“WELCOME TO OUR FORUM”

Before posting on this forum, kindly read the rules below first:

1) New members posting YouTube links
New members who have made zero or minimal contribution to the forum and to forum discussions are not permitted to post links to YouTube videos. This forum is not a platform to promote self-made YouTube videos. Administrators and moderators have the right to allow these posts on a case-by-case basis.

2) Crowdfunding
This forum frequently receives threads by new members, asking for money via third-party crowdfunding sites. Sometimes this is for medical treatment of an individual pet or for helping a group or animal charity. As it is hard to check the authenticity of crowdfunding campaigns, any thread asking for money via a third-part site will have the direct link removed. We understand that most people are genuine, but we have a duty of care to protect our members from the occasional dishonest person. Any removed links will be replaced with the following:

“Direct link to crowdfunding site removed. Any member interested in donating is advised to contact the poster of this thread via private message on this forum and to check the identity and genuineness of the person concerned, also to verify any veterinary estimates, before making any donation. Genuine people will not mind doing this. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.”

Please note that this ruling does not apply to legitimate animal charities with their own websites, publicly viewable addresses and telephone numbers.

3) Links in signatures
Established members are permitted to have a link to a personal site, rescue site or established charity in their signature. Links advertising commercial sites, sites of an explicit or pornographic nature, or anything else deemed inappropriate are not permitted. Administrators and moderators have the right to remove signature links if they are deemed inappropriate.

4) Advertising
Posting links to commercial websites is not allowed. This is to protect our members from commercially driven threads. Exceptions may be made if a product is deemed original and may be beneficial to members. These exceptions are left to the discretion of administrators and moderators. Promoting traffic or adding links to another pet forum site to lure members to join is also not allowed. Exceptions may be made for unusual pets that are not discussed on this forum, but only after contacting forum staff first.

5) Creation of duplicate threads
Creating multiple threads of the same topic on multiple different sections of the forum is not allowed. This will result in all bar one post being removed, and a warning being given, or in the worst cases immediate banning.

6) Advertising of animals
Any member looking to buy, sell or trade animal and pet-related products and services may only do so in the Animal Forum Marketplace section of the forum. These threads are not permitted outside of this section and will be moved/deleted if posted incorrectly. Administrators and moderators have complete discretion to allow or disallow such threads, at their absolute discretion.

7) Posting of threads unrelated to animals
Discussion of topics unrelated to animals and pets is discouraged. Discussion of controversial topics (e.g. politics or religion) is not permitted. Any member wanting to start a thread about an unrelated topic must do so in the “Break Room” section of the forum.

8) Respect for other members
This forum has a tradition for being friendly and polite. Any members making posts which are harmful, deliberatively argumentative, bullying, hurtful or aim to harass other members will receive a formal warning. Recurrence of this behaviour, or extreme behaviour even on a first occasion, will result in the member being banned from the forum. Administrators and moderators have absolute discretion and their decisions are final.

9) Inappropriate language
Animal Forum is a family friendly site. The use of inappropriate language is not tolerated and will result in a warning and/or ban.

10) Spam
Spamming is not allowed. Any member who creates spam posts will have such posts deleted and will be instantly banned.

11) Creating multiple accounts
It is against forum rules to open multiple accounts. If a member loses a password, then the “lost password” facility should be used. This process is available by going to the log-in page and clicking on “Forgotten your password? Click here!” A reset password will then be issued to the email address used on joining the forum. In the event of continuing difficulty, e.g. if you no longer have access to the email address through which you registered, an administrator or moderator should be contacted.

12) Giving medical advice
Whilst some members may ask for advice of a medical nature, please refrain from giving specific medical advice. Members do not know the animal’s specific medical history or current condition and therefore should refrain from any specific advice. Animal Forum recommends that anyone unsure about the health of their pets, or if they should give any form of medication to their animal, should first consult a licensed veterinarian.