barkandwhiskers.com Terms and Conditions of Website Content Usage

Effective Date: 1/4/2023
Last Modified Date: 6/20/2023

Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully before using the website. The Terms and Conditions contain important information about your rights and obligations, as well as limitations and exclusions. By using this website to the fullest extent permitted by law, you confirm your unconditional agreement to, and acceptance of, these Terms and Conditions. If you elect not to accept these Terms and Conditions, do not use this website.

Website Content:

All content on this Website is subject to change at any time without notice.

barkandwhiskers.com attempts to ensure that information on this website is complete, accurate, and current. Despite our efforts, the information on this Website may occasionally be inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, barkandwhiskers.com makes no representation as to how complete, accurate, or current any information is on this Website.

barkandwhiskers.com may make changes to its website design, functionality and/or content at any time, and may provide links to other sites that are not maintained by barkandwhiskers.com. barkandwhiskers.com does not endorse those sites and is not responsible for the content of such other sites. Please read our policy governing such Third Party Links.

The content may not be available for use outside of the United States. barkandwhiskers.com makes no representation that any content is appropriate or available for use outside the United States, its territories, possessions, and protectorates. If you choose to access the Site from other locations, you do so on your own initiative and at your own risk. You are responsible for complying with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable. You specifically agree to comply with all applicable laws concerning the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country you reside in.

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Our Corrections Policy:

At barkandwhiskers.com we strive to present our articles in a factual manner with fact-checked, vetted and verified information. If you believe we’ve made an error or need to clarify something, please contact us at media@barkandwhiskers.com.

We will respond as quickly as possible, and if a clarification or correction is in order, we will make those changes within the article itself and then note the changes or clarification at the bottom or top of the article in question. Serious errors will be placed as an “Update” at the top of the article; others will be noted at the end. We will also note how those errors came to our attention.

We will make clarifications if the information in the article in question is factually correct but could be more clearly stated or detailed. For balance, we also may add comments from qualified sources who offer new information that may contrast or disagree with what we’ve presented.

If we find no corrections or changes are necessary, we will add a statement acknowledging the concerns and why we did not make changes. At that time, we may also add clarifications with supporting evidence to back our position as to why we did not make changes.

Additionally, we invite everyone to participate in the Comments section at the end of each article, where opinions, ideas and commentary are always welcome from all sides of an issue.

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How Do You Know What’s Fact and What’s Opinion in a bark & whiskers Article?

It’s easy to know what’s opinion and what is fact-based by checking the sources and references that accompany every bark & whiskers article.

For example, statements of fact will be fully referenced with at least one endnote and, often, multiple endnotes. When information from an outside source is used, besides endnotes, we will identify these statements with quotation marks. When extensive information from another source is used, we will indent and italicize the statements or quotes, so you can easily see that this is someone else talking, be it from an interview or a journal source.

Additionally, sources who make statements of opinion will be clearly identified — we never use anonymous sources. We also will add biographical information on any quoted source to give you an idea why that person has expertise in the topic we’re discussing.

From time to time, we may invite others to write an article expressing their points of view on a particular topic. Those points may also include endnotes, and in certain instances, these articles will include a byline and brief bio of the persons writing them, so you will know when someone other than our regular contributors is speaking.

Since our contributors include licensed medical professionals with expertise in treating animals, many of our articles will offer health information gained through decades of ongoing research in a wide variety of topics, as well as from treating more than 20,000 patients. While this medical knowledge can help you make positive, life-changing decisions in your pet’s life, this information is offered only as something to think about and consider, and should not be misconstrued as a treatment or substitute for seeing your own veterinarian for medical advice.

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Game Changers:

These amazing Pet Game Changers have been chosen by pet lovers for the wonderful work they do. Thank you for being an inspiration to animal lovers all over the world! (Game Changers are nominated by our subscribers and people in our wellness community. The interviews with the nominees do not constitute an endorsement of the individual or the organization they represent.)

