Terms of Use

Last updated: July 15, 2022

By entering, donating, or otherwise using our website (the “Site”), you agree to and accept these terms and conditions.

THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, AS WELL AS ANY OTHER ADOPTION, DONATION, OR SERVICE SPECIFIC TERMS ON OUR SITE, CONSTITUTE YOUR AGREEMENT (“AGREEMENT”) WITH PETSMART CHARITIES, INC. (“PETSMART CHARITIES”) AND ANY OF ITS OWNED OR OPERATED SITES WHERE THESE TERMS OF USE ARE POSTED. THIS AGREEMENT SETS FORTH THE LEGALLY BINDING TERMS FOR YOUR USE OF OUR SITE AND YOUR DONATION OR USE OF ANY CONTENT OR SERVICES OFFERED ON THE SITE. BY ACCESSING AND/OR USING THE SITE, YOU REPRESENT AND WARRANT THAT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT, AUTHORITY, AND CAPACITY TO ENTER INTO THE AGREEMENT AND TO ABIDE BY ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH HEREIN. YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE THIS SITE OR ACCEPT THIS AGREEMENT UNLESS YOU ARE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD.

ARBITRATION NOTICE: THESE TERMS CONTAIN AN ARBITRATION AGREEMENT A LITTLE LATER ON THAT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS. YOU AND PETSMART CHARITIES AGREE THAT DISPUTES BETWEEN US WILL BE RESOLVED BY MANDATORY BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION, AND YOU AND PETSMART CHARITIES WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION AND THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL. IN ARBITRATION, THERE IS LESS DISCOVERY AND APPELLATE REVIEW THAN IN COURT. PLEASE REVIEW THESE TERMS CAREFULLY.

PRIVACY POLICY

Please review our privacy policy, which also governs your use of our Site and is incorporated herein by reference, to understand our practices.

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

When you use our Site, or send e-mails, and other electronic communications from your desktop or mobile device to us, you are communicating with us electronically. By sending, you consent to receive reply communications from us electronically in the same format and you can retain copies of these communications for your records. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

PERMISSIBLE USES OF SITE

Subject to the terms of this Agreement, PetSmart Charities grants you a limited, non-transferable, non-exclusive license to access and make personal use of the Site. This license does not include any resale or commercial use of the Site features or content, or the right to access or use the Site for any of the restricted purposes set forth below. PetSmart Charities may terminate this license at any time for any reason.

The rights granted to you in this Agreement are subject to the following restrictions: (a) you shall not license, sublicense, reproduce, sell, rent, lease, transfer, assign, distribute, host, or otherwise commercially exploit the Site or its content without the express written consent of PetSmart Charities; (b) you shall not modify, make derivative works of, disassemble, reverse compile, or reverse engineer any part of the Site; (c) you shall not access the Site in order to build a similar or competitive service, or to download, copy, or collect content or account information for the benefit of another party; (d) except as expressly stated herein, no part of the Site may be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express written consent of PetSmart Charities; and (e) you shall not frame or utilize framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo, or other proprietary information or content (including images and text descriptions) of the Site without the express written consent of PetSmart Charities.

PetSmart Charities reserves the right, at any time, to modify, suspend, or discontinue the Site or any part thereof with or without notice. You agree that PetSmart Charities will not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension, or discontinuance of the Site or any part thereof.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

All Site content and collective work comprising the Site, including information, articles, data, software, photographs, graphs, videos, typefaces, graphics, music, sounds, the “look and feel” and other artwork and material (collectively “Content”) is protected by copyright, trademark, patent or other proprietary rights under United States, Canada, and/or international laws and held by PetSmart Charities and/or the original creator of the Content, including PetSmart Charities’ suppliers and/or affiliates and Site visitors contributing material. These rights are valid and protected in all its forms, media, and technologies existing now or developed in the future.

The PetSmart Charities® and related design marks, Rescue Waggin’®, Emergency Relief Waggin’® and Save A Life, Adopt A Pet! Tagline™, among numerous other trademarks used on this Site, are registered to and/or otherwise protected by PetSmart Charities under United States, Canada, and/or international intellectual property laws. All other trademarks, service marks, logos, slogans, domain names, and trade names are the property of their respective owners and are licensed to, or otherwise used with permission by, PetSmart Charities. As described more fully below, all Content and associated intellectual property used on the Site may not be reproduced, copied, retransmitted or otherwise manipulated in any manner without express, written permission of the owner. PetSmart Charities disclaims any proprietary interest in intellectual property other than its own.

