Terms of Use and Legal Notices

These are the specific terms and conditions regarding your use of www.vcacharities.com and any other website where these terms and conditions (collectively, the “Site”) are posted and your use of all content and collective works comprising the Site, including all data, software, photographs, videos, stories, articles, sounds, music, artwork, graphics, and other information and materials (collectively “Content”), products and services made available through the Site. This document also provides notices of specific legal obligations in connection with your use of the Site and the Content, products and services made available through the Site. Your use of the Site constitutes your agreement to comply with all terms, conditions and legal notices contained herein (these “Terms of Use”) in addition to any other terms, conditions and legal notices that may appear throughout the Site.

Accounts and Security

Non-registered members may only be able to access limited Content, products and services available on our Site. In order to access the full Content, products and services available, you may be required to register for, or be an authorized user of, a registered user account (“Account”). You agree to provide us with accurate, complete, and updated Account information. Failure to do so will constitute a breach of these Terms of Use, which may result in immediate termination of your Account.

You agree to keep your password, if any, confidential and use only your Account login and password when logging in. You are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your Account even if such activities or uses were not committed by you. We will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from unauthorized use of your password or your failure to comply with this paragraph.

You may only use the Site and the Content, products and services available through the Site and/or register for an Account, if your applicable jurisdiction allows you to accept these Terms of Use.

Access Restriction/TERMINATION

VCA Charities reserves the right to impose limits on certain features or restrict your access to parts of or the entire Site and the Content, products and services made available through the Site, in its sole discretion and without notice or liability. VCA Charities also reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate your account, membership registration, access or use of the Site and the related services or any portion thereof at any time, without notice. Upon termination, you will have no account or similar membership rights to the Site. Our proprietary rights, disclaimer of warranties, indemnities, limitations of liability and miscellaneous provisions shall survive any such termination. We may provide notice of termination, if at all, by regular mail or email.

Privacy

Your privacy is important to us. See our Privacy Statement for information on the privacy and security practices of VCA Charities and the Site.

Intended for Users Over 13 Years of Age

The safety of children is very important to us. Although this Site is intended for use by persons at least 13 years of age, and we have processes in place to help prevent participation in our Site communities and services by persons under 13 years of age at time of registration, we cannot prohibit minors from visiting the Site and must rely on parents and guardians (at least 18 years of age at time of use) to decide which materials are appropriate for children under 13. We will not knowingly collect personal information from children. Please see our Privacy Statement for more information.

Limitations Regarding Information, Articles and Advice

The Site may offer articles, information, and advice to pet owners for educational purposes only. Any information offered through the 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.

No Unlawful or Prohibited Use

As a condition of your use of the Site, you warrant to us that you will not use the Site for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms of Use. You may not use the Site in any manner which could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Site or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the Site. Examples of such prohibited behavior include, but are not limited to:

Using the Site to promote, conduct, or contribute to fraudulent, obscene, pornographic and/or illegal activities, including deceptive impersonation or activities involving the exploitation of children.
Using the Site to violate anyone’s privacy rights (e.g. distributing unwanted commercial solicitations), to infringe on intellectual property rights (including copyrights and trademark rights), to harass or defame others, to promote hatred towards any group of people, or otherwise to publish or disseminate views or opinions which are, in the opinion of VCA Charities, obscene, offensive, or generally inappropriate.
Collecting any information or communication about the users of the Site by monitoring, interdicting or intercepting any process of or communication initiated by the Site or by developing or using any software or any other process or method that engages or assists in engaging in any of the foregoing.
Attempting to hack the Site or any communication initiated by the Site or to defeat or overcome any encryption and/or other technical protection methods implemented by VCA Charities with respect to the Site and/or data and/or content or programming transmitted, processed or stored by VCA Charities or other users of the Site.
Uploading files that contain software or other material protected by intellectual property laws (or by rights of privacy of publicity) unless you own or control the rights thereto or have received all necessary consents.
Uploading files that contain viruses, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another’s computer.
Disrupting, circumventing, or interfering with any part of the Site; forging or modifying any data processed or distributed by the Site; or using an automated process to cause greater demand on the Site than a single person could produce.
Except as expressly permitted on the Site, altering, modifying, deleting, or otherwise interfering with or in any manner compromising any content, programming, advertising, services and/or features contained on or through the Site, including, without limitation, the Site’s advertising and/or content delivery and display functionality.

