Catster.com Community Guidelines

These guidelines were inspired and refined by the community, for the community. In the past three years we have read every email and contact form request, we have scanned and moderated forums, groups, diaries and pet pages and external discussions. We've prepared and compiled surveys and fine-tuned features again and again to get them so they work best for everyone. Our sites are actually towns home to over 650,000 people and respecting these guidelines allows for everyone to have the best time possible. While we understand that not every last person may appreciate our civility requirements, if you want to enjoy all our sites have to offer you will need to adhere to them at all times.

Subsection Links: Overarching Guidelines, Pet Pages, Forums, Diaries, Groups, Private Messaging, Instant Messaging, Classifieds, HQ Response to Violations

The Spirit of Catster
Before we get to the guidelines, the most important thing to familiarize yourself with the Spirit of Catster. This site is for the love of cats. It is about caring and support. It is about fun, friendly and informational sharing of our passion for our furry friends. There is no shortage of places on the internet to fight, scratch and snarl and we thought it was high time to have a place that was all about the kindness and fun of sharing and communication. If you're used to other online communities, you can pull your claws in and stop growling, you'll find it's a fun, friendly place. Conversely, take the time to be nice here! It's well worth the effort.

Overarching Community Guidelines
Because people of all ages love animals, Catster is a family-friendly site. All content on Catster --text, images and video, including the content on the pages of posted external links--must be appropriate for all ages.

Content that contains profanity; is sexually explicit; depicts the torture and abuse of animals; or contains graphic, descriptive and lengthy portrayals of serious violence against animals; blood, injury, and/or death are not allowed on Catster.

If you are in doubt, imagine that a seven-year-old will be reading your Pet Page or Forum entry. If you wouldn't hear it said on The Simpsons, you shouldn't say it on Catster.

All you need is love! There is absolutely no flaming or personal name calling allowed on Catster. Snarling, snapping, biting and other rough behavior is strictly forbidden. Ganging up on other members is also against the rules.

Sending unsolicited advertisements or repeat bulk-style communications anywhere on Catster is not acceptable.

It is not appropriate for a member to create more than one membership account without advance permission.

Although we love every dog and cat, we do not allow any pet pages or postings offering or alluding to the sale of any animals or breeding services. The exception is for dogs or cats that are being adopted through a rescue organization and require an adoption fee to cover certain medical expenses.

We work hard on keeping our community a safe place but this is still the internet! Please do not encourage others to post personal information publicly on Catster. This includes e-mail addresses, instant messenger IDs, addresses, phone numbers or bank account information.

We wish we could help everyone in the world, but for safety reasons, Catster cannot allow for the public solicitation of charity or donations unless previously approved by Catster HQ. This is still the internet after all.

Due to the substantial increase in fundraising requests, HQ is currently re-evaluating the review process and approval criteria for fundraising on Catster. At this time, HQ is not accepting requests for fundraising on Catster. We regret any inconvenience. We hope to have a revised policy for fundraising on Catster finalized at the end of June, 2008.

Dogster is for dogs. Catster is for cats. Please do not post your other animals, stuffed animals, cars, etc. on either site! We do allow one photo per pet page which is not of that dog/cat, but it cannot be the primary photo. It is also considered good form to provide an explanation in one of the bio fields as to what the significance of the non-pet photo to your dog/cat so visitors to your pet's page will understand why the non pet photo is doing on your pet's page.

As the human representative of your sweet, beloved pet, you are primarily responsible for your interactions with other members. Please act maturely and kindly. If you have an issue that you cannot resolve, please bring it to the attention of Catster HQ.

If you have any concerns or problems with any other users, the proper action is contact Catster HQ. Two wrongs still don't make a right thus it's never acceptable to break or abuse any of the community terms no matter what happened. HQ will resolve any and all community abuses and intervene and take action as appropriate, so remember to contact us directly about any and all issues and refrain from retaliation or aggressive responses at all times. (Return to top)

Pet Pages
Since they're so special, we believe that every dog or cat deserves have their own page, even in the case of rescue organizations using the site.

The primary photo on your pet page must be of your pet and no more than 25% of your pet page should be about things other than your pet.

No profane or obscene names or nicknames can be used on your page no matter how cute or apropos the name might be. Remember that some of the sweetest most innocent seven-year-olds in the world may be viewing your pages. Dogs and cats don't like having their mouths washed out with soap!

You may have one secondary photo that is not of your dog/cat. The picture can be of one of your other pets (even a bird, horse, or other non-dog/cat pet), a location such as a favorite dog park, or a human member of the family. It is helpful to add info in one of the bio fields which explains the one picture which is not of your dog/cat.

Since we want to help all of our furry friends find forever homes, adoptable pet pages can be posted through viable rescue or foster operations but must be updated when the dog/cat is adopted. We can even transfer the page to the new owner!

