[Draft for solicitor review before publication]
Last updated: [DATE]
These terms apply to everyone who visits or uses caninebreeder.co.uk (the “Site”), whether you are browsing, searching for a puppy, sending an enquiry to a breeder or reading our guides. If you advertise on the Site, our Advertiser and breeder terms also apply to you. Please read these terms together with our Listing rules, Privacy notice and Cookie policy.
Who we are
The Site is operated by [COMPANY NAME], a company registered in England and Wales under company number [COMPANY NUMBER]. Our registered office is at [ADDRESS]. You can contact us at [EMAIL]. In these terms “we”, “us” and “our” mean [COMPANY NAME].
What the Site is, and what it is not
The Site is an online directory. Dog breeders create their own profiles and publish their own listings for litters, individual puppies and stud dogs. Buyers can search those listings and send enquiries directly to the breeder.
We are not a breeder, a pet shop, a dealer or an agent. We do not sell dogs, take deposits, process puppy payments or charge commission on any sale. Any agreement to buy, sell or use a dog is made directly between the buyer and the breeder, and we are not a party to it. We are not a licensing authority, and a listing on the Site is not a licence, an inspection or an approval.
Using the Site
You must be at least 18 to create an account, publish a listing or send an enquiry. By using the Site you confirm that you are 18 or over.
If you create an account you agree to give accurate information, keep your password secure and tell us straight away at [EMAIL] if you think someone else has used your account. You are responsible for everything done through your account unless you have told us about a problem and we have failed to act.
Acceptable use
You must not:
- use the Site for anything unlawful, or in a way that breaches the Listing rules;
- post content that is defamatory, abusive, threatening, discriminatory or obscene, or that infringes someone else’s rights;
- use enquiry forms or breeder contact details to send marketing, spam or unsolicited offers;
- pretend to be someone else, or misrepresent your connection with any person, breeder or organisation;
- copy, scrape, harvest or republish listings, photos or contact details without our written permission;
- interfere with the Site’s security or performance, or try to get around any access controls or verification checks.
We may remove content and suspend or close accounts that break these rules. Where the law requires or permits it, we may pass information to the police, local authorities or other regulators.
Enquiries and dealing with breeders
When you send an enquiry, we pass your message and contact details to the breeder so they can reply. We may keep a copy for safety, fraud prevention and dispute handling, as explained in our Privacy notice.
We do not check buyers, and we check breeders only to the extent described on How we verify. Before you visit, pay for or collect a puppy, please read Buying a puppy safely. In particular, never pay a deposit before you have seen the puppy with its mother at the breeder’s premises.
Content published by breeders
Listings, photos, prices and claims about health tests, registrations or licences are published by the breeder concerned. We do not write them and cannot guarantee that they are accurate, complete or up to date. Verification badges summarise documents that a breeder has supplied to us and that we checked on the date shown; they are not a warranty from us.
We are independent of, and not endorsed by, The Royal Kennel Club, the British Veterinary Association or any breed club.
Reviews
If we enable reviews, they will be governed by our Review policy. Reviews are the opinions of the people who write them, not ours.
Reporting content
If you see a listing or other content that you believe is illegal, harmful or breaks our rules, use the report button on the page or follow the steps on Reporting content, complaints and appeals. If you believe content about you is defamatory, please follow our Defamation complaints procedure.
Intellectual property
The Site’s design, code, text, logos and our own guides belong to us or our licensors. You may view and print pages for your personal, non-commercial use. You may not reproduce or exploit our content without our written permission. Breeders keep ownership of their own photos and text and give us a licence to display them, as set out in the Advertiser and breeder terms.
Links to other websites
We link to third-party sites, including government, local authority and animal welfare organisations, for your convenience. We are not responsible for their content or for how they handle your data.
Our responsibility to you
Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded. If you are a consumer, nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights, including those under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Subject to that, and because the Site is free for visitors and buyers:
- we provide the Site with reasonable care and skill but do not promise that it will always be available or error-free;
- we are not responsible for the conduct of breeders or buyers, or for any loss you suffer from a sale, purchase, deposit or visit arranged through the Site;
- we are not responsible for losses that were not foreseeable when you started using the Site, or for business losses if you use the Site for business purposes.
Changes and availability
We may update these terms from time to time. The date at the top shows when they were last changed, and we will highlight significant changes on the Site. We may suspend or withdraw all or part of the Site for maintenance, security or legal reasons.
Governing law and disputes
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may also rely on the mandatory consumer laws of your home nation and bring proceedings in your local courts.
Contact us
[COMPANY NAME], [ADDRESS]. Email: [EMAIL].