Terms & Conditions

The Best Friends Animal Society ("Best Friends") web site is an on-line community of people who care about the animals. For more information about the Best Friends communications subject to these terms and conditions, and the policies that govern our communications, please visit https://bestfriends.org/privacy-policy.

We encourage everyone to work together to help innocent creatures in need and support your fellow animal lovers. In keeping with the spirit of cooperation of the No More Homeless Pets movement, we ask that you follow a few guidelines when posting to this site.

  • Please do not use profanity in your messages.
  • Please do not post personal attacks, or excessive and explicit criticism of fellow bloggers or other humane or rescue organizations or individuals.
  • You must be over 13 to post comments and/or content.
  • Please avoid excessive negativity, and incitement and/or approval of violent or illegal activities.
  • Please do not post unlawful or objectionable content, including unlawful, harassing, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, graphic, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, racially offensive or otherwise objectionable material.
  • We do not allow advertising.
  • Please avoid spamming or off-topic material.

If you use multiple logins for the purpose of disrupting the community or annoying other users you may have action taken against your accounts.

We will remove content and messages which do not follow the above guidelines. Best Friends Animal Society reserves the right to delete any contribution, or take action against any account, at any time, for any reason. We reserve the right to modify or expand the above guidelines as necessary.

And now, here's what our lawyers said we also had to include. They worked really hard on this section so please do read it.

We welcome your access and use of our communications. As consideration for your access and use, you agree to abide by these Terms and Conditions of Use, including the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to all of these terms and conditions, please do not access or otherwise use this web site, forums or blogs or any of their contents or services.

These Terms and Conditions of Use may be revised periodically, and we advise you to check here from time to time for any changes. Your continued use of the web site, forums or blogs shall be deemed your consent to such changes.

Intellectual Property; Use of Web Site Content

The design of this web site and all materials published on it by Best Friends, including text, names, trademarks, service marks, logos, graphics, photographs, video, or other visuals or content are the property of Best Friends and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Best Friends authorizes you to view and download the content portion of this web site only for your personal, non-commercial use and only if you keep on any copies all copyright and other proprietary notices contained on the original materials. You agree you will not otherwise reproduce, retransmit or distribute, in any manner or to any extent whatsoever, any part of this web site, its design or content published by Best Friends, without the prior written permission of Best Friends. Permission will only be granted if you agree to give credit to the author and to Best Friends. Note: Resources available on the Best Friends website(s) are available for use and reproduction without prior contact as long as credit is appropriately given as stated above.

If you would like permission to reproduce any other Best Friends materials on this web site, please contact us at info@bestfriends.org. Please specify the URL and article or feature you would like permission to reproduce. Reproduced text may not be modified or altered in any way without our express written consent. The content permitted to be copied as specified above does not include the layout or design of this web site. Those elements of this site are protected by trade dress and other laws and may not be imitated or reproduced in whole or in part. Also, no logos, graphics, sounds or images on this web site may be reproduced or distributed without Best Friends' express written consent.

Postings or Uploads to Member Profiles, Group Pages, Forums or Blogs

By posting content, including but not limited to text and photographs, to any Group Pages, Member Profiles, forum or blog, you warrant and represent that you either own or otherwise control all of the rights to that content, including, without limitation, all the rights necessary for you to post or upload the content, or that your use of the content is a protected fair use under copyright law. You agree you will not knowingly provide content with intent to defraud or submit misleading or false information. You represent and warrant also the content you supply does not violate these Terms and you will indemnify and hold Best Friends harmless for any and all claims resulting from content you supply.

By uploading or posting to a Group page, Member Profile, forum or blog, you are granting Best Friends a non-exclusive, royalty-free, assignable, perpetual, irrevocable, and worldwide license to reproduce, use and distribute your content. Best Friends will make an effort to credit your authorship.

You understand and agree all content posted to Group pages, Member Profile, forums and blogs is the sole responsibility of the individual who originally posted the content. Best Friends does not necessarily approve of and is not responsible for and disclaims any and all liability that may arise from content posted by you or other individuals or groups on the Group pages, Member Profiles, forums or blogs. If you believe any content posted by others is infringing or otherwise objectionable, please notify us at info@bestfriends.org.

You agree that Best Friends has the right in its sole discretion to edit, alter, or remove any content submitted by you or others to the site.

User Conduct

Best Friends News is intended to encourage interaction and discussion around helping animals in the spirit of cooperation of the No More Homeless Pets movement. Please do not post personal attacks or excessive and explicit criticism against any individuals or other animal welfare organizations. You may not create and use multiple login ID's for the purpose of disrupting the community or annoying other users.

