Legal

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using poodles.dog (the "Platform", "we", "us"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not access or use the Platform. The Platform is operated from Cyprus, a member state of the European Union. You can reach us at legal@poodles.dog for any legal notice, question, or request related to these Terms.

2. What poodles.dog Is

poodles.dog is an online classifieds and listings platform that allows registered breeders to publish listings for puppies and dogs, and allows buyers to search, view, and contact breeders directly. We are not a party to any transaction between a breeder and a buyer. We do not sell, own, breed, transport, inspect, or take possession of any animal at any point, and we do not process any payment between users. We do not act as an agent, broker, escrow service, or intermediary in any sale. All communication, negotiation, payment, contract, and transfer of an animal happens directly and exclusively between the breeder and the buyer, entirely at their own risk and responsibility.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or use the Platform. By registering, you represent and warrant that all information you provide is accurate, current, and complete, and that you have full legal capacity and the legal right, under the laws applicable to you, to enter into transactions related to the breeding, sale, purchase, or ownership of animals. We may refuse service, suspend, or terminate any account at our sole discretion.

4. Account Types & Registration

The Platform offers two account roles: Buyer (browse, search, save favorites, contact breeders, set up alerts) and Breeder (all buyer features, plus the ability to publish listings). You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. We reserve the right to request verification of your role, identity, or claims at any time, and to reclassify, suspend, or delete accounts that misrepresent their role or provide false information.

5. Breeder Responsibilities & Warranties

If you publish listings on the Platform, you represent, warrant, and agree that:

• You are solely and fully responsible for complying with all laws, licensing requirements, animal welfare regulations, breeding restrictions, tax obligations, and advertising rules applicable to breeding, advertising, and selling animals in your country, region, and the buyer's country, where applicable. Requirements vary significantly by jurisdiction worldwide, and it is your sole responsibility to know and comply with them. The Platform provides no legal advice and makes no representation that any listing complies with any specific jurisdiction's laws.
• All information in your listing is accurate, current, and truthful, including the animal's age, breed, health status, vaccination and deworming history, temperament, pedigree status, and price.
• You will not list, offer, or advertise any animal younger than the minimum age permitted for sale under the laws applicable to you. As a general Platform policy, and regardless of local minimums, we do not permit listings for puppies under 8 weeks of age under any circumstances.
• You hold, where required by your jurisdiction, any applicable breeder license, registration, permit, or authorization necessary to breed and sell the animal, and you will provide such documentation to a buyer or to us upon reasonable request.
• The animal has not been subjected to mutilation, cruelty, or neglect, and is kept and bred in conditions consistent with its physical and behavioral welfare needs.
• Photos and videos you upload are your own original content, or you hold the necessary rights and permissions to use them, and they accurately and currently depict the specific animal being listed (not stock photos or photos of a different animal).
• You will not use the Platform to advertise mating, stud services, or breeding arrangements between third-party animals.
• You are solely responsible for any warranty, health guarantee, contract, deposit, or refund policy you offer to a buyer. The Platform is not a party to and has no responsibility for any such arrangement.

6. Buyer Responsibilities & Assumption of Risk

As a buyer, you acknowledge and agree that:

• You are solely responsible for independently verifying any claim made in a listing (health, pedigree, licensing, vaccination records, identity of the seller) directly with the breeder, and for conducting any due diligence you consider necessary (including requesting veterinary records, visiting in person, or requesting identification/licensing documents) before completing any transaction or making any payment.
• Purchasing, importing, transporting, or owning an animal may be subject to laws, permits, quarantine rules, customs requirements, or veterinary requirements in your country. You are solely responsible for complying with these.
• The Platform does not inspect, verify, license-check, background-check, or guarantee the health, temperament, breed authenticity, legal right to sell, or trustworthiness of any animal or breeder listed on the Platform.
• Any payment, deposit, or transfer of funds you make to a breeder is made directly to that breeder, at your own risk. The Platform never collects, holds, or processes payment for the sale of an animal, and has no ability to reverse, refund, or mediate such a payment.
• You will communicate respectfully with breeders. Harassment, abusive language, threats, or spam sent through the Platform's messaging or inquiry system may result in account suspension or termination.

7. Prohibited Content & Conduct

You may not use the Platform to:

• List, advertise, or facilitate the sale of an animal obtained, bred, kept, or transported in violation of any applicable animal welfare, anti-cruelty, or trafficking law.
• Post false, misleading, deceptive, or "bait" listings, including price manipulation, fake availability, or photos that do not depict the actual animal.
• Advertise animal fighting, sale for fighting purposes, sexual content involving animals, or any other unlawful activity.
• Impersonate another person, misrepresent your affiliation with a breeder, kennel, club, or organization, or create a false or duplicate account.
• Upload content that infringes another party's intellectual property, publicity, or privacy rights, or that you do not have the right to use.
• Scrape, harvest, crawl, or use automated means to extract data, listings, or user information from the Platform.
• Use the contact/inquiry system to send unsolicited advertising, phishing attempts, or content unrelated to a specific listing.
• Upload malicious code, attempt to breach Platform security, or interfere with the normal operation of the Platform.