Links to music videos and other media content which are located on websites other than Catster must still follow the same family friendly guidelines. Music or content containing profanity, overt sexuality, or other non-family friendly content will be removed without notice.

All photos and videos that you upload through Catster must be of your pets, family, etc. Please take care not to post any content that isn't yours.

Messaging in rosettes and stars must be fun, friendly and informational. Users should be aware that while a rosette or star message can be left anonymously, HQ is able to track all messages to the originator regardless of whether it is anonymous or not. (Return to top)

Forums
Our public forums are very open places for sharing and playing. Discussions are to be fun, friendly and informative at all times. It is never appropriate to personally attack anyone. Snarling, snapping, biting and other rough behavior is strictly forbidden. Entries that are not considered friendly, civil and open to all will likely be community moderated within minutes.

While forums are great for sharing information, they are lousy for gaining consensus or debating emotional issues. Always take a breath and count to ten if you find a forum thread is making you feel emotional. Assume good will. Consider that text on a page is easy to misinterpret. Consider how easily your words may be misinterpreted as well. Ending a rant with a smiley face does not make it fun or validate as 'only joking'. Starting an entry with "I don't mean to be rude, but ..." does not mean one can be rude. In public forums the best and easiest way to respond to a person that is behaving inappropriately is to simply ignore them and that topic.

It should always be remembered that Catster is a family-friendly site and any language inappropriate for children is strictly forbidden. If you are in doubt, imagine a seven-year-old will be reading your entry. This includes links to third-party sites as well.

Please note that our general usage terms are still in effect. We do not allow postings offering or alluding to the sale of any animals or breeding services. Furthermore, no offerings of the sale of any other goods and services can be posted here.

Catster does not allow for the solicitation of charity or donations unless previously approved by Catster HQ

If you feel that there are members abusing a policy, please notify the post or email/contact HQ and we will review the post as fast as we can. Never forget two wrongs never make a right. If someone behaves badly, no one else is ever justified in breaking any of our terms in response. Ever.

Take care to never lie, exaggerate, stretch the truth or tell tall tales. Pretending that fake stories are true is never acceptable.

The community has requested that members do not post non-dog/cat related political and religious statements in the forums and we agree. While no one forgets there is a big world out there, there are so few places we are free from the pains of the non-pet world, that we like to keep the public forums that way.

New forum threads should only be posted in one topic area.

Take care to avoid pack behavior including ganging up on another member. Never participate or encourage aggressive behavior that seeks to silence, humiliate or drive away another member.

Leave the begging to the dogs! Excessively begging for rewards such as Pals, bones, rosettes, Zealies or Plus gift memberships is not allowed.

If you feel that a forum post is against our guidelines, please use the "notify" link at the bottom of the message. When notifying on a post you should always give an explanation so our moderators can clearly understand your reasoning.

Please note that misusing the notification link is a very serious offense. If you purposefully pull a forum entry because of any reason other than inappropriate content in that post you risk losing your rights to participate in the forums.

Please do not get into a public dog or cat fight! Assume good will and allow that the poster may not have intended for the message to be interpreted the way it came across to you. Before responding always consider how you would feel if someone else had written the same thing to you. This is the internet but civility is always required while on Catster.

Members should always respect the statements of forums moderators and HQ. It is fine if you disagree with HQ or a moderator action, but never forget the correct way to share your grievance is to directly contact HQ. The incorrect action is to challenge, defy, debate or ignore the moderator or HQ action in any of the public forums. We here at HQ are very understanding and carefully consider all grievances. Always bring grievances directly to us and we will consider, research, discuss the situation internally and respond directly to you. We strive to respond to any community issue within 24 hours, but note it can take up to 72 hours, especially on weekend, to have adequate time to respond. It's very important to remember that simply because we do not respond as fast as would be liked that in no way allows for terms of the community guidelines to be ignored.

Plus members should never use Plus forums to say things about non-Plus users that they would not say in the non-Plus forums.

Members should never gossip about the status of another user's accounts in the public forums. Please don't ever post on the behalf of someone who is under review or has been asked to leave our community.

Note that there is a 2 week waiting period for new members to post in the Social Funs forum areas. This policy was created for the safety of our members - we want you to take time to get to know each other! It is not appropriate to try to circumvent this policy by posting social fun requests in other forum topics on the site. (Return to top)

Diaries
Diaries are a place to express yourself and your cat's feelings and talk about what's important to both of you. They are a place to delve further into your stories, feelings and funny thoughts as long as you adhere to Catster's overall community guidelines.

Please keep your diaries family friendly! Foul language should never be used.

It's ok to talk respectfully about other community members but if that other member asks you to not speak about them, please respect their wishes immediately. Diary entries should never contain disrespectful postings about other Catster community members. It's not what diaries are for. (Return to top)

Groups
Groups are a place to hang out with like-minded Community members. Membership is voluntary and at your discretion.

