Rules For Posting

Rules Updated 9/3/2010

Rules, Policies, and Disclaimers

East Tn Pets is a private forum and website. Its upkeep is provided by its owner. The owner reserves the right to refuse and/or terminate membership at any time without reason. Thank you for helping us keep this forum a friendly, helpful, G rated forum for the entire family. These rules apply to our pm system as well. Complaints of abuse through the pm system will be handled in the same matter as we do for the forum. Also please make sure that you are completely honest when you post. Please be sure to read this post for further policy.

Please address questions, concerns or suggestions to the owner or any of the administrators or moderators. Just so everyone knows EastTnPets is the owner. The administrators are Robert, Amanda416, KayKaysMom, FluffNFeathers, Bbowman & Roxyjangles. The moderators are Liza, SwtP6241, Tiffanyj, & Travsgal04.

My main goal at East Tn Pets is to try and help keep animals out of shelters and to get them placed in their forever loving homes. These rules are not in place to censor anyone, they are here to protect our members.

You agree, through your use of this forum, that you will not post any material which is false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, adult material, or otherwise in violation of any International or United States Federal law. You also agree not to post any copyrighted material unless you own the copyright or you have written consent from the owner of the copyrighted material. Spam, flooding, advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are also forbidden on this forum.

Note that it is impossible for the staff or the owners of this forum to confirm the validity of posts. Please remember that we do not monitor every posted messages, and as such, are not responsible for the content contained within. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information presented. The posted messages express the views of the author, and not necessarily the views of this forum, its staff, its subsidiaries, or this forum's owner. Anyone who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to notify an administrator or moderator of this forum immediately. The staff and the owner of this forum reserve the right to remove objectionable content, within a reasonable time frame, if they determine that removal is necessary. This is a manual process, however, please realize that they may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately. This policy applies to member profile information as well.

You remain solely responsible for the content of your posted messages. Furthermore, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the owners of this forum, any related websites to this forum, its staff, and its subsidiaries. The owners of this forum also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or any other related information collected on this service) in the event of a formal complaint or legal action arising from any situation caused by your use of this forum. **By advertising on East Tn Pets either through a post or the pm system, the owner & the administrative team reserves the right to add your name to the sellers/buyers beware list depending on the offense.**

You have the ability, as you register, to choose your username. We advise that you keep the name appropriate. With this user account you are about to register, you agree to never give your password out to another person except an administrator, for your protection and for validity reasons. You also agree to NEVER use another person's account for any reason. We also HIGHLY recommend you use a complex and unique password for your account, to prevent account theft.

Now that you are a member of this forum, you must fill out a detailed profile. It is your responsibility to present clean and accurate information. Any information the forum owner or staff determines to be inaccurate or vulgar in nature will be removed, with or without prior notice. Appropriate sanctions may be applicable.

Signatures: You must have your first name & your city location in your signature box. If you don't comply with this rule within 72 hours of registering on the site, your account can be temporarily banned until you send an email with your information to sherry@easttnpets.com.

Please note that with each post, your IP address is recorded, in the event that you need to be banned from this forum or your ISP contacted. This will only happen in the event of a major violation of this agreement.

Also note that the software places a cookie, a text file containing bits of information (such as your username and password), in your browser's cache. This is ONLY used to keep you logged in/out. The software does not collect or send any other form of information to your computer.

Below are things that are NOT allowed on this forum:

1. East Tn Pets is a family oriented “G” rated forum, so remember to respect all other members at all times. This means illegal substances, illegal activities, flaming, sexually explicit subjects, cursing, spamming, harassing, and abusive or negative post are not allowed. Post or threads that contain such content will be removed, and the poster(s) may be warned, suspended, or banned at the discretion of the Administrative team. We do have a censor for curse words, so abbreviating some words are just as disrespectful as using the word itself, so please remember that even some abbreviated words are violating the rules.

2. Do not share your registration information. Each member must have his/her own personal log in information. If you forget your lo gin name or password, please contact the owner at sherry@easttnpets.com.

3. Do not post another members personal information such as full name, phone numbers, addresses, or personal email without their permission.

4. When posting off site url’s/web site addresses in a post please remove the www. in front of it so that it is not an active link. The reason is that spambots/email harvester bots and other such pains can find their way here in greater numbers by simply following a live link. SO it is for board security and member security. THIS MEANS PLEASE DO NOT POST LIVE LINKS ON THE FORUM!!!

5. Please keep all post on topic. If you want information on something you see in a particular thread, please start your own thread.

6. Unless you are a Vet, please do not suggest medication dosages when you are giving someone advice about medical procedures. It is very important that everyone understand that your pets must be taken to a Vet for proper treatment or many injuries and illnesses. East Tn Pets will not be responsible for any treatments given to your pets because of advice of another member or staff. Our strong advice is that you take your pet to a vet for medical advice or treatments.

7. Avatars, Images, & Smileys must comply with the rules. Pictures are allowed when it adds to the post’s understanding. For showing off your pets, please use the Yak Yak Yak section and the photo gallery.

Classified sections are prohibited for the following items on the forum & PM system:

       Fire Arms & Ammunition
       Weapons
       Alcoholic Beverages
       Tobacco or Tobacco Products
       Drugs or Drug Paraphernalia
       Pornographic Material
       Anything else considered Illegal in the State Of Tennessee

8. Any person who starts a thread, or makes a post to any thread, who's only intent is to cause trouble and has no intention of purchasing the pet(s) or item(s) for sale or being discussed, will be suspended from East Tn Pets.

9. Pet Flippers that get free or low cost pets only to turn around and sell them for a profit are NOT welcome here and will be banned. This does not apply to non profit rescues or rescuers!!

DONATIONS: If you want to ask for donations on the forum, you MUST get approval from the Administrative team before posting. If you do not ask for approval first, then your thread/post will be removed.

Rule Violations:

First offense – Written warning through a private message
Second Offense – 15 day ban from East Tn Pets
Third Offense – 30 day ban from East Tn Pets

Any other offenses – A permanent ban from East Tn Pets

East Tn Pets Administrative Team wants to welcome each of you here. We have the rules set in place just so that are members are protected. If you have any questions concerning the rules, please pm one of the Administrative team members.