Terms of Use

This document was prepared for review by a qualified attorney and may change before launch.

Agreement to these terms

These Terms of Use ("Terms") are an agreement between you and FoundRadar ("we," "us," "our"), a free, volunteer-run lost pet network. By using the website, posting a report, sending a sighting, or signing up for alerts, you agree to these Terms, our Privacy Policy, and our Community Guidelines. If you do not agree, please do not use the service.

What FoundRadar is

FoundRadar helps people in the United States report lost, found, and sighted pets. You can:

• post a report about a lost or found pet, with photos and a last-seen area;
• print a flyer and share your report;
• receive messages from people who think they have seen your pet;
• sign up for alerts about pets reported near you.

When you post a report, it is queued for neighborhood alerts to subscribers near the last-seen area. Alerts may be sent by us or by a delivery vendor acting for us. We may also share the public content of your report with shelters, animal control, veterinarians, and lost-pet communities to help find your pet.

The service is free

FoundRadar is free. We never charge fees and never ask for payment, for posting, for alerts, for "boosting" a report, for "verifying" a finder, or for anything else. If anyone asks you for money "on behalf of FoundRadar," it is not us. Do not pay, and please tell us at the contact form at /contact.

Who can use FoundRadar

You must be at least 13 years old to use FoundRadar. If you are under 18, you should have a parent or guardian's permission, and we suggest that an adult post the report and handle messages. You may not use the service if we have removed you before or if the law does not allow you to use it.

Your report and your responsibilities

You are responsible for everything you post and send through FoundRadar. When you post, you promise that:

• the report is about a real lost, found, or sighted pet;
• the information and photos are true and accurate as far as you know;
• you own the photos you upload or have permission to use them;
• your post does not break any law or anyone else's rights;
• your post follows our Community Guidelines.

Reports are public. Anyone can see a report page, share it, and find it through search engines. Your exact pin stays private, and the public page shows an approximate area about a quarter mile away. Your email stays private, and your phone number is hidden unless you choose to show it. Do not post anything you would not want strangers to see.

Keep your report up to date. If your pet is found, please close the report so neighbors stop looking. Reports stay active for 60 days and are then marked expired.

Your manage link. After you post, we email you a private manage link. Anyone with that link can edit, close, or delete your report, so keep it private. We are not responsible for changes made by someone who has your link.

If you found a pet

If you post a found pet, you are responsible for caring for the animal lawfully while you look for its owner. Many cities and counties require finders to report a found animal to the local shelter or animal control, sometimes within a set number of days. Most shelters and many vets will scan a pet for a microchip at no cost. Before handing a pet over, ask the person to prove it is theirs, for example with photos or vet records. FoundRadar does not confirm who owns a pet.

Permission to display your content

You keep ownership of what you post. To run the service, you give FoundRadar a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, copy, resize, display, publish, and share your report content, including photos. This includes:

• showing it on our site and on printable flyers;
• including it in neighborhood alerts;
• sharing it with shelters, animal control, veterinarians, and lost-pet communities;
• letting others share it through links and social media.

This license lasts while your content is on FoundRadar. It ends when you delete it, except for copies that were already shared, sent in alerts, or saved in backups for a short time. We can remove or edit formatting of content (for example, hiding links or phone numbers in a description) to keep the service safe.

Rewards

You may choose to offer a reward. If you do:

• The reward is only between you and the finder. FoundRadar does not hold, collect, pay, mediate, or guarantee rewards.
• You decide whether, when, and how to pay any reward you offered, and you are responsible for following through lawfully.
• We are not responsible for disputes about rewards.

Staying safe when meeting a finder

Most people who respond want to help. Some are scammers. Please follow these steps:

• Meet in a public place during the day, such as a store parking lot or a police station lobby. Bring someone with you if you can.
• Verify with a detail that is not in the listing, such as a scar, a habit, or the color of a tag. Ask the finder to describe it, or send a photo or video of the pet.
• Never pay before you see your pet. Never pay a "shipping," "vet," or "transport" fee to someone you have not met.
• Do not share codes. Never give anyone a verification code sent to your phone. This is a common scam.
• Watch for pressure. Scammers rush you or threaten to harm or sell the pet.
• If you feel unsafe, leave and call local police. If a pet is being held for money, report it to local law enforcement.