In addition, you are prohibited from uploading, posting, emailing or otherwise transmitting any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, harassing, pornographic, or profane material or any material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law. You further agree not to upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any confidential information, trade secrets, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters,"pyramid schemes," any other form of solicitation, or software viruses.

Best Friends reserves the right to remove in its sole discretion any upload or posting that violates these Terms of Use. We reserve the right to take all available and appropriate legal action to protect this web site and its contents from such misuse and abuse.

BFAS will ask users if they are under 13 years old prior to allowing them to post any materials. If so, we will not allow them to participate in any interactive aspects of the BFAS websites. This policy is designed to protect minors from inappropriate contact on our, web site and Guardian Angel programs. It is not designed to protect minors or adults from what may be controversial content. Nor is its purpose to determine if content is age appropriate.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”)

Best Friends respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects you to do the same. Per the DMCA, Best Friends will respond expeditiously to claims of copyright infringement on the web site if submitted to Best Friends’s Copyright Agent as described below. Upon receipt of a notice alleging copyright infringement, Best Friends will take whatever action it deems appropriate within its sole discretion, including removal of the allegedly infringing materials.

If you believe that your intellectual property rights have been violated by Best Friends or by a third party who has uploaded materials to the web site, please provide the following information to Best Friends’s designated Copyright Agent listed below:

  1. A description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;
  2. A description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Site;
  3. An address, telephone number, and e-mail address where Best Friends can contact you and, if different, an e-mail address where the alleged infringing party, if not Best Friends, can contact you;
  4. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner or other intellectual property rights owner, by its agent, or by law;
  5. A statement by you under penalty of perjury that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or are authorized to act on the owner’s behalf;
  6. Your electronic or physical signature.

Best Friends may request additional information before removing any allegedly infringing material. In the event Best Friends removes the allegedly infringing materials, Best Friends will immediately notify the person responsible for posting such materials that Best Friends removed or disabled access to the materials. Best Friends may also provide the responsible person with your contact information so that the person may respond to your allegations.

Best Friends reserves the right to terminate, limit or suspend any user’s access to the web site in the event of repeated infringing activity. If you believe that a user of this web site is a repeat infringer, please follow the above instructions to contact Best Friends’s Copyright Agent. Please include sufficient information to assist Best Friends in determining that the user repeatedly engaged in infringing activity.

Best Friends registered a designated agent with the Copyright Office pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 512(c). Best Friends’s designated Copyright Agent is:

Sandy Fox
DMCA / Copyright Agent
Best Friends Animal Society
5001 Angel Canyon Rd, Kanab, UT 84741
435-688-2327
dmca@bestfriends.org

Submission of User-Generated Content

By submitting content to Best Friends – including, but not limited to, a story, a quote, a photo, or a video – you grant Best Friends and its related entities a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license in perpetuity to use the content submitted for any purpose, including but not limited to:

  • Use of the content on the Internet and in social media in support of our mission.
  • Use of the content in Best Friend’s internal and external communications materials including but not limited to web sites and web publications, fact sheets, fund raising publications, advertising, multimedia, presentation and membership services, annual report, newsletters, and Best Friends magazine.
  • Providing your content to other individuals and organizations for Best Friends and related entities’-related use in news stories, social media, newsletters, reports, slide shows, displays, web pages, videos, and the like.
  • Use of, in connection with your submission, your name, city, state and country of residence in promotions and other publications.
  • Retaining a digital copy of your content that will be archived and available to Best Friends’ and related entities’ for future use in support of our mission.

You will retain all other rights you may have to any content you submit—including ownership if applicable.  You warrant that you have not submitted content that violates or infringes upon another person’s rights, including but not limited to copyright. 

If you choose to include other people in the content of your submission, you are responsible for obtaining the necessary releases from the individuals depicted and must be able to provide copies of those releases to Best Friends upon request.