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Use of Website:

The entire contents of this Site are copyrighted under United States law. Individual articles on the Site may be copied in full, without specific permission, for not-for-profit purposes, provided that your copy of the article includes full copyright and contact information. If possible, it would be appreciated if the article included an endorsement and encouragement to subscribe to the newsletter.

All other Materials, except for individual articles, from this Website may not be copied, distributed or transmitted in any way without prior written consent of barkandwhiskers.com. The design of this Website and all its content, text, graphics, information, and other material displayed thereon or that can be downloaded are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws and may not be used except as permitted in these Terms and Conditions or with prior written approval from barkandwhiskers.com. Any unauthorized use of any such information or materials may violate copyright laws, trademark laws, laws of privacy / publicity, and other laws and regulations.

All material on this Site is provided for lawful purposes only. The material on this Site shall not be used for illegal purposes or for the transmission of material that is unlawful, harassing, defamatory, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene, or otherwise objectionable, or that infringes or may infringe the intellectual property or other rights of another or that violates any federal, state, or local laws. In addition to any remedies that we may have at law or in equity, if we determine that you have violated or are likely to violate the foregoing prohibitions, we may take any action we deem necessary to cure or prevent the violation, including without limitation, the immediate removal of the related materials from this Website. barkandwhiskers.com will cooperate fully with any law enforcement authorities, court order, or subpoena requesting or directing us to disclose the identity of anyone posting such materials.

Banning of your Disqus account for any reason, including but not limited to your violation of any of these Terms and Conditions, results in the immediate revocation of your license to use the Website, Website content and material, and obligates you to immediately destroy any copies of the Website content in your possession.

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Notice for Claims of Intellectual Property Violations and Agent for Notice:

barkandwhiskers.com respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. barkandwhiskers.com abides by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by responding to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the DMCA and other applicable laws. In appropriate circumstances and at barkandwhiskers.com’s sole discretion, that response may include removing, disabling and/or terminating access to material residing on the Website that is claimed to be infringing, in which case barkandwhiskers.com will make a good-faith attempt to contact the person who submitted the affected material so that they may make a counter notification, also in accordance with the DMCA.

If you believe that your work has been copied in the Website in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or that your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, please provide barkandwhiskers.com’s Copyright Agent with the following information:

• Reasonably sufficient details to enable us to identify the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;
• A description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Website, with enough detail that we may find it on the Website;
• Your contact information so that we can contact you (including your name, address, telephone number, and email address);
• A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material identified above is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
• A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is alleged to be infringed; and
• The electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property interest.

If the material that you have posted to the Website has been taken down in response to a claim of copyright or other intellectual property infringement, you may send barkandwhiskers.com’s Copyright Agent a counter-notification containing the following details:

• Reasonably sufficient details to enable us to identify the material that has been removed to which access has been disabled, together with the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled;
• A statement, under penalty of perjury, that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material in question;
• Your contact information so that we can contact you (including your name, address, telephone number, and email address);
• A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for judicial district in which your address is located or, if your address is outside of the USA, in any judicial district in which barkandwhiskers.com may be found, and that you will accept service of process from the person who submitted a notice in compliance with the section (c)(1)(C) of the DMCA, as generally described above; and
• Your physical or electronic signature.

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barkandwhiskers.com Copyright Agent can be reached as follows:

Attachments cannot be accepted. Accordingly, any notification of infringement or counter-notification submitted electronically with an attachment will not be received or processed.

Before serving either a Notice of Infringing Material or Counter-Notification, you may wish to contact a lawyer to better understand your rights and obligations under the DMCA and other applicable laws. These notice requirements are intended to comply with barkandwhiskers.com’s rights and obligations under the DMCA and, in particular, 17 U.S.C. § 512(c), and do not constitute or act as a substitute for legal advice.