No selling, rehoming, or breeding

FoundRadar is only for reuniting lost and found pets. You may not use it to sell, rehome, adopt out, give away, breed, or trade animals, or to advertise any product or service. We remove these posts.

Things you may not do

You may not:

• post fake reports, including false "found" claims to collect a reward;
• ask anyone for money or fees;
• harass, threaten, or attack anyone;
• post other people's private information without their permission;
• post graphic, violent, sexual, or hateful content;
• impersonate FoundRadar, a shelter, a vet, or anyone else;
• scrape, copy in bulk, or collect data from the site, including contact details;
• send spam or use bots to post or message;
• try to get around our rate limits, spam checks, or security;
• use the site for anything illegal.

Moderation and removal

We are volunteers, and we do not review every post before it goes live. We use automatic checks and human review. We may hide, edit formatting of, or remove any content, and we may suspend or block any user, at any time, if we believe it breaks these Terms or the Community Guidelines, is unsafe, or is needed to protect people or animals. We try to act fairly, but we are not required to give notice or a reason. To report a listing, use the report link on the listing or write to the contact form at /contact.

Copyright complaints

If you believe content on FoundRadar infringes your copyright, send a notice to the contact form at /contact with: your contact information; a description of the work; the link to the content; a statement that you believe in good faith the use is not authorized; a statement that your notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner or authorized to act for the owner; and your physical or electronic signature. We may remove the content and notify the person who posted it.

Other websites and services

The site uses map tiles from OpenFreeMap with OpenStreetMap data and may link to shelters and other websites. We do not control those services and are not responsible for their content or practices.

Disclaimers

FOUNDRADAR IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW.

In plain terms:

• We cannot guarantee your pet will be found.
• We do not guarantee that alerts will be sent, delivered, or read, or how many people will see a report.
• We do not check the identity of users or the truth of reports and messages.
• The approximate area, maps, and ZIP data may be inaccurate.
• The site may be unavailable, slow, or have errors.

Nothing on FoundRadar is veterinary, legal, or professional advice. In an emergency involving an injured animal or a person's safety, contact a veterinarian, animal control, or 911.

Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, FOUNDRADAR AND ITS VOLUNTEERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA, MONEY, OR GOODWILL, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, CONTENT POSTED BY OTHERS, MEETINGS OR DEALINGS WITH OTHER USERS, OR REWARDS, EVEN IF WE WERE TOLD SUCH DAMAGES WERE POSSIBLE.

OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM RELATED TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT BE MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (US $100).

Some states do not allow certain limits on warranties or liability, so some of these limits may not apply to you. In that case, our liability is limited to the smallest amount the law allows.

Indemnity

If you break these Terms or the law, or your content harms someone, you agree to defend and hold harmless FoundRadar and its volunteers from resulting claims, losses, and reasonable costs, including legal fees, to the extent allowed by law.

Ending your use

You can stop using FoundRadar at any time and delete your reports with your manage link or a privacy request. We may suspend or end access to the service for anyone, or change or stop the service, at any time. Sections that by their nature should continue, such as the license for already-shared copies, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnity, and governing law, continue after your use ends.

Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of [to be set before launch], without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute about these Terms or the service will be decided in the state or federal courts located in that state, and you and we agree to the jurisdiction of those courts. Nothing here stops either side from bringing a claim in small claims court where it qualifies. Before filing any claim, please contact us at the contact form at /contact so we can try to resolve it informally.

Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms. We will change the effective date at the top and, for important changes, post a notice on the site. If you keep using FoundRadar after changes take effect, you accept the new Terms.

General

These Terms, the Privacy Policy, and the Community Guidelines are the whole agreement between you and us about the service. If any part is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. If we do not enforce a part right away, we do not give up the right to enforce it later. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms. We may transfer ours to an organization that continues the service.

Contact

Questions about these Terms: the contact form at /contact.