Here's the "scoop": AdoptAPet.com Terms and Conditions of Use:

We are happy to offer AdoptAPet.com to legitimate animal shelters, humane societies, SPCAs and animal rescue organizations as a free service. You are all heroes for homeless companion animals, but we do require that you abide by the following terms and conditions for use our service. Many purrs for your cooperation!

1. By having pet listings on our site, we are promoting your pets and organization in many ways. We request that in return, if possible, you place a link to AdoptAPet.com on your own website. This helps search engines direct people to our site so they can find a pet to adopt near them if they are not in your area. You can find special linking graphics here.
2. We don't require 501 (c) (3) non-profit status of organizations that list pets with us. However, you must be a legitimate rescue organization and not engaging in activities counter-productive to the cause of animal rescue such as using AdoptAPet.com to list puppies acquired from auctions or breeders. You must be in possession of any local or state-required permits necessary for your operations. You must not have any pending or confirmed animal control or criminal citations or violations.
3. While we admire and applaud all organizations that help animals, AdoptAPet's specific mission is to help companion animals waiting to be adopted. To that end, only animal shelters, rescue groups, and veterinary offices with an ongoing pet adoption program may be listed on AdoptAPet.com.
4. You must keep your pet listings on our site current and remove listings of pets that are no longer for adoption.
5. You must have a valid email or phone line for pet inquiries listed with your account at all times, and you must respond to all pet inquiries made by the public within a reasonable time period. We kindly ask you to treat members of the public, especially those who find you through AdoptAPet.com, in a courteous fashion. Rudeness hurts the cause of pet adoptions and sends potential adopters to breeders and pet stores. GRRR... So we cannot stress this request enough. If you get more inquiries than you can respond to, or if you can't respond to certain inquiries at all (out of state, for example), we require that you have your voicemail or e-mail automatically give the public this information so they do not expect to hear back from you!
6. AdoptAPet.com is a family-friendly site. All pet postings and shelter information viewable by the public must be suitable for people of all ages. No profanity or anything else unsuitable for children is allowed. We want to make sure that pet adoption is perceived as a fun, positive thing for everybody!
7. Only pets that are (or will soon be) available for adoption may be posted on AdoptAPet.com. You cannot post missing or deceased pets.
8. You must be honest in your pet postings about breeds, ages, and all other information, and, when dealing with adopters, you must disclose any known health or behavior issues.
9. AdoptAPet does not allow users to require an application fee of adopters who find them via AdoptAPet.com. (An application fee is a non refundable fee charged to submit an application to adopt a pet, even if the application is not approved or the submitter does not adopt.) We do allow users to charge an adoption fee.
10. If you maintain multiple shelter accounts/locations on AdoptAPet.com, you may not post the same pets within 250 miles of each other.
11. Your organization may only post pets that are directly in your care, or that you've received permission to post. If you are posting pets cared for by another organization or individual without their permission, and they bring it to our attention, we will require you to remove those postings or risk having your account suspended.
12. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, "Onychectomy [cat declawing] is an amputation and should be regarded as a major surgery." Cat declawing is a surgery that removes distal phalanges, or end bones, of the cat’s toes. There are other benign ways to deal with cat clawing issues when they arise (clipping nails, nail caps, covering furniture, etc.) that do not involve surgery that prevents a cat from engaging in a natural behavior. There is also evidence that declawed cats are more likely to not use a litter box which is one of the most common reasons people relinquish cats to shelters. If a cat enters your organization's care already declawed, they can be placed for adoption on AdoptAPet.com. But we do not allow posts that encourage the elective (not medically needed) declawing of cats, nor do we allow organizations that explicitly encourage or undertake this elective amputation to post cats on our site.
13. From time to time, we need to email our shelter and rescue partners to notify you about changes to the site, important new features, and other relevant information. By signing up to post pets for adoption on our site, you agree to receive these emails from us. Please note that we will never sell or rent your information to "spammers" or other third parties.
14. You must at all times operate your shelter or rescue in accordance with all applicable local, state and federal rules and laws.
15. Grounds for removal of your shelter or rescue from the site include violating any of the terms above, defrauding a potential adopter financially or otherwise, making dishonest claims, conviction of animal cruelty, neglect, or related crimes, and violating the terms of any adoption contract you provide an adopter. We reserve the right to remove accounts for any other reason at our sole discretion, including a lack of following through on any of the above-listed terms of use.

By signing up to post pets for adoption on AdoptAPet.com, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to act on behalf of the shelter you are signing up and on behalf of you and the shelter you agree to the AdoptAPet.com Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.