Communication Services; Submission of Content

Use of Communication Services

The Site may contain bulletin board services, chat areas, news groups, forums, communities, personal web pages, calendars, and/or other message or communication facilities designed to enable you to communicate with the public at large or with a group (collectively, “Communication Services”). You agree to use the Communication Services only to post, send and receive messages and material that are proper and related to the particular Communication Service.

By way of example, and not as a limitation, you agree that when using a Communication Service, you will not:

Defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others.
Publish, post, upload, distribute or disseminate any inappropriate, profane, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent or unlawful topic, name, material or information.
Advertise or offer to sell or buy any goods or services for any business purpose, unless such Communication Service specifically allows such messages.
Conduct or forward surveys, contests, pyramid schemes or chain letters.
Download any file posted by another user of a Communication Service that you know, or reasonably should know, cannot be legally distributed in such manner.
Falsify or delete any author attributions, legal or other proper notices or proprietary designations or labels of the origin or source of software or other material contained in a file that is uploaded.
Restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the Communication Services.
Violate any code of conduct or other guidelines which may be applicable for any particular Communication Service.
Harvest or otherwise collect information about others, including e-mail addresses, without their consent.
Violate any applicable laws or regulations.

Always use caution when giving out any personally identifying information about yourself or your children in any Communication Service.

We have no obligation to monitor the Communication Services and we do not control or endorse the content, messages or information found in any Communication Service and, therefore, VCA Charities specifically disclaims any liability with regard to the Communication Services and any actions resulting from your participation in any Communication Service. Managers and hosts are not authorized VCA Charities spokespersons, and their views do not necessarily reflect those of VCA Charities.

VCA Charities reserves the right to review materials posted to a Communication Service and to remove any materials in its sole discretion. VCA Charities also reserves the right to terminate your access to any or all of the Communication Services at any time without notice for any reason whatsoever. VCA Charities reserves the right at all times to disclose any information as necessary to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, or to edit, refuse to post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, in VCA Charities’ sole discretion.

Materials Provided to VCA Charities or Posted on the Site

By using the Site, you agree that any information (except for purchase information) or Content you send to VCA Charities to contribute to this Site, or that you submit, post, upload, input or display on the Site, is not confidential (“User Material”).

By submitting any solicited or unsolicited User Material you grant VCA Charities, and its successors and assigns, an irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive, unrestricted, sub-licensable and transferable, royalty free license to use, modify, reproduce, edit, adapt, translate, reformat, prepare derivative works of, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform and distribute the User Material in all forms and in all media and in all manners, without any restriction or notice as to changes or alterations for any advertising, promotion, publicity, or any other lawful purposes; and to publish your name in connection with your submission. The User Material you submit may be altered for the purposes of proper publication by VCA Charities. You waive any claims you may have based on any usage of your User Material and release VCA Charities from any and all liability related to the distribution, publication, and dissemination of these items, including publication on the Internet. You waive any and all moral or integrity rights with respect to the User Materials you have submitted to VCA Charities or that you submit, post, upload, input or display on the Site. No compensation will be paid with respect to the use of any User Material, as provided herein. VCA Charities is under no obligation to post or use any User Material you may provide and may remove any User Material at any time in VCA Charities’ sole discretion.

By posting, uploading, inputting, providing, or submitting any User Material you represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the User Material including, without limitation, all rights necessary for you to provide, post, upload, input, submit or display the User Material, that the User Material does not infringe any intellectual property rights of any individual or entity, including the photographer who took the photos and/or videos you have submitted; and that these items do not contain any material that otherwise violates any criminal prohibition. You acknowledge that VCA Charities is relying upon and would not use the User Material you submit in the absence of these terms.

We may, at our sole discretion, remove User Material that we determine is unlawful, fraudulent, harassing, offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene or otherwise objectionable, or infringes or violates any party’s intellectual property or other proprietary rights or our Terms. This includes comments concerning our competitors, vendors, business partners, service providers, associates, and affiliates.

