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Privacy Policy

Last updated: 29 October 2026

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Pawpers in the Ruff (“Pawpers”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is a volunteer-run animal rescue supporting dogs and other animals in North Macedonia and helping them find suitable homes, primarily in the UK.

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We take the privacy of our adopters, fosterers, supporters and anyone who contacts us seriously. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we need it, how we use and protect it, and the rights you have in relation to your information.

For questions about this Privacy Policy or how we use your personal information, please contact us at contact@pawpersintheruff.com.

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1. Information we may collect

The information we collect depends on how you interact with Pawpers.

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When you contact us

If you contact us through our website, email, social media, WhatsApp or another communication channel, we may collect information such as:

  • your name;

  • email address;

  • telephone number;

  • social media details; and

  • the contents of your enquiry and our correspondence with you.

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When you apply to adopt or foster

Our adoption and fostering process requires more information because we need to understand your circumstances and determine whether we have an animal that may be a suitable match.

This may include:

  • your name, age and contact details;

  • your home address;

  • your Facebook profile details;

  • information about other adults and children in your household;

  • details about your home, garden and living arrangements;

  • whether your home is owned or rented and, where relevant, evidence of permission to keep a dog;

  • information about pets currently or previously in your care;

  • your previous experience of caring for dogs;

  • information about your working arrangements and the amount of time a dog may be left alone;

  • your preferences and requirements when looking for a dog;

  • information relevant to determining what type of dog would be suitable for your household;

  • information about your proposed veterinary arrangements;

  • information about your plans for the ongoing care of an adopted dog; and

  • any other information you choose to provide as part of your application or subsequent discussions with us.

Our application form also asks for a mobile number that is available on WhatsApp. We may use this number to communicate with you through WhatsApp during the application, adoption, fostering or rescue back-up process.

Where you provide a Facebook profile, we may use Facebook to communicate with you in connection with your application.

 
Home checks

If your application progresses, we may ask you to provide photographs or videos of your home and garden and may conduct a live video home check.

We may make notes during or following a home check and retain relevant photographs, videos or other information where necessary for the adoption or fostering process and ongoing rescue back-up.

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Information about other people

An application may contain limited information about other members of your household or other people relevant to the care of an animal.

If you provide us with another person's personal information, please make sure they are aware that you are providing their information to Pawpers and, where appropriate, have their permission to do so.

We only ask for information about other people where it is relevant to assessing the suitability and safety of a potential home or making appropriate arrangements for an animal.

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Donations and supporters

If you make a donation to Pawpers, we may receive information including your name, contact details, donation amount, payment reference and other information supplied by the payment or banking service used.

Payments made through banks, PayPal or other payment providers are processed through those providers. Pawpers does not receive information such as your complete payment card details simply because you make a payment through a third-party payment service.

If we introduce additional donation or payment services in future, we will update this Privacy Policy where necessary.

 
Photographs, stories and testimonials

Adopters and supporters sometimes provide us with photographs, videos, updates or testimonials about Pawpers animals.

We may ask for your permission to use these on our website, social media channels or other Pawpers communications. We will not use adopter-supplied material for promotional or storytelling purposes where permission has not been given.

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2. Why we use your information

We may use personal information to:

  • respond to enquiries;

  • assess adoption and fostering applications;

  • communicate with applicants;

  • understand an applicant's household and circumstances;

  • match animals with suitable homes;

  • conduct home checks;

  • arrange adoptions, fostering and transport;

  • maintain appropriate records relating to animals we have rehomed;

  • provide ongoing rescue back-up;

  • assist if an adopter can no longer care for a Pawpers animal;

  • deal with welfare, safety or safeguarding concerns;

  • administer donations and fundraising;

  • maintain appropriate financial and administrative records;

  • manage our website and online services;

  • protect Pawpers, our volunteers, adopters and animals from misuse, fraud or other inappropriate activity;

  • comply with legal obligations; and

  • establish, exercise or defend legal claims where necessary.

We do not make adoption decisions using solely automated decision-making. Applications are considered by members of our volunteer team.

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3. Our lawful bases for using personal information

UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for using personal information.

Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on:

Legitimate interests – where using the information is reasonably necessary to operate Pawpers responsibly, assess potential homes, safeguard animal welfare, communicate with applicants and supporters, maintain appropriate records and provide ongoing rescue back-up.

When relying on legitimate interests, we consider those interests against the privacy rights and interests of the people whose information we use.

Contract or steps before entering into a contract – where information is needed to consider an adoption or fostering application, enter into an adoption or fostering arrangement, or administer that arrangement.

Legal obligation – where we are required to retain, use or disclose information to comply with applicable law.

Consent – where we specifically ask for your permission, for example before using certain adopter-supplied photographs, stories or testimonials for publicity purposes.

Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect anything we lawfully did before you withdrew it.

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4. Who can access your information

Pawpers is run by a small volunteer team.

Personal information is only made available to authorised Pawpers volunteers who need it for their role.

