Marketplace Rules

1. Animal welfare comes first

Users must not advertise, sell, rehome, breed, transport or otherwise deal with a dog in a way that is unlawful, misleading, exploitative or inconsistent with appropriate animal-welfare standards.

• Dogs must be kept and transferred in suitable conditions.
• Puppies must not be offered as ready to leave before the applicable lawful minimum age.
• Known material health or welfare information must not be deliberately concealed.
• Users must not encourage irresponsible breeding, illegal importation or unlawful commercial activity.

2. Adverts must be accurate

Advertisers are responsible for ensuring that descriptions, prices, photographs, videos, breed information, ages, locations, licence details and other statements are truthful, current and relate to the dog or service actually being advertised.

• No copied, stolen, deceptive or materially altered media intended to mislead users.
• No false claims about pedigree, health testing, vaccinations, microchips, licences or verification.
• No misleading urgency, fake scarcity or invented competing buyers.
• No bait-and-switch advertising or substitution of another dog without clear disclosure.

3. Licensing and legal compliance

Sellers, breeders and service businesses are responsible for identifying and complying with the laws, licences, registrations, permissions and local-authority requirements that apply to their activities and location.

An ePuP account, badge, verification indicator or published advert does not constitute a legal approval, licence or endorsement by ePuP.

4. Prohibited marketplace conduct

• Fraud, attempted fraud, impersonation or identity misuse.
• Harassment, threats, abusive communications or coercive sales tactics.
• Requests to falsify payment descriptions, documents or ownership records.
• Using multiple accounts to evade restrictions, moderation or verification.
• Manipulating reviews, trust signals, reports or marketplace ranking systems.
• Publishing another person’s private information without lawful justification.
• Using ePuP for unlawful, deceptive or harmful activity.

5. Payments and transactions

Unless ePuP expressly states otherwise for a specific product or service, ePuP is not the buyer, seller, escrow provider, insurer, guarantor or party to a transaction between users.

Users must not claim that ePuP holds, secures, insures or guarantees private payments where no such ePuP service exists.

6. Verification is a trust signal, not a guarantee

Verification may confirm certain information or checks at a particular time. It does not guarantee a user’s identity in every context, legal compliance, honesty, financial standing, the health or temperament of a dog, or the safety of a transaction.

7. Reporting, investigation and evidence

ePuP may review reports, adverts, account information, messages, technical records and associated evidence where reasonably necessary for marketplace safety, fraud prevention, moderation, dispute handling or legal compliance.

Users should preserve relevant evidence and use the reporting tools provided by ePuP.

8. Moderation and enforcement

Subject to applicable law and our Terms, ePuP may reject, edit, restrict, de-rank, suspend, remove or preserve content; restrict features; require additional verification; suspend or terminate accounts; and take other proportionate steps to protect users, animals or the marketplace.

Serious or repeated breaches may result in permanent restrictions. Where appropriate, ePuP may cooperate with courts, regulators, law-enforcement bodies, local authorities and animal-welfare organisations in response to lawful requests or credible safety concerns.

9. No right to bypass safety systems

Users must not interfere with, probe, defeat or circumvent ePuP security, moderation, verification, rate-limiting, trust, reporting or anti-fraud systems.

10. Changes to these rules

ePuP may update these rules as the service, law, regulatory expectations and marketplace risks evolve. Material changes should be communicated or published appropriately.