DISCLAIMERS

YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THIS WEB SITE, ITS FORUMS AND BLOGS ARE AT YOUR SOLE RISK. YOU ARE ENTIRELY LIABLE FOR YOUR ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THIS SITE, THE FORUMS AND BLOGS. BEST FRIENDS DOES NOT WARRANT (A) THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, TIMELINESS OR OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF ANY CONTENT AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THIS NEWS WEB SITE, THE FORUMS OR BLOGS; (B) THAT THIS NEWS WEB SITE, FORUMS OR BLOGS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR ACCESS ALL THE TIME OR AT ANY TIME ON A CONTINUOUS, UNINTERRUPTED BASIS; (C) THAT ANY DEFECTS IN THE WEBSITE OR ITS CONTENT CAN OR WILL BE CORRECTED; OR (D) THAT THIS WEB SITE OR ITS SERVER ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL CODE OR MATERIALS. THIS WEB SITE, FORUMS AND BLOGS AND THEIR CONTENTS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS." BEST FRIENDS MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. YOU MUST EVALUATE AND BEAR ALL RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF ANY CONTENT, INCLUDING ANY RELIANCE ON THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR USEFULNESS OF THE CONTENT. BEST FRIENDS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER, HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, PROPERTY OR PERSON, OR ANY OTHER INCONVENIENCE OR LOSS, RESULTING IN ANY WAY FROM YOUR USE OF THIS NEWS WEB SITE, FORUMS OR BLOGS.

Where applicable law does not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, some of the foregoing exclusions may not apply to you. This Disclaimer applies to all content and services available through this site.

DISCLAIMER AND RELEASE OF LIABILITY

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL BEST FRIENDS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF OR THE INABILITY TO USE THIS WEB SITE OR THE INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THIS WEB SITE, EVEN IF BEST FRIENDS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

YOU AGREE NEVER TO BRING A CLAIM AGAINST AND RELEASE BEST FRIENDS AND ITS EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AGENTS, FOUNDERS AND ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS FROM ALL LIABILITY ARISING FROM ACCESS, UPLOADS, POSTINGS, EMAILS, DOWNLOADS OR OTHER USE OF THE WEB SITE (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO GROUP PAGES, MEMBER PROFILES, FORUMS AND BLOGS) AND LINKED SITES. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THIS AGREEMENT DISCHARGES BEST FRIENDS AND ITS EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AGENTS, FOUNDERS AND ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS FROM ANY LIABILITY TO YOU WITH RESPECT TO BODILY INJURY, PERSONAL INJURY, INJURY TO REPUTATION, DEFAMATION, ILLNESS, DEATH, PROPERTY DAMAGE OR OTHER LOSS THAT MAY RESULT AS A RESULT OF ACCESS, UPLOADS, POSTINGS, EMAILS, DOWNLOADS OR OTHER ACTIVITIES OR USE RELATED TO THE WEB SITE, ITS GROUP PAGES, MEMBER PROFILES, FORUMS AND BLOGS AND THEIR CONTENT AND LINKED SITES.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold Best Friends and its employees, agents, officers, directors, agents, founders, successors and assigns harmless from and against all liabilities, damages, claims, actions, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) in connection with or arising from your access, uploads, postings, emails, downloads or other use or misuse of this web site, the Group Pages, Member profiles, forums and blog, and linked web sites. Best Friends may participate in the defense of any claim or action and any negotiations for settlement at your expense. Best Friends reserves the right, upon notice to you, to assume exclusive defense and control of any claim or action against it that is subject to indemnification by you, without relieving you of your indemnification obligations.

Interpretation

If any provision of these Terms and Conditions of Use is held invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and all other provisions shall remain enforceable and in full effect. No failure or delay in enforcing any condition of the Terms of Use or Privacy Policy term shall be a waiver of that or any other term or condition.

Links to Third Party Sites

This web site may contain hyperlinks to web sites operated by persons or entities other than Best Friends. If you decide to access or use any such third party web sites, you do this entirely at your own risk. The linked sites are not under the control of Best Friends and we are not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites. We provide these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Best Friends of the site.

Choice of Law and Forum

These Terms and Conditions of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States of America and the State of Utah, excluding choice of law provisions. You expressly agree the exclusive jurisdiction for any claim or action arising out of or relating to these Terms and Conditions of Use or your use of this site shall be in the state or federal courts located in the State of Utah, and you further agree and submit to the exercise of personal jurisdiction of those courts for the purpose of litigating any such claim or action.

Best Friends controls this web site from its offices in the United States of America. Best Friends makes no representation that information and materials on this web site ("Materials") are appropriate or available for use in other locations, and access to them from territories where their content is illegal is prohibited. Those who choose to access this site from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved by Best Friends.

Data and Use of Data

Data used in our communications is sourced from shelters and public resources.  Best Friends is not responsible for the contents or validity of these data points. The information provided is on an "as is" and "as available" basis. Best Friends makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied as to the operation of this site or the information, content, or materials included in our communications. To the full extent permissible by applicable law, Best Friends disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Under no circumstances shall Best Friends have any liability to you for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of our communications or reliance on any information provided. You acknowledge, by your use of these communications, that your use of these communications and your reliance on any information in those communications is solely at your own risk.