1. Agreeing to these Terms

By creating an account, checking the acceptance boxes, or using PawQuest, you agree to these Terms, the Privacy Policy, the Community Guidelines, the Safety & Location Disclosure, and the other policies in the Legal & Safety Center, which are part of this agreement. You agree that accepting electronically has the same effect as a signature.

If you do not agree, do not use PawQuest.

2. Eligibility and age

You must be at least 13 years old to create your own account. A child under 13 may participate only through a parent or legal guardian who is 18 or older, lives in the same household, and completes PawQuest's verifiable parental consent process. Living in the same household is an additional PawQuest rule; it does not replace any consent required by law.

Until verifiable parental consent is complete, an under-13 account stays pending and cannot post, message, or share content. An invitation alone never activates a child account. See Children, Parents & Consent.

3. Parents and guardians

A parent or guardian who allows a minor to use PawQuest is responsible for supervising that use, for the minor's compliance with these Terms, and for deciding whether PawQuest is appropriate for them. Parents of teens 13–17 should review these Terms with them.

4. Your account

Give accurate registration information and keep it current. Keep your password and devices secure; you are responsible for activity on your account. Tell us promptly if you believe your account has been compromised. Do not create accounts to evade a restriction or impersonate anyone.

5. Public content

Some things you post — such as sightings, missing-pet reports, public reunion cards, and profile details — may be visible to other users or the public. Content you choose to make public may be accessed, searched, copied, screenshotted, indexed, or redistributed by others, and PawQuest cannot control or undo that. Think before you share.

6. No background or security checks

PawQuest does not perform background checks, identity verification, criminal-record checks, rescue due diligence, or personal-security checks on ordinary users, unless we expressly say so for a specific program. A badge, level, friend connection, Pack, or "Verified" label is not a guarantee of anyone's identity, intentions, honesty, or safety.

7. Meeting people and handling animals

Use caution when you communicate, meet in person, share location or contact information, transfer or recover an animal, or arrange an adoption. Meet in public places, bring another adult, do not enter strangers' homes, and use official shelters, veterinarians, or animal control where appropriate. Unknown animals may bite, scratch, or carry disease. Never trespass or put yourself in danger to recover an animal.

8. Emergencies

PawQuest is not an emergency service, law-enforcement service, veterinary service, animal-control agency, shelter, rescue, adoption agency, background-screening service, or legal service. In an emergency, contact 911 or your local emergency number, law enforcement, animal control, or a veterinarian as appropriate.

9. Following the law

You are responsible for complying with all laws that apply to you, including laws on animal ownership, licensing, leash and wildlife rules, trespass, privacy, photography, and adoption or transfer of animals.

10. Your content and the license you give us

You keep ownership of content you submit. You grant PawQuest a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable and sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, display, adapt (for example, resize or blur), distribute, analyze, moderate, and otherwise process your content to operate, secure, improve, and promote PawQuest and to comply with law. This license continues for content shared with others or retained as described in our Data notice.

You promise you have the rights and permissions needed for everything you upload, including photos of people, animals, and property, and that your content does not violate anyone's rights or the law.

11. Prohibited conduct

You agree not to use PawQuest to:

• abuse, neglect, harm, or promote cruelty to any animal, or traffic or illegally sell animals
• commit fraud, scams, or impersonation, or misrepresent ownership of an animal
• stalk, harass, threaten, bully, or dox anyone, or share private contact or location information without permission
• post hate, sexual content, sexual exploitation of anyone, or any content sexualizing minors
• share intimate images of anyone without consent
• engage in or promote illegal activity or dangerous acts
• post false sightings, misuse missing-pet tools, or deliberately manipulate PetMatch
• manipulate Paw Points, badges, leaderboards, referrals, or Packs
• scrape, crawl, automate, reverse engineer, overload, or circumvent security or rate limits
• spam, or upload malware

12. Paw Points, badges and leaderboards

Paw Points, badges, levels, leaderboards, Buddy items, and other rewards have no cash value, are not property, cannot be sold or transferred, and may be changed, corrected, reset, or revoked at any time, including to fix errors or abuse.

13. Informational tools; no guarantees

Lost-pet listings, sightings, PetMatch, Reunion Radar, nearby alerts, maps, PawStops, and rescue listings are informational tools. PawQuest does not guarantee that any pet will be found or reunited, that any match is accurate, that map data or locations are complete, current, or correct, or that any rescue, user, or listing is legitimate. Always verify information independently.

Rescue, shelter, and adoption listings may come from organizations or third-party sources and are not endorsements. A "Verified" or partner label means only that PawQuest completed a limited review at a point in time; it is not a guarantee of safety, legitimacy, or performance.

AI features can be wrong. Do not rely on them for emergency, veterinary, legal, identification, ownership, or safety-critical decisions. Virtual Buddy is fictional and is not a real animal or a promise to provide animal care.