UNAUTHORIZED COPYING, REPRODUCTION, MODIFYING, REPUBLISHING, UPLOADING, DOWNLOADING, POSTING, TRANSMITTING, MAKING DERIVATIVE WORKS OF OR DUPLICATING ALL OR ANY PART OF THE SITE IS PROHIBITED.

LIMITATIONS REGARDING INFORMATION, ARTICLES AND ADVICE

PetSmart Charities offers information, articles, and advice to pet parents through this Site for educational purposes only. Any information offered through this Site is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure your pet and is not a substitute for veterinary care provided by a licensed veterinarian. For any medical or health related advice concerning the care and treatment of your pet, contact your regular veterinarian or local animal hospital.

USER CONTENT

“User Content” of the Site means any and all information and content that such user submits to PetSmart Charities by any means, including through social media (e.g., Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter), or uses with the Site (e.g., Share your Story, question & answer). You are solely responsible for your User Content. You assume all risks associated with use of your User Content, including any reliance on its accuracy, completeness or usefulness by others, or any disclosure of your User Content that makes you or any third party personally identifiable. You hereby affirm, represent, and warrant that (i) you own, or have the necessary licenses, rights, and/or consents to use your User Content with the Site as described herein and (ii) your User Content does not violate the Acceptable Use Policy set forth below. You may not state or imply that your User Content is in any way provided, sponsored, or endorsed by PetSmart Charities. Because you alone are responsible for your User Content (and not PetSmart Charities), you may expose yourself to liability if, for example, your User Content violates the Acceptable Use Policy. PetSmart Charities is not obligated to backup any User Content, makes no representation that it will do so, and you agree that PetSmart Charities may delete User Content at any time.

By submitting your User Content or using it with the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to PetSmart Charities an irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free and fully paid, worldwide license to reproduce, distribute, publicly display and perform, prepare derivative works of, incorporate into other works, and otherwise use your User Content, and to grant sublicenses of the foregoing, solely for the purposes of including your User Content in the Site, PetSmart Charities’ social media platforms, or marketing initiatives. You agree to irrevocably waive (and cause to be waived) any claims and assertions of publicity or moral rights, or attribution with respect to your User Content.

PetSmart Charities will treat any feedback, communications, or suggestions you provide to PetSmart Charities as non-confidential and non-proprietary. Thus, in the absence of a written agreement with PetSmart Charities to the contrary, you agree that you will not submit to PetSmart Charities any information or ideas that you consider to be confidential or proprietary.

ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

You agree not to use the Site to collect, upload, transmit, display, or distribute any User Content (a) that violates any third-party right, including any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, moral right, privacy right, right of publicity, or any other intellectual property or proprietary right; (b) that is unlawful, harassing, abusive, tortious, threatening, harmful, abusive, invasive of another's privacy, vulgar, defamatory, false, intentionally misleading, trade libelous, pornographic, obscene, patently offensive (e.g., material that promotes racism, bigotry, hatred, or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual) or otherwise objectionable material of any kind or nature or which is harmful to minors in any way; or (c) in violation of any law, regulation, or obligations or restrictions imposed by any third party.

In addition, you agree not to commercially exploit the Site or use it to: (a) upload, transmit, or distribute any computer viruses, worms, or any software intended to damage or alter a computer system or data; (b) send unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or any other form of duplicative or unsolicited messages, whether commercial or otherwise; (c) harvest, collect, gather or assemble information or data regarding other users, including e-mail addresses, without their consent; (d) interfere with or disrupt servers or networks connected to the Site or violate the regulations, policies or procedures of such networks; (e) attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Site, other computer systems or networks connected to or used together with the Site, through password mining or other means; or (f) harass or interfere with another user's use and enjoyment of the Site.

We reserve the right (but have no obligation under this Agreement) to review any User Content, investigate, and/or take appropriate action against you, at our sole discretion, if you violate the Acceptable Use Policy or any other provision of this Agreement, including removing or modifying your User Content, terminating your PetSmart Charities account (if applicable), and/or reporting you to law enforcement authorities. We may also remove or modify your User Content if it, in our sole judgment, violates the rights of, harms, or threatens the safety of any other person, or creates liability for us or any other person. In order to cooperate with legitimate governmental requests, subpoenas or court orders, or to protect our business and members, we may access and disclose any information we consider necessary or appropriate, including your account username and password, IP address and traffic information, usage history, and your User Content.

THIRD PARTY SITES AND OTHER USERS

The Site may contain links to, or advertisements for, third party websites (collectively, “Third Party Sites”) (for example, social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or Pinterest). Such Third Party Sites are not under the control of PetSmart Charities and PetSmart Charities is not responsible for any Third Party Sites. PetSmart Charities provides links to these Third Party Sites only as a convenience and does not review, approve, monitor, endorse, warrant, or make any representations with respect to Third Party Sites. You agree that you use all Third Party Sites at your own risk. When you link to a Third Party Site, the applicable service provider's terms and policies, including privacy and data gathering practices govern. You should make whatever investigation you feel necessary or appropriate before proceeding with any transaction with any Third Party Site.