VCA is not liable or responsible for any User Material provided by its users or other third parties for use on the Site. Contributions to this Site by third parties do not necessarily represent the view or opinions of VCA Charities. VCA Charities may not preview user content before it appears on the Site. Users can be held liable for any illegal or prohibited user content they provide to the Site, including among other things, infringing, defamatory or offensive materials.

Links to Third-Party Sites

The Site may contain links to other sites operated by Third Parties (“Third-Party Sites”). The Third-Party Sites are not under the control of VCA Charities and VCA Charities is not responsible for the contents of any Third-Party Site, including, without limitation, any link contained in a Third-Party Site, or any changes or updates to a Third-Party Site. We provide access to these links only as a convenience and are intended only to enable access to these Third-Party Sites and for no other purpose. We do not warrant or make any representation about the substance, quality, functionality, accuracy, fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability or any other representation about any Third-Party Site or its content. A link to a Third-Party Site from the Site does not constitute sponsorship, endorsement, approval or responsibility of any such Third-Party Site or any association with its operators. We make no representation or warranty as to any products or services offered on any Third-Party Site. The terms and conditions of use, legal notices and privacy policy of any Third-Party Site may differ substantially from the terms and conditions and policies that apply to your use of this Site. Please review the terms and conditions of use for all Third-Party Sites for more information about the terms and conditions that apply to your use of Third-Party Sites. By using this Site to search for or link to a Third-Party Site, you agree and understand that you may not make any claim against VCA Charities for any damages or losses whatsoever resulting from your use of this Site to obtain search results and/or to link to a Third-Party Site.

U.S. Export Controls

Certain software and similar materials (“Software”) that you may download from this Site may be subject to United States Export Controls. No Software downloaded from this Site may be downloaded or exported contrary to any applicable export law, including any applicable prohibitions against download or export as follows: (1) into (or to a national or resident of) Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria or any other country to which the United States has embargoed goods; or (2) anyone on the United States Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Commerce Department’s Table of Deny Orders. By downloading or using Software downloaded from this Site, you agree to abide by the applicable laws, rules and regulations – including the Export Administration Act and the Arms Export Control Act – and you represent and warrant that you will not transfer, by electronic transmission or otherwise, this Software to a foreign national or a foreign destination in violation of law.

Downloads Restricted

You may only download Content displayed on the Site for non-commercial, personal use, provided you also retain all copyright, trademark and other proprietary notices contained in the Content. Except as expressly authorized herein, or by an authorized representative of VCA Charities, or by license, VCA Charities strictly prohibits modifying, transmitting, distributing, reusing, reposting, “framing” or using the Content, including the text, images, audio and/or video for public or commercial purposes. Downloading images of products for sale within the Site is strictly prohibited. You may not copy, modify, remove, delete, augment, add to, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale, lease or rental of, create derivative works from, or in any way exploit the Content of Site, in whole or in part.

Copyright and Trademark Notices

All content and collective work comprising the Site, including information, articles, data, software, photographs, graphs, videos, typefaces, graphics, music, sounds and other artwork and material is protected by copyright, trademark, patent or other proprietary rights under United States and/or international laws and held by VCA Charities and/or the original creator of the material, including VCA Charities’ affiliates, partners, suppliers, and/or visitors or users of the Site who have contributed material to the Site (for more information, see Contributions to this Site; Content and Submissions below). These rights are valid and protected in all forms, media, and technologies existing now or developed in the future.

All 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, VCA Charities. All intellectual property used on the Site may not be reproduced, copied or otherwise manipulated in any manner without express, written permission of the owner. VCA Charities disclaims any proprietary interest in intellectual property other than its own.

Disclaimer of Warranties

You expressly agree that your use of the Site is at your own risk.