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Website Modifications:

barkandwhiskers.com reserves the right to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Website as a whole and/or any or all of the Website features and information appearing on, or available through, any or all of the Website with or without notice to you. barkandwhiskers.com shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any modification or discontinuance of such features or information on the Website or the Website itself.

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Submission of Information and/or Materials:

You understand that to utilize the website, no personal information is required. If you voluntarily choose to provide your personal information, this information is covered under our Privacy Policy. barkandwhiskers.com in no way encourages you to disclose private information on publicly accessible portions of this Website. barkandwhiskers.com and its directors, officers, employees, and agents are not liable for the disclosure of any personal information which you voluntarily include on the Website. You recognize that you have no legitimate expectation of privacy in any information which you voluntarily disclose to barkandwhiskers.com, and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, waive any constitutional, statutory, or common law right to privacy which you might otherwise claim in such information. barkandwhiskers.com may collect and utilize any personal information, which you voluntarily provide, and may combine the personal information collected from you with information collected from others to provide a better user experience.

Other than personally identifiable information, any information, including but not limited to video, software, data, text, photographs, music, sound, remarks, comments, suggestions, ideas, graphics or other submissions, transmissions and/or postings that are communicated to barkandwhiskers.com through this Website will be considered non-confidential / non-proprietary and will become, to the fullest extent permitted by law, exclusive property of barkandwhiskers.com.

You acknowledge the originality of any submission you communicate to barkandwhiskers.com and accept responsibility for its accuracy, appropriateness, and legality. You agree to provide true, accurate, current, and complete information about yourself when you elect to provide personal information to us. You are responsible for your own communications and are responsible for any consequences resulting from these communications.

barkandwhiskers.com, to the fullest extent permitted by law, is entitled to use any information you submit for any purpose anywhere, anytime and for any reason whatsoever without restriction or compensation. We may, but are not obligated to, monitor, or review any User Communications. barkandwhiskers.com will have no obligation to use, return, review, or respond to any information we receive from you. We will have no liability related to the content of any such User Communications, whether or not arising under the laws of copyright, libel, privacy, obscenity, or otherwise. barkandwhiskers.com retains the right to remove any or all User Communications that includes any material we deem inappropriate or unacceptable and may terminate your account or your use of this Website.

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SMS Terms and Conditions

The following terms and conditions pertain to SMS text message promotions from barkandwhiskers.com. When you sign up to receive text messages, you will receive recurring automated marketing SMS text messages from barkandwhiskers.com to the mobile number provided. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency will vary. For help, text HELP to 88088. To cancel SMS messages, reply STOP to 88088. You are not required to sign up to receive text messages to purchase goods or services.

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Linking to This Website:

Creating or maintaining any link from another website to any page on this Website without our prior written permission is prohibited. Running or displaying this Website or any information or material displayed on this Website in frames or through similar means on another website without our prior written permission is prohibited. Any permitted links to this website must comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

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Indemnity:

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify and hold barkandwhiskers.com and our parents, affiliates (and their franchisees and licensees), and subsidiaries, officers, directors, employees, successors and assigns, harmless from any claim, loss or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of our Website, your connection to our Website, your violation of these Terms and Conditions, or your violation of any rights of another party. This indemnity survives termination of these Terms and Conditions.

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Disclaimer of Warranties:

YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF OUR WEBSITE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BARKANDWHISKERS.COM AND ITS AFFILIATES AND SUBSIDIARIES (COLLECTIVELY, "AFFILIATES") EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO NON-INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. BARKANDWHISKERS.COM AND ITS AFFILIATES MAKE NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, THAT THE WEBSITE OR ANY ADVICE OR INFORMATION OBTAINED ON OR THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR FREE; NOR DOES BARKANDWHISKERS.COM OR ITS AFFILIATES MAKE ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE WEBSITE OR INFORMATION OBTAINED ON OR THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR AS TO THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS OR RELIABILITY OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON OR THROUGH THIS WEBSITE. THE INFORMATION OR MATERIALS PROVIDED ON OR THROUGH THIS WEBSITE MAY BE OUT OF DATE, AND NEITHER BARKANDWHISKERS.COM  NOR ITS AFFILIATES MAKES ANY COMMITMENT OR ASSUMES ANY DUTY TO UPDATE SUCH INFORMATION OR MATERIALS.