8. Content You Submit

You retain ownership of the text, photos, and other content you submit ("User Content"). By submitting User Content, you grant the Platform a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, display, reproduce, adapt (e.g. resize for thumbnails), and distribute it for the purpose of operating, promoting, and improving the Platform (including in search results, featured listings sections, and marketing materials). You are solely responsible for your User Content and confirm you have all necessary rights, consents, and permissions to submit it. We may remove any User Content at our sole discretion, at any time, without notice.

9. Reporting, Moderation & Enforcement

Users may report listings or accounts they believe violate these Terms using the "Report this listing" feature or by emailing legal@poodles.dog. We review reports at our discretion and may remove, edit, or restrict content, and may suspend or permanently terminate accounts that violate these Terms, with or without prior notice and without liability to you. We do not guarantee any specific review timeline. Reviewing, approving, or failing to act on a report does not constitute an admission of fault, endorsement, or acceptance of liability by the Platform.

10. No Verification, No Endorsement, No Warranty

The Platform does not independently verify breeder licenses, animal health records, pedigree certificates, identity documents, or any other claim made in a listing or account, unless explicitly and specifically stated otherwise in writing. Approval or publication of a listing by us means only that it appeared, at the time of review, to meet our basic content guidelines — it is not a certification, verification, endorsement, or guarantee of the breeder, the animal, or the accuracy of any claim contained in the listing.

11. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE PLATFORM AND ALL CONTENT, LISTINGS, AND FEATURES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, OR UNINTERRUPTED/ERROR-FREE OPERATION. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT ANY LISTING, USER, OR ANIMAL DESCRIBED ON THE PLATFORM IS ACCURATE, SAFE, LEGAL, OR AS DESCRIBED. NOTHING IN THESE TERMS EXCLUDES OR LIMITS ANY WARRANTY OR RIGHT THAT CANNOT LAWFULLY BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER THE LAWS APPLICABLE TO YOU, INCLUDING MANDATORY CONSUMER PROTECTION RIGHTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND ELSEWHERE.

12. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE PLATFORM, ITS OPERATOR, AND ITS AFFILIATES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO: (A) YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE PLATFORM; (B) ANY TRANSACTION, COMMUNICATION, OR DISPUTE BETWEEN A BREEDER AND A BUYER; (C) THE HEALTH, CONDUCT, LEGALITY, OR CHARACTERISTICS OF ANY ANIMAL LISTED OR SOLD THROUGH THE PLATFORM; (D) ANY CONTENT POSTED BY ANY USER; OR (E) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR DATA. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE PLATFORM'S TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE PLATFORM EXCEED FIFTY EUROS (€50) OR THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US, IF ANY, IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, WHICHEVER IS GREATER. THIS SECTION DOES NOT LIMIT LIABILITY FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY CAUSED BY OUR NEGLIGENCE, FRAUD, OR ANY OTHER LIABILITY THAT CANNOT BE EXCLUDED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

13. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Platform, its operator, and its affiliates from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including reasonable legal fees, arising out of or in any way connected with: (a) your access to or use of the Platform; (b) your User Content; (c) your violation of these Terms; (d) your violation of any law, regulation, or third-party right, including any animal welfare, licensing, consumer protection, or intellectual property law; or (e) any transaction, dispute, or communication between you and another user.

14. Intellectual Property

The Platform's name, logo, design, software, and all underlying technology are owned by us or our licensors and are protected by intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works based on the Platform without our prior written consent. If you believe your copyrighted work has been infringed by content on the Platform, contact legal@poodles.dog with a description of the work, the infringing content's location, and your contact details, and we will investigate and remove infringing content where appropriate.

15. Suspension & Termination

We may suspend or terminate your account or access to the Platform at any time, with or without cause or notice, including for violation of these Terms, suspected fraud, or conduct we consider harmful to other users, animals, or the Platform. You may stop using the Platform and request deletion of your account at any time. Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 10-14 and 16-18) will survive.

16. Changes to the Platform & These Terms

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Platform at any time. We may update these Terms from time to time; the "Last updated" date at the top reflects the latest revision. Continued use of the Platform after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. If changes are material, we will make reasonable efforts to notify registered users (e.g. by email or a notice on the Platform).

17. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Cyprus, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles, except where mandatory consumer protection laws of your country of residence require the application of a different law for disputes with consumers, in which case those mandatory rules will apply to the extent required. Any dispute arising from or related to these Terms or the Platform that cannot be resolved informally shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts of Cyprus, without prejudice to any mandatory right you may have to bring proceedings in the courts of your own country of residence under applicable consumer protection law. If you are an EU consumer, you may also be able to use the EU Online Dispute Resolution platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.

18. General Provisions

If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy below, constitute the entire agreement between you and the Platform regarding your use of the Platform. You may not assign or transfer these Terms; we may assign them freely in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.