Information contained therein.

11 - The rules can be updated at any time

These registration rules can be modified at any time and without warning, though the date of the update will be written.
(Last update July 9, 2013)

Any questions or issues can be addressed to marko (at ) pets.ca