Community guidelines

Last updated 20 October 2026

Furr's community helps owners find lost pets, ask questions, share what they've learned and meet up. These guidelines keep it kind, honest and safe for people and animals. They are part of our terms of use. Community features arrive in a later release.

Be honest and kind

• Treat everyone with respect, whatever their race, ethnicity, religion, language, caste, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or where they live.
• Disagree with ideas, not people. No insults, threats, bullying or harassment, including unwanted sexual messages or images.
• No content that attacks people for who they are, or stirs up hatred, discrimination or violence against any group.
• Don't insult anyone's religion or beliefs. Furr is for talking about pets; politics and religious debates belong elsewhere.
• Don't accuse a named person of a crime, such as stealing or poisoning a pet. Report it to the police instead.
• Only post lost and found reports that are real, and mark them reunited or closed when they are.

Keep animals safe

• No selling, buying or breeding animals for sale. Posts that look like a sale are held for review. Adoption and rehoming without payment are welcome.
• No content showing or encouraging cruelty, dog fighting, poisoning or abusive training. Rescue and awareness posts are welcome without graphic images. If an animal is in danger, contact a vet, your local council, the police or an animal welfare group.
• No wild or protected animals. Keeping or trading them needs a permit under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance.
• Never ask for money to return a lost pet. A reward offered by the owner is up to them.
• Records and health cards shared in Furr are owners' own records, not official vaccination certificates or dog registration.

Protect people's privacy

• Don't post anyone's home address, ID numbers or private details, or someone else's phone number without their permission.
• Your own phone number appears on a post only if you choose to show it. Think before you share it.
• Don't post photos of children, or photos of people who haven't agreed to it.
• Anything that sexualises or exploits children is never allowed. We remove it at once, close the account and report it to the authorities.

Health tips are not vet advice

• Share what worked for you, but say it is your experience. For anything serious, the answer is: see a vet.
• Don't pretend to be a vet. Only members we have confirmed as registered vets get the vet badge.
• Don't recommend prescription medicines or doses for someone else's pet.

No scams, spam or illegal content

• No fake listings, requests for payment, or links that trick people.
• No advertising unless it's an event we allow.
• Nothing illegal in Sri Lanka, and only photos you have the right to share.

How reporting and review work

1. Anyone can report a post, sighting or comment with the report button, and choose a reason.
2. When three different people report the same thing, it is hidden until we check it. Posts that read like an animal sale are held as soon as they are posted.
3. The Furr team reviews held and reported content and keeps it or removes it. We don't tell the author who reported it.
4. If we remove something of yours, we tell you which rule it broke. Most first breaks get a warning. Repeated breaks lead to a pause on posting, and then a closed account.

Threats of violence, posting someone's private details, scams and anything that endangers a child are removed straight away, without waiting for reports. We prefer to hide or remove a post over editing it; we may ask you to edit it yourself.

Holding a post is a precaution, not a decision against you. We decide on the content and the rules, not on who you are, and we apply the same rules to everyone.

Ask for a review

If you think we got it wrong, email [email protected] within 30 days with a link to the post or a screenshot. Someone who wasn't involved in the first decision will look again, and we will reply within seven days.

Requests from authorities

When a court or authority lawfully orders us to remove content, we act within the time the law sets (24 hours under the Online Safety Act No. 9 of 2024) and tell the author unless the law forbids it. We check every request is lawful and don't remove more than it requires: where we can, we limit it to Sri Lanka rather than delete it everywhere. We never pass on who posted something without a court order. See our privacy policy for requests about people's information.

Our commitments

• We respect human rights: equal treatment, freedom of expression within these rules, privacy, and the right to complain and be heard.
• Our rules apply the same way to everyone, and the lightest step that works comes first.
• You can always ask for a review, and complaining never counts against you. See support.
• Once community is live, we will publish a short note each year with how many posts we removed, how many reviews we changed, and how many requests we received from authorities.