Liability Restrictions:

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BARKANDWHISKERS.COM AND ITS AFFILIATES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, RESULTING FROM THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE OR ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED ON OR THROUGH THE WEBSITE, WEBSITE INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION, EVEN IF BARKANDWHISKERS.COM OR ITS AFFILIATES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, WHETHER SUCH INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION WAS JUSTIFIED OR NOT, NEGLIGENT OR INTENTIONAL, INADVERTENT OR ADVERTENT, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FROM: DOWNLOADING ANY MATERIAL CONTAINED ON OR ACCESSED THROUGH THE WEBSITE; LINKING TO ANY THIRD PARTY WEBSITE FROM THE WEBSITE; ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO ANY INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITE AND/OR SUBMITTED BY YOU TO OR THROUGH THE WEBSITE; MESSAGES RECEIVED OR ENTERED INTO THROUGH OR FROM THE WEBSITE; AND/OR LOSS OF PROFITS, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES.

ANY MATERIAL AND/OR INFORMATION DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF OR FROM THE WEBSITE IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR USE OR NONUSE OF SUCH INFORMATION, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF SUCH MATERIAL AND/OR INFORMATION. BARKANDWHISKERS.COM IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR TECHNICAL, HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE FAILURES OF ANY KIND; LOST OR UNAVAILABLE NETWORK CONNECTIONS; INCOMPLETE, GARBLED OR DELAYED COMPUTER TRANSMISSIONS; SERVICE DEGRADATION (INCLUDING "LINE-NOISE" INTERFERENCE). UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL BARKANDWHISKERS.COM  OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR INJURY THAT RESULTS FROM THE USE OF THE MATERIALS ON THIS SITE. IN THE EVENT OF ANY PROBLEM WITH THIS WEBSITE OR ANY CONTENT, YOUR SOLE REMEDY IS TO CEASE USING THIS WEBSITE.

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Revisions to These Terms and Conditions:

These Terms and Conditions may be revised at any time and from time to time by updating this posting. You should visit this page from time to time to review the current Terms and Conditions. Certain provisions of these Terms and Conditions may be superseded by legal notices or terms located on particular pages of this Website.

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Enforcement of Terms and Conditions/Jurisdiction:

These Terms and Conditions are governed and interpreted pursuant to the laws of the State of Illinois, United States of America, notwithstanding any principles of conflicts of law.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms and Conditions shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision by us. If any provision of these Terms and Conditions is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the court should endeavor, to the fullest extent permitted by law, to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of our Terms and Conditions remain in full force and effect. YOU AGREE THAT REGARDLESS OF ANY STATUTE OR LAW TO THE CONTRARY, ANY CLAIM OR CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO USE OF THE WEBSITE OR OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS MUST BE FILED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER SUCH CLAIM OR CAUSE OF ACTION AROSE OR BE FOREVER BARRED.

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Termination:

You or we may suspend or terminate your use of this Website at any time, without notice, for any reason or for no reason.

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General:

No agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment is created as a result of the Terms and Conditions and you do not have any authority of any kind to bind barkandwhiskers.com in any respect whatsoever. The failure of either party to exercise in any respect any right provided for herein shall not be deemed a waiver of any further rights hereunder.

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Acceptance:

To the fullest extent permitted by law, your use of this Website or by ordering any product from barkandwhiskers.com, confirms your unconditional acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. If you elect not to accept these Terms and Conditions, do not use this Website.

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Additional Assistance:

If you do not understand any of the foregoing Terms and Conditions or if you have any questions or comments, we invite you to contact us at: media@barkandwhiskers.com