Our administration team includes volunteers based in both the United Kingdom and North Macedonia. This means information relating to adoption and fostering applications, adopted animals and rescue back-up may be accessed by authorised members of the team in either country where necessary.

We do not sell personal information.

We may also use trusted organisations and services that help us operate Pawpers, including services used for:

  • website hosting and administration;

  • online forms and document storage;

  • email and communications;

  • payment processing;

  • transport and adoption arrangements; and

  • IT and administrative support.

For example, our website is hosted using Wix and our adoption application process currently uses Google Forms and Google Workspace. Payments may also be made using services such as PayPal or through banking providers.

These organisations may process personal information according to their own privacy terms and/or on our behalf.

We may also disclose information where required by law, where necessary to protect an animal or person, or where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

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5. Access to information outside the UK

Pawpers operates across the UK and North Macedonia.

Because authorised members of our volunteer administration team are based in North Macedonia, information relating to our rescue activities may be accessed from North Macedonia where this is necessary to manage an application, adoption, foster placement or ongoing rescue back-up.

Some of the technology services we use may also process or store information outside the UK.

Where data protection law requires particular safeguards for international processing or transfers, we take reasonable steps to ensure appropriate protections are in place.

If you would like more information about how your information is handled internationally, please contact contact@pawpersintheruff.com.

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6. How long we keep information

We do not keep every piece of personal information forever.

How long information is retained depends on why we collected it and whether there is an ongoing reason to keep it.

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Adoption records

Pawpers provides full rescue back-up for animals we rehome.

An adopter may need our assistance or may need to surrender an animal back to the rescue many years after adoption. For this reason, we may retain core records relating to a completed adoption for the lifetime of the animal and, where reasonably necessary, for a period afterwards.

This allows us to identify the animal, understand its history, confirm the adoption arrangements and provide appropriate rescue support.

We may not need to retain every document, photograph or video collected during the original application for the same length of time. Information that is no longer reasonably necessary may be deleted.

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Unsuccessful or withdrawn applications

Information relating to applications that do not result in an adoption or foster placement will only be retained for as long as reasonably necessary for administration, record keeping and dealing with any subsequent queries or applications.

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Enquiries

General enquiries and correspondence will be retained only for as long as reasonably necessary to deal with the enquiry and any relevant follow-up.

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Financial information

Information relating to donations, payments and financial transactions may be retained where necessary for accounting, financial administration or legal requirements.

We periodically review the information we hold and may delete or anonymise information that is no longer required.

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7. Keeping your information secure

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure.

Access to adoption and administration information is restricted to authorised members of the Pawpers team who require it for Pawpers activities.

However, no online system, email service or internet transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

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8. Children and household information

Applications to adopt or foster must be made by an adult.

We may ask an adult applicant for limited information about children living in or regularly visiting the household, such as their ages. This is because a dog's behaviour, size, history and needs may affect whether it is suitable to live with children of particular ages.

We aim to collect only the information about children that is reasonably necessary to make an appropriate and safe match.

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9. Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis on which we use your information, you may have rights including:

  • the right to ask what personal information we hold about you and obtain a copy;

  • the right to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;

  • the right to ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances;

  • the right to ask us to restrict how your information is used in certain circumstances;

  • the right to object to certain uses of your personal information;

  • the right to data portability in certain circumstances; and

  • the right to withdraw consent where we rely on consent.

These rights are not absolute and do not apply in every situation. For example, we may have a legitimate or legal reason to retain certain information even if you ask us to delete it.

To exercise your rights, please contact contact@pawpersintheruff.com.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

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Your right to object

Where we process your personal information on the basis of our legitimate interests, you have the right to object to that processing in certain circumstances.

Please contact contact@pawpersintheruff.com if you wish to object.

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10. Complaints

If you have concerns about how Pawpers has handled your personal information, please contact us first at contact@pawpersintheruff.com so that we can try to resolve the issue.

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator.

Further information about your rights and how to make a complaint is available from the ICO.

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11. Cookies and website analytics

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies that are necessary for the website to function and, where enabled, to help us understand how visitors use the site.

Where consent is required for non-essential cookies, visitors will be given an appropriate choice before those cookies are used.

More information about the cookies used on our website and the choices available to you can be found in our Cookie Policy and cookie settings.

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12. Email updates and marketing

Pawpers does not currently operate a general email marketing newsletter.

If we introduce one in future, we will provide appropriate information when people subscribe and obtain consent where required. People will be able to unsubscribe from marketing communications.

We will update this Privacy Policy if our use of personal information changes materially.

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13. Other websites and services

Our website may contain links to third-party websites or services, including social media platforms, payment providers and online forms.

Those organisations are responsible for their own privacy practices. We recommend reviewing their privacy information when using their services.

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14. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, particularly if our services, website or use of personal information changes.

The latest version will be published on our website and the “Last updated” date at the top of this page will be amended.

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15. Contact us

For questions about this Privacy Policy, requests relating to your personal information or concerns about how your information has been handled, please contact:

Pawpers in the Ruff
Email: contact@pawpersintheruff.com

Pawpers in the Ruff is a volunteer-run animal rescue.

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