14. Moderation and termination

PawQuest may review, remove, hide, restrict, or refuse content, and may suspend or terminate accounts, when we reasonably determine conduct or content is unlawful, unsafe, abusive, fraudulent, harassing, exploitative, inappropriate, or contrary to our rules — even if the conduct is not specifically listed — subject to applicable law. You have no entitlement to continued access. See Moderation, Enforcement & Appeals.

15. Changes to the service

We may change, suspend, or discontinue any part of PawQuest at any time. Availability is not guaranteed and the service may be interrupted for maintenance, outages, or reasons outside our control.

16. Account deletion

You may request account deletion at any time. Deletion ends or significantly limits your access. Except where applicable law requires otherwise, PawQuest has no contractual obligation to return, export, preserve, or permanently destroy your data, and may delete, de-identify, or retain information as described in the Data, Account Deletion & Retention notice. Nothing here limits privacy rights you have under applicable law.

17. Intellectual property

PawQuest's software, design, names, logos, and content (other than user content and third-party data) belong to PawQuest or its licensors. You receive a limited, revocable, non-transferable license to use PawQuest for personal, non-commercial purposes in line with these Terms.

If you believe content on PawQuest infringes your copyright or other rights, send a notice identifying the work, the content and where it appears, your contact information, and a statement of good-faith belief, through the contact method in the Legal & Safety Center. We may remove content and terminate repeat infringers.

18. Third-party services

PawQuest uses and links to third-party services, data, and websites (for example map data, AI providers, and rescue or donation sites). We are not responsible for their content, terms, availability, accuracy, security, or transactions. See Third-Party Services & Data Sources.

19. Disclaimer of warranties

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, PawQuest is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, accuracy, availability, and that the service will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free.

20. Assumption of risk

You understand that walking outdoors, observing animals, interacting with other users and organizations online or in person, sharing information, relying on platform content, and handling, recovering, transferring, or adopting animals involve risks, including injury, illness, property damage, loss, fraud, and emotional distress. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you voluntarily assume all such risks.

21. Who the "PawQuest Parties" are

"PawQuest Parties" means the PawQuest operator and its owners, officers, directors, members, employees, contractors, volunteers, agents, affiliates, licensors, and service providers, including map, data, API, and technology vendors where contractually appropriate. For claims arising from your participation on the PawQuest platform only, and where legally appropriate, it also includes Archer's Rescue and participating rescue, shelter, and animal-welfare organizations. Each independent organization remains responsible for its own conduct, and nothing here releases any organization from responsibility for its own acts or omissions where that responsibility cannot legally be released.

22. Release and hold harmless

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you release and hold harmless the PawQuest Parties from claims, demands, and damages arising out of or related to: your reliance on platform content; your interactions with other users or organizations; animal handling, recovery, transfer, or adoption; your sharing of location or contact information; third-party services; and your use of AI or matching features. This release does not apply to liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, such as (where applicable) liability for gross negligence, willful misconduct, fraud, or personal injury caused by negligence.

If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code §1542 (and similar laws elsewhere) only to the extent permitted by law. Section 1542 says: "A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party."

23. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the PawQuest Parties will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data, goodwill, or animals, arising out of or related to PawQuest, even if advised of the possibility. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the PawQuest Parties' total liability for all claims will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid PawQuest in the 12 months before the claim or US $50. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of these may not apply to you.

24. Indemnification

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the PawQuest Parties from claims, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from your content, your use of PawQuest, your interactions with others, your handling or transfer of animals, or your violation of these Terms, law, or anyone's rights.

25. Events outside our control

PawQuest is not responsible for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including outages of hosting, network, map, or AI providers, natural disasters, public-health events, labor disputes, or acts of government.

26. Governing law and disputes

The law governing these Terms and where disputes are resolved will be stated here once confirmed. Until then, disputes will be handled in a forum and under the law permitted by applicable law. Nothing in these Terms removes rights you have under the consumer-protection laws of the place you live.

27. General terms

Severability: if any provision is unenforceable, it will be limited to the minimum extent necessary and the rest stays in effect. Waiver: our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. Assignment: you may not assign these Terms; we may assign them in connection with a merger, reorganization, or sale of assets. Entire agreement: these Terms and the policies they reference are the entire agreement between you and PawQuest about PawQuest.

28. Changes to these Terms

We may revise these Terms and our policies at any time, subject to applicable law. Non-material changes may be posted with an updated effective date. For material changes, we will ask you to review and accept the new version, and may limit posting and messaging until you do; you can still access your account, legal and safety pages, and request deletion or review. Continuing to use PawQuest after legally sufficient notice or acceptance means you agree, where permitted. Changes never retroactively remove rights you have under law.

29. Contact

Contact PawQuest through the in-app Help and Safety options or the contact method listed in the Legal & Safety Center.