Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using Lost.ca, you agree to these Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the site.

2. About Lost.ca

Lost.ca is a volunteer-run Canadian community for posting and searching lost and found pets. We provide a platform. We are not a shelter, veterinary clinic, pet rescue, pet-recovery service, or professional broker of any kind.

Lost.ca may introduce paid or sponsored features in the future. Current free access does not guarantee future free access to all features.

3. Your Account

• You must be at least 13 years old to create an account.
• You may have only one account.
• Keep your password confidential. You are solely responsible for activity under your account.
• Provide accurate information. We may suspend accounts with fake, impersonated, or misleading details.
• You must be the pet's owner or have the owner's explicit permission before posting a lost-pet listing.

4. Your Content

You retain ownership of the content you post. By posting on Lost.ca, you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to host, store, display, copy, modify (for formatting and moderation), and distribute your content as part of running and promoting the service. This license ends when you remove the content or close your account, except for copies others have already made or shared.

You represent and warrant that:

• You have all rights needed to post everything you submit.
• Your content does not infringe any copyright, trademark, or privacy right.
• Photos depict pets you own or that you have permission to photograph.
• All factual claims in your listings are true to the best of your knowledge.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Post fake, misleading, or fraudulent listings or sightings.
• Impersonate another person, organization, or shelter.
• Harass, threaten, defame, or abuse other users.
• Post illegal, obscene, hateful, violent, or discriminatory content.
• Use Lost.ca to sell pets, breed pets, or conduct commercial transactions unrelated to reuniting lost pets.
• Scrape, copy, or redistribute Lost.ca content at scale.
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to accounts, servers, or user data.
• Overwhelm the service with automated traffic or spam.
• Post photos or contact information of people without their consent.

Violations may result in content removal, account suspension, or permanent banning, at our sole discretion.

6. Moderation and Removal

We may remove any content at any time, without notice, for any reason. We are under no obligation to monitor, pre-review, or edit user content, but we reserve the right to do so. We rely partly on community reports for moderation. Flagged content is reviewed but we cannot guarantee a specific response time.

7. Safety and In-Person Meetups

Lost.ca helps users find each other. Lost.ca does not arrange, oversee, or participate in in-person meetings. When you arrange to meet someone to return a pet, pick one up, or investigate a sighting, you do so at your own risk.

We strongly recommend meeting in public places, bringing a friend, asking to verify microchip information, and contacting a local shelter if you are unsure.

You assume all risk of meeting anyone you meet through Lost.ca. Lost.ca is not liable for any injury, loss, theft, fraud, scam, or other harm arising from user-to-user interactions, whether online or in person.

8. Disclaimers

Lost.ca is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy, and availability.

We do not guarantee:

• That lost pets will be found.
• That sightings posted by users are accurate.
• That information provided by other users is true.
• That the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or free of malicious code.
• That shelter directories, microchip registries, or other third-party information shown on the site is current or correct.

9. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Lost.ca and its volunteers, contributors, affiliates, and service providers are not liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive, or exemplary damages — including lost profits, lost data, lost pets, emotional distress, reputational harm, or personal injury — arising out of or related to your use of Lost.ca, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Our total aggregate liability for any claim arising from or related to Lost.ca, regardless of the basis of the claim, is limited to the greater of one hundred Canadian dollars (CAD $100) or the total amount you have paid to Lost.ca in the twelve months before the claim.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations of liability. In those jurisdictions, our liability is limited to the minimum amount permitted by applicable law.

10. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Lost.ca, its volunteers, contributors, affiliates, and service providers from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable lawyer's fees) arising from:

• Your content.
• Your use of the site.
• Your violation of these terms.
• Your violation of any law or of anyone's rights.
• Any in-person interaction you have with another user.

11. Termination

You may close your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your account, with or without notice, if we believe you have violated these terms or if we stop operating the service.

Sections 4 (Your Content license), 8 (Disclaimers), 9 (Limitation of Liability), 10 (Indemnification), and 13 (Governing Law) survive termination.

12. Third-Party Services and Links

Lost.ca links to third-party sites (shelter directories, social networks, etc.) and relies on third-party services (hosting, analytics, email). We are not responsible for the content, policies, or practices of third parties.

13. Governing Law and Venue

These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable in Ontario, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute arising from these terms or your use of Lost.ca will be resolved exclusively in the courts located in Ontario, Canada, and you consent to their jurisdiction.

14. Changes to These Terms

We may change these terms. The "Last updated" date will change when we do. For material changes, we will post a notice on the site. Continued use after changes means you accept the updated terms. If you disagree, stop using the service.

15. Entire Agreement

These terms, together with our Privacy Policy, are the complete agreement between you and Lost.ca regarding your use of the site. If any provision is held unenforceable, the remainder stays in effect.

16. Contact

Questions about these terms? Email support@lost.ca.