Privacy Policy

Last Updated: August 24, 2026

Please read this document to better understand how we handle privacy and our online information practices. As a user of this website, we regard your privacy as being very important to us. You agree to these policies by using our website. When using your website as a visitor, your privacy is the upmost importance to us.

When a user visits our website, the only information that is logged and collected is typical of most websites on the Internet. The IP address used to access the site may be logged, as well as dates and times of access, referral paths, etc. The duration of your website, destinations and exit pages are all used to help us understand how to make our website better for you to navigate and understand. This information is only used to analyze our websites traffic, trends, demographics, and any regular analysis of visitor information to help us tailor and improve our website to serve our visitors the best way we can and help them find what they are searching for. This type of data collected will ultimately help us improve our website for a better user experience.

Cookies are also a necessary way of customizing our website to better serve an end user with the best experience when using our website. They are a very common Internet practice and serve the purpose of making our website the best that it can be. You are free to make adjustments to your web browser to disable cookies being used on any part of our website. Please understand that disabling cookies can stop the functionality or render some aspects of our website useless.

YOUR WEBSITE ACTIVITY

The information that is contributed through our website and/or mobile application is intended for public consumption, this includes posting of animal shelter and animal rescue locations along with their contact information, hours of operation, and organization description.

All contact forms and listing update forms found on each listing are used for general contact communication and are is not used or sold to any third-party.

OUR SECURITY

We are committed to maintaining a secure environment to store and receive any information. All of the information transmitted to this website and/or mobile application, whether it’s online or through our mobile application, is stored safely and securely. This website and mobile application works closely with our partners to ensure your privacy, however, we are not responsible for the privacy policy or content of our partners' websites or of third-party vendors.

USER CONTACT INFORMATION

When posting a lost or found pet on AnimalShelter.net, users may voluntarily provide contact details such as their email address or phone number. These details are displayed on the public listing for the sole purpose of enabling communication between individuals seeking to reunite pets with their owners or finders.

• We do not sell, rent, or share your contact information with third-party marketers.
• By submitting your contact information, you acknowledge and accept that it will be visible to the public and may be used by other users to contact you regarding your listing.
• AnimalShelter.net is not responsible for any misuse of your contact information by other users or third parties who access it from public listings.

If you wish to remove or update your contact information, you can do so at any time by logging into your account and editing or deleting your listing.

PUBLIC NATURE OF LISTINGS

All lost and found pet posts submitted to AnimalShelter.net are public and can be accessed, viewed, and used by anyone visiting the site. Because these posts are public, we cannot control how third parties may use the information once it has been posted.

By submitting a listing, you acknowledge that:

• Your submitted contact information (email, phone number, city, etc.) will be publicly visible.
• We are not responsible for any unwanted contact or misuse of this information by other users or third parties.
• You may remove or edit your listing at any time to hide or change your contact details.

REHOMING LISTINGS

If you post a pet for rehoming, the city and state you provide will be shown publicly on your listing so prospective adopters can find pets near them. Depending on what you choose to include in your listing description or photos, other details you provide may also become visible to the public. We do not publish your street address, and we recommend you avoid including your exact address or other identifying details in your listing or photos.

As with lost and found listings, you may voluntarily provide contact details (such as an email address or phone number) so interested adopters can reach you. By doing so, you acknowledge that information will be publicly visible and may be used by others to contact you. You may edit or remove your rehoming listing at any time from your dashboard.

PET ADOPTION LISTINGS

If you post a pet or litter for adoption, the city and state you provide will be shown publicly on your listing so prospective adopters can find pets near them. Depending on what you choose to include in your listing description or photos, other details you provide may also become visible to the public. We do not publish your street address, and we recommend you avoid including your exact address or other identifying details in your listing or photos.

As with rehoming listings, you may voluntarily provide contact details (such as an email address or phone number) so interested adopters can reach you. By doing so, you acknowledge that information will be publicly visible and may be used by others to contact you. You may edit or remove your adoption listing at any time from your dashboard.

NO LIABILITY FOR USER-GENERATED CONTENT

AnimalShelter.net acts solely as a platform for posting lost and found pet information, pet rehoming and adoption listings, and shelter/rescue-submitted content. We do not verify, monitor, or endorse the accuracy of user-submitted content. As such:

• We are not liable for false, misleading, or harmful information posted by users.
• We cannot guarantee the safety or outcome of any communication or meeting with another user of the site.
• Users are responsible for exercising caution and using their own judgment when responding to or engaging with other users.

DATA RETENTION AND REMOVAL

Listings automatically expire and are permanently deleted after a set duration, as described in our Terms and Conditions. Users can also manually delete their accounts and all associated data at any time.

ADOPTABLE PET LISTINGS

The adoptable pet listings shown on AnimalShelter.net come from two sources: RescueGroups.org, a third-party service that aggregates animal data from participating shelters and rescue organizations, and shelters/rescues that post pets directly through their own AnimalShelter.net account. Data from either source is displayed publicly for browsing purposes only, may be temporarily cached to improve site performance, and is not sold or redistributed to any other party. Organizations that post pets directly are responsible for the accuracy of that content.

SHELTER & RESCUE APPLICATIONS

Organizations that apply to list a new shelter or claim an existing shelter listing provide information such as their organization name, address, contact details, and (for a claim) their relationship to the shelter. We use this information solely to review and process the application. If an application is approved, the shelter information provided becomes part of the public shelter listing. If a shelter is later removed, we may retain a limited record of the application for our own records for a limited time before it is purged.

ACCOUNTS & FAVORITES

You may create an account to save, or "favorite," adoptable pets for later viewing. When you favorite a pet, we store your account, the pet's identifier, and a snapshot of the pet's name, photo, and organization at the time you favorited it, so your saved list continues to display correctly even if the original listing later changes or is removed. This information is only visible to you and is not shared publicly or with third parties.

If you sign in using Google or Apple, we receive the basic profile information (such as your name and email address) needed to create and match your account, in accordance with the permissions you grant during sign-in. We do not receive or store your Google or Apple password.

ADVERTISING

This website and/or mobile application uses a third-party advertising network as explained under "THIRD-PARTY VENDORS". Using networks provides our partners with some information about the way you use our website and/or mobile application so they can advertise products and services that are more likely to be relevant to you.

Advertising networks are companies that manage the advertising process on websites and many other mobile applications. For that reason, they may know information about you based on the way you use websites and/or mobile applications where they provide advertising services. They use this information to paint a picture of which types of advertisements you are likely to be interested in.

THIRD-PARTY VENDORS

We use Googles products as our third-party vendor to help us improve our customer experience. We have Data Processing Agreement with our vendor, Google. We use several products from Google which include Google Analytics, Google Firebase Analytics, as well as Google Advertising platforms. To understand how Google manages data in its products, please view their Privacy & Terms web page.

The following information is what is usually collected by Google's products when a user visits our website or mobile application.

• Location based on IP address
• Website visits and behavior including pages visited, time on page, exit page, etc.
• All collected user data is automatically deleted after 14 months (the minimum duration)

To understand how Google manages data in its products, please view their Privacy & Terms web page.

CONCLUSION

Thank you for taking the time to educate yourself about the privacy policy for this website and its mobile application. We recommend that you also read our Terms and Conditions of Service since it provides more information about www.animalshelter.net policies. If you have any questions about our privacy policy, please contact [email protected]. Please revisit this website on occasion to make sure that you have viewed the most up-to-date version of the privacy policy. We reserve the right to change/update any of the information listed on this privacy policy.