The Site and all information, Content, software, products, And services Made Available through the Site for any purpose is provided on an “As Is” and “As Available” basis. VCA CHARITIES and its officers, directors and employees, as well as its third-party agents, contractors, distributors, merchants, any third-party for whom VCA CHARITIES powers this Site (collectively, “Third-Parties”), cannot and do not warrant that your use of the Site and the content, products, and services made available through the website will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, error-free, that defect, if any, will be corrected, or that the website and/or the server that makes the same avaialbe are free of viruses, clocks, timers, counters, worms, software locks, drop dead devices, trojan-horses, routings, trap doors, time bombs, or any other harmful codes, instructions, programs, or components. Neither VCA charities nor its Third Parties have any responsibility for your action or inaction in connection with the Site or for any damage to your computer or data or any other damages you may incur in connection with your use of the Site. Neither VCA charities nor its Third Parties warrant the accuracy, integrity or completeness of the content provided on the Site or the products or services offered for sale on the Site.

VCA charities and its Third Parties specifically disclaim all warranties, whether express or implied, including warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement. No oral or written information or advice given by VCA charities or its Third Parties shall create a warranty, except where the exclusion or limitation of certain warranties is prohibited by law. Oral or written information or advice given by VCA charities or its Third Parties should not be solely relied upon for personal, medical, legal or financial decisions and you should consult an appropriate professional for specific advice tailored to your situation. Information regarding specific therapies or standards of care should be verified through other reliable and trustworthy sources.

Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall VCA charities and/or its Third Parties be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, consequential damages, or any damages whatsoever including, without limitation, injury, damages for loss of use, loss of life, loss of data or loss of profits, arising out of or in any way connected with your use or inability to use of the Site, including any use of the Site, or the information, software, products, services, and related graphics provided through the Site, that results in mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion or corruption of files, viruses, delays in operating or transmissions or any failure of performance. The foregoing limitation of liability shall apply in any action, whether based on contract, tort, negligence, strict liability, or otherwise, even if VCA charities or any of its Third Parties have been advised of or should have knowledge of the possibility of such damages.

By your use of the Site, you acknowledge that this paragraph shall apply to all information, software, products, and services available through the Site, except where the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages is prohibited by law. Some states/jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the foregoing limitations may not apply to you. If you are dissatisfied with any portion of the Site, or with any of these terms of use, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue use of the Site.

Notices and Procedure for Making Claims of Copyright Infringement

If you believe that your work has been copied, displayed, or distributed in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please notify our Legal Department.

A notification of claimed infringement must be a written communication as set forth below, and must include substantially all of the following: (a) a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest that is allegedly infringed; (b) a description of such copyrighted work(s) and an identification of what material in such work(s) is claimed to be infringed; (c) a description of the exact name of the infringing work and the location of the infringing work on the Service; (d) information sufficient to permit VCA Charities to contact you, such as your physical address, telephone number and e-mail address; (e) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material identified in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; (f) a statement by you that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury that you are authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

Our Legal Department can be reached by phone or post as follows:

VCA Charities

c/o VCA Legal Department – Copyright Infringement

12401 W. Olympic Boulevard

Los Angeles, California 90064

310.571.6500

Modifications to Terms of Use/site

VCA Charities reserves the right to modify these Terms of Use at any time by posting revised Terms of Use on this Site. Your continued use of this Site or the Content, products and services available through the Site shall be deemed irrevocable acceptance of those revisions when you use the Site after such revisions to the Terms of Use have been posted to the Site. If you do not agree to (or cannot comply with) these Terms of Use, as amended, you must stop using the Site and the content, products and services made available through the Site.

VCA Charities reserves the right to change, modify, suspend or discontinue all or any aspects of the Site or the Content, products, and services made available through the Site at any time without prior notice.

General

To the maximum extent permitted by law, these Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law rules. Any legal proceeding arising out or relating to these Terms of Use against or relating to VCA Charities will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of any state or federal court sitting in Los Angeles County, California and you irrevocably consent to the jurisdiction of such courts. A printed version of these Terms of Use and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this agreement to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form. You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and VCA Charities as a result of these Terms of Use or use of the Site. The failure of VCA Charities at any time or times to require performance of any provision hereof shall in no manner affect its right at a later time to enforce the same unless the same is waived in writing. The terms set forth in this Terms of Use and any agreements included or referred to in this Terms of Use constitute the final, complete and exclusive agreement with respect to this Site and may not be contradicted, explained or supplemented by evidence of any prior agreement, any contemporaneous oral agreement or any consistent additional terms. VCA Charities reserves all rights not expressly granted herein.