Group Administrators are responsible for managing a Group, including the monitoring of member participation within the Group for adherence to Community Guidelines, moderating Group Forums and Messaging and responding to Group member questions and concerns.

Group Administrators determine the policy for fundraising in their Groups and are responsible for managing fundraising efforts within the Group. All fundraising requests must be submitted to a Group Administrator for approval. Group Administrators are responsible for verifying the validity of fundraising requests in their Group.

A list of a Group's Administrators is available at the bottom of the Group's main page.

There should never be activity related to studding, breeding or sales of animals in Groups.

Racism and hate-language are never acceptable, ever.

Groups must follow the laws of California, the United States and the areas all Group members reside in.

Unwanted spamming in Group Forums or via Group Messaging is not allowed. If you're in doubt about what defines unwanted, please contact your Group Administrator. (Return to top)

Private Messaging
Catster Messaging is a fun, positive way for Catster users to connect on the site.

Messaging is only acceptable between two happily-engaged Catster users. If a user does not reply, or requests to terminate communications, it must be respected at all times.

Messaging should never be used to convey any statements that are not fun, friendly or helpful.

Messages should be unique and friendly. No repetitive or 'bulk' style messages are permitted. No unsolicited advertisements for services or other spam-like communications are permitted. (Return to top)

Instant Messaging
IM conversations are person-to-person private un-moderated conversations. We expect that all conversations will be fun and friendly exclusively and always at the agreement of both parties. If either party is disinterested in continuing the conversation or speaking again that should ALWAYS be respected no matter what the reason.

Catster is family friendly and our civility and etiquette rules require that all conversations be fun, friendly and informative. IM is never to be used to insult, slight, scream, intimate, bark, growl, snap, or bite anyone ever. There can never be an exception to this rule. If someone has violated your fun use of the site by breaking these or any of our other core civility rules contact HQ.

Users should be aware that while no public record is available of these communications, Catster does retain archives which can be accessed if needed as proof of inappropriate behavior. (Return to top)

Classifieds
At this time Catster forbids postings pertaining to the sale of dogs or cats and/or any breeding services. People may post adoptions and rescues that are free or have shot-related expenses. People may also post that they are looking for a single certain animal. Catster also absolutely forbids any content that is hateful, threatening, violent, sexually explicit, regarding guns or firearms, tobacco or alcohol. We reserve the right to determine what is acceptable and remove any content that we feel is inappropriate. If you are unsure if your content is appropriate please ask first.

Catster is providing a marketplace for our community members to connect in a safe and trusted environment. Therefore we do not allow posters to purposefully place ads in incorrect category. If we decide an ad is improperly placed we will move it to the correct placement. If there is no correct category we will have to remove the ad altogether.

Ad contact details will only be allowed in the provided fields (Contact Email, Link, Street Address and Phone). The contact details are only shown to registered users. This is to protect your personal information from any malicious users or information scrapping programs. Any new user may register if they are not a member already. We will try to warn you if your ad details contain contact information but we will not be able to catch them all. We reserve the right to remove or modify any ad that includes contact information in the details. Payment will not be refunded. Please respect the community and abide by these guidelines. Thank you. (Return to top)

Responses to Violations
Catster HQ has the right to take action if you disregard the community guidelines. Actions we will take can include editing inappropriate language, denying temporarily access to certain features, denying temporary access to all features or denying permanent rights of membership to participate in any or all of our communities.

At times, Catster HQ might place an account under temporary review. If your account is under review by Catster HQ, under no circumstances should you try and create a new account, login using another person's account or try and circumvent the review process in any way. You should respect the hard work and tried and true practices and policies of HQ which are made designed to err on the side of caution. Attempting to circumvent a timeout, kenneling or temporary review could result in losing permanent rights of membership. A HQ representative will contact you in advance to let you know your account status and they will be the one to work with to resolve the problem. During work days you can always call our office directly at 415.934.0400. We are always available to talk about pressing problems.

If you have done anything so egregious as to lose your membership rights, you will lose all rights to create an account, pet pages or particpate in community features. Any attempt to circumvent this ban will guarantee your membership status can never be reconsidered.

If you are unsure of the exact meaning of any of these terms simply seek clarification from a moderator or HQ before risking an abuse.

Also note, that while we profoundly value your privacy and as a rule ignore all private conversations and actions, please remember that if we need to research any abuse of our community terms we retain the right to review all private messaging, forum posts, rosettes, group messaging, IM conversation or any other communication done through the site. Also note that such information is for our eyes only and is never shared beyond our immediate team. (Return to top)

Always Room for Improvement
If you have ideas for the community guidelines please share them with us. The community is always changing and the guidelines should always stay up-to-date.