Each Site user is solely responsible for any and all of its User Content. Because we do not control User Content, you acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible for any User Content and we make no guarantees regarding the accuracy, currency, suitability, or quality of any User Content, and we assume no responsibility for any User Content. Your interactions with other Site users are solely between you and such user. You agree that PetSmart Charities will not be responsible for any loss or damage incurred as the result of any such interactions. If there is a dispute between you and any Site user, we are under no obligation to become involved.

You hereby release PetSmart Charities, our officers, employees, agents, affiliates, subsidiaries, parents, joint ventures, successors, and any other companies under common control with us from claims, demands any and all losses, damages, rights, claims, and actions of any kind including personal injuries, death, and property damage, that are either directly or indirectly related to or arise out of any interactions with or conduct of other Site users or Third Party Sites.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

PetSmart Charities intends for the information and data contained in the Site to be accurate and reliable but since the information and data have been compiled from a variety of sources, they are provided “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE”. You expressly agree that your use of the Site and any information contained therein is at your sole risk. NEITHER PETSMART CHARITIES NOR ITS THIRD PARTIES WARRANT THE ACCURACY, OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENT PROVIDED ON THIS SITE. WE CANNOT AND DO NOT WARRANT THAT YOUR USE OF THIS SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE OR ERROR FREE. ACCORDINGLY, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, PETSMART CHARITIES EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PURPOSE, AND ANY WARRANTIES THAT MAY ARISE FROM COURSE OF DEALING, COURSE OF PERFORMANCE, OR USAGE OF TRADE. Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of warranties so such disclaimers may not apply to you.

LIMITATION ON LIABILITY

IN NO EVENT SHALL PETSMART CHARITIES, OUR OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, PARENTS, JOINT VENTURES, SUCCESSORS AND ANY OTHER COMPANIES UNDER COMMON CONTROL WITH US BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY LOST PROFIT OR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH PETSMART CHARITIES, YOUR USE OF THE SITE, SERVICES, PRODUCTS, OR THIRD PARTY SITES, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. ACCESS TO, AND USE OF, THE SITE, SERVICES, PRODUCTS AND THIRD PARTY SITES ARE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA RESULTING THEREFROM. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, OUR LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH PETSMART CHARITIES OR THIS AGREEMENT (FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION), WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (A) FIFTY U.S. DOLLARS ($50) OR (B) AMOUNTS YOU'VE DONATED TO PETSMART CHARITIES IN THE PRIOR 12 MONTHS. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE AGREE THAT ANY CLAIM BETWEEN US MUST BE BROUGHT WITHIN TWO (2) YEARS OR IT IS OTHERWISE WAIVED AND TIME-BARRED.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU AND YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER LEGAL RIGHTS THAT VARY FROM JURISDICTION TO JURISDICTION.

INDEMNITY

You agree to indemnify and hold PetSmart Charities, our officers, employees, agents, affiliates, subsidiaries, parents, joint ventures, successors, and any other companies under common control with us harmless, including costs and attorneys' fees, from any claim or demand made by any third party due to or arising out of (i) your use of the Site or PetSmart Charities’ services or products, (ii) your User Content, or (iii) your violation of this Agreement. PetSmart Charities reserves the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us and you agree to cooperate with our defense of these claims. You agree not to settle any matter without the prior written consent of PetSmart Charities. PetSmart Charities will use reasonable efforts to notify you of any such claim, action or proceeding upon becoming aware of it.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND ARBITRATION AGREEMENT

The parties acknowledge that any statutory or common law claims related to intellectual property may require forms of equitable relief that are best administered by courts; accordingly, the parties agree that except for statutory or common law claims related to intellectual property and disputes that qualify for small claims court (as set forth below), any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this Agreement or any aspect of the relationship between us, whether based in contract, tort, statute, fraud, misrepresentation or any other legal theory (“Dispute”), will be resolved by arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) in accordance with its Commercial Arbitration Rules and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes. Judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any federal or state court of competent jurisdiction located in the County of Maricopa in the State of Arizona. For more information about arbitration, the AAA and the arbitration process, please consult the American Arbitration Association website at www.adr.org. YOU AGREE THAT BY ENTERING INTO THIS AGREEMENT, YOU AND WE ARE EACH WAIVING THE RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY, EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE STATED ABOVE. ANY ARBITRATION UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL TAKE PLACE ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS; CLASS ARBITRATIONS AND CLASS ACTIONS ARE NOT PERMITTED AND, BY ENTERING INTO THIS AGREEMENT, YOU ARE GIVING UP THE ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION. All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, except that issues relating to the scope, application, and enforceability of the arbitration provision are for the court to decide. As stated in the General section below, Arizona law applies to any arbitration under this section, but the parties acknowledge that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) governs the interpretation and enforcement of this provision. This agreement to arbitrate shall survive termination of this Agreement. This arbitration agreement does not preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state, or local agencies, and, if the law allows, they can seek relief against us for you.

Unless you and we agree otherwise, the arbitration will take place either in the county of your principal residence or the County of Maricopa in the State of Arizona. For claims of $14,000 or less, you can choose whether you would like arbitration carried out based only on documents submitted to the arbitrator, or by a hearing in person, or by phone.

The arbitrator may award money or equitable relief in favor of only the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by that party's individual claim. To reduce the time and expense of the arbitration, the arbitrator will not provide a statement of reasons for his or her award unless requested to do so by both parties. Unless both you and we agree otherwise, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claim(s), and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding.

TERM AND TERMINATION

Subject to this Section, this Agreement will remain in full force and effect while you use the Site. We may (a) suspend your rights to use the Site (as well as your account) (b) terminate this Agreement, at any time for any reason at our sole discretion, including for any use of the Site in violation of this Agreement or if we believe you are younger than 18. Upon termination of this Agreement, your account and right to access and use the Site will terminate immediately. You understand that any termination of your account may involve deletion of any User Content you may have posted. PetSmart Charities will not have any liability whatsoever to you for any termination of this Agreement, including for termination of your account or deletion of your User Content.

The provisions herein related to our intellectual property rights, User Content, acceptable use, disclaimer of warranties, indemnity, limitation and liability, and arbitration, together with any other rights and obligations which by their nature are reasonably intended to survive termination, will survive any termination of this Agreement.

RESPECT FOR COPYRIGHT LAW

PetSmart Charities respects the intellectual property of others and asks that users of our Site do the same. Except as authorized above, you are not permitted access or use of any of PetSmart Charities’ intellectual property without our prior written consent or the consent of such third party that may own intellectual property displayed on the Site. In connection with our Site and any services we offer, we have adopted and reasonably implemented a policy respecting copyright law that provides for the removal of any infringing materials and for the termination, in appropriate circumstances, of users of our Site who are repeat infringers of intellectual property rights, including copyrights. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement and wish to have the allegedly infringing material removed from our Site, the following information in the form of a written notification (pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)) must be provided to our designated Copyright Agent:

1. your physical or electronic signature;
2. identification of the copyrighted work(s) that you claim to have been infringed;
3. identification of the material on our services that you claim is infringing and that you request us to remove;
4. sufficient information to permit us to locate such material;
5. your address, telephone number, and e-mail address;
6. a statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the objectionable material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or under the law; and
7. a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are either the owner of the copyright that has allegedly been infringed or that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

Please note that, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), any misrepresentation of material fact (falsities) in a written notification automatically subjects the complaining party to liability for any damages, costs and attorneys' fees incurred by us in connection with the written notification and allegation of copyright infringement.

You may submit your counter notification to PetSmart Charities’ Copyright Agent by mail or email as set forth below:

PetSmart Charities
Attn: General Counsel
19601 N. 27th Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85027
copyright@petsmart.com

GENERAL

We reserve the right to make changes to our Site, this Agreement and other service terms, such as our privacy policy at any time. Each time you use our Site, you should visit and review the then current terms that apply to your transactions and use of our Site. If you do not agree to be bound by the then current terms, your sole remedy is not to use our Site. If any terms of this Agreement or other service terms are deemed invalid, void, or for any reason unenforceable, any such term shall be deemed severable and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any other terms.

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and us regarding the use of the Site and any donations on our Site. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall not operate as a waiver of such right or provision. This Agreement is governed by the FAA and the laws of the State of Arizona without regard to conflict of law provisions. The section titles in this Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect. The word “including” means including without limitation. Except as otherwise provided herein, if any provision of this Agreement is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unenforceable, the other provisions of this Agreement will be unimpaired and the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed modified so that it is valid and enforceable to the maximum extent permitted by law. This Agreement, and your rights and obligations herein, may not be assigned, subcontracted, delegated, or otherwise transferred by you without PetSmart Charities’ prior written consent, and any attempted assignment, subcontract, delegation, or transfer in violation of the foregoing will be null and void. The terms of this Agreement shall be binding upon assignees.