Official Rules

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. BY PROVIDING A SUBMISSION, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE OFFICIAL RULES AND THE DECISIONS OF THE JUDGES, WHICH SHALL BE FINAL IN ALL RESPECTS.

PetPartners, Inc. (“PetPartners”) the sponsor of the contest, is holding its annual Animaltarian of the Year Contest (the “Contest”), which encourages animal welfare advocates to develop the most creative photo or video, demonstrating the theme of compassion and advocacy coupled with the passion of caring for animals.

Entries will be judged by a combination of public votes and an expert panel of five judges. The panel of judges will consist of various members of the animal community, including, but not limited to: veterinarians, animal trainers/behaviorists, rescue/shelter personnel, and other animal advocates. One (1) Grand Prize Winner (as defined below) will be selected. The Grand Prize Winner will be named the 2020 Animaltarian of the Year and will receive $5,000. See below for details.

1. CONTEST SUBMISSIONS AND PUBLIC OPINION VOTING

The Contest submission period begins at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Tuesday, September 1, 2020, and ends at 10:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 (the “Submission Period”). During the Submission Period, submissions will be available for public viewing. Voting will begin on Friday, October 23, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. ET after the Submission Period expires and will be completed by 10:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 8, 2020. One (1) Grand Prize Winner will be announced at 9:00 a.m. ET on Thursday, December 10, 2020. See below for details.

2. CONTENT OF SUBMISSIONS

Both photo and video formats are acceptable for submissions as entry into the Contest and must capture and demonstrate the theme of compassion and advocacy coupled with the passion of caring for animals. Videos are limited to a maximum of three (3) minutes. In addition, submissions will require a description of up to 1,000 characters regarding how the Entrant (as defined herein) or his/her/its nominee benefits animals and a description of up to three-hundred (300) characters regarding how the prize money will be used to support animal advocacy if the Entrant or the nominee were to win. The photo or video and written submission is together known as the “Submission”.

3. ELIGIBILITY

Entry is limited to residents of the fifty (50) United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico who are at least eighteen (18) years of age or older as of the date of submission. Void where prohibited by law. “Employees of PetPartners, its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries, advertising agencies, promotion agencies, consultants, independent contractors, prize suppliers participating in the Contest, and the immediate family members (spouse and parents, stepparents, legal guardians, children, stepchildren, siblings, stepsiblings, and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) of the employees and PetPartners and/or those living in the same of household of each such employee (whether or not related) are not eligible to enter or win.”

4. TO ENTER

To enter during the Submission Period, visit www.petpartners.com/animaltarian and follow the online instructions to complete the submission form. If you are submitting photos, upload your photos along with your written submission to YouTube®. If you are submitting a video, include the link to the video on YouTube® in the designated area of the submission form, along with your written submission to YouTube®. To sign up for your free YouTube® account, please visit http://www.youtube.com/create_account and follow the online instructions for registration. The video's format and size must follow the video upload guidelines for youtube.com, available at www.youtube.com. YouTube® is not a sponsor of this contest.

Your submission must also:

• Demonstrate the theme of compassion, welfare, and advocacy coupled with the passion of caring for animals.
• Be one (1) to six (6) photographs having no more than 2MB each (in JPEG/PNG/GIF format) OR a video of three minutes or less in duration.
• Include a 1,000 character or less description of how the Entrant or his/her/its nominee helps benefit animals and a 300 character or less description of how the prize money will be used to support animal advocacy if the Entrant or its nominee were to win.
• Comply with these Official Rules and the submission guidelines as stated herein.

The person uploading the Submission will be deemed the “Entrant”. The Entrant is the one person who is the authorized account holder of the e-mail address associated with that Submission and complies with the eligibility requirements set forth in Section 3 above. A team may elect to collaborate on a Submission, provided that the team is required to designate one (1) person as the agent of the team to enter the contest and to agree to these rules, such designated person shall be deemed the Entrant. Each Entrant represents and warrants that the Entrant has authority and consent to submit and enter a Submission on behalf of an entity or on behalf of a nominee. All Submissions must be received within the Submission Period. Only one (1) entry per valid e-mail address shall be eligible to be accepted as a valid entry during the Submission Period. Entries submitted after the expiration of the Submission Period shall not be considered as valid entries. All subsequent and/or duplicate entries shall be void. The website administrator's computer is the official timekeeping device for this Contest. All Submissions are subject to YouTube's terms of use found at www.youtube.com/t/terms.

5. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Submissions cannot defame, misrepresent or contain disparaging remarks about PetPartners or its services or products, or the products or services of a third party, or communicate messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or goodwill to which PetPartners wishes to associate. PetPartners reserves the right to, and will, in its sole discretion, monitor or screen Submissions prior to posting them to the Animaltarian of the Year contest website. PetPartners has no obligation to use or post any Submission you submit and may reject any Submission in its sole discretion if it determines that the Submission is not in compliance with the Official Rules or violates applicable law. By providing a Submission, you agree that your Submission may be posted on PetPartners, or its affiliates’, websites, in PetPartners' sole discretion. By providing a submission, the Entrant grants to PetPartners (to affiliates and subsidiaries and assignees within the sole discretion of PetPartners) an exclusive, perpetual, transferable and royalty-free license to copy, publish, broadcast, display, distribute, use, edit, translate, alter, combine with other material, reuse and adapt any or all portions of the Submission in any way and for any purpose whatsoever, at any time, now or in the future, in any media now known or hereafter devised throughout the world in any manner whatsoever and for any purpose. The license becomes effective upon the completion and submission of the submission form.

Submissions that are not in accordance with the submission guidelines as stated herein, are not received during the Submission Period, or are rejected in PetPartners’ sole discretion will be ineligible.

Submissions cannot:

1. be sexually explicit or suggestive, lewd, violent, or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, profession, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, age group, be profane or pornographic or contain nudity, or any dangerous activity;
2. promote alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, criminal activity, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing), any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous, or any particular political agenda or message;
3. be obscene or offensive, or endorse any form of hate or hate group;
4. advocate or demonstrate any cruelty toward animals or humans;
5. contain trademarks, logos, copyrights or trade dress owned by others, or advertise or promote any brand or product of any kind (other than PetPartners' trademarks, logos, copyrights, trade dress, brands or products), without express written permission, or contain any personal identification, such as license plate numbers, personal names, email addresses or street addresses without express written permission;
6. contain copyrighted materials owned by third parties other than the Entrant (including photographs, sculptures, paintings and other works of art or images published on or in websites, television, movies or other media) without express written permission;
7. contain materials embodying the names, likenesses, photographs, or other indicia identifying any person, living or dead, without express written permission the third party or his/her representative;
8. infringe the intellectual property rights or other rights of a third party;
9. appear to duplicate any other submitted entries;
10. contain previously published works which have been entered into a contest or sweepstakes; or
11. depict, and cannot itself be in, a violation of any law, statute, rule, order, regulation, administrative action or court ruling.

By submitting a submission you warrant and represent that it:

1. is your or your team's original work,
2. has not been previously published for submission into a contest or sweepstakes,
3. has not received previous awards for which PetPartners' exclusive rights and use would be impaired,
4. does not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity;
5. does not contain trademarks, logos, copyrights, or trade dress owned by third parties without express written permission of the third party,
6. does not contain copyrighted materials owned by third parties (including, without limitation, photographs or videos published on or in websites, television, movies or other media without express written permission of the third party;
7. any Entrant submitting on behalf of a nominee has obtained the express consent of such nominee and shall indemnify and hold PetPartners (its affiliates, subsidiaries, employees, representatives, and related parties) harmless from any claim by such nominee arising from Entrant’s submission.
8. that you/your team have obtained permission from a person who is used in the submission or whose name, likeness, photograph or voice is used in the submission, if any, and that publication of the submission via various media including online posting, will not infringe on the rights of any third-party rights.

Upon completion and submission of the submission form, the Entrant agrees to, and shall indemnify and hold harmless, PetPartners and its affiliates, and their respective directors, officers, managers, shareholders, members, employees, representatives and agents, from any and all claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) and expenses resulting from a breach of a representation or warranty or violation of a submission guideline or contest rule. Any Entrant whose Submission includes likenesses of third parties or contains elements not owned by the Entrant (such as, but not limited to, depictions of persons, buildings, trademarks, copyrights, or logos) must be able to provide legal releases for such use, including PetPartners' use of such Submission, in a form satisfactory to PetPartners, upon request, prior to award of prize and/or naming of Entrant or his/her/its nominee as a finalist. Any submission that, in the sole opinion of PetPartners and/or the panel of judges, is deemed to be inappropriate for publication will be ineligible. Incomplete, illegible, false, deceptive or garbled submissions are also not eligible. All Submissions become the sole property of PetPartners, and will not be acknowledged or returned. By providing a Submission, you agree that your Submission is gratuitous and made without restriction and will not place PetPartners under any obligation whatsoever, now or in the future, and that PetPartners is free to disclose the ideas contained in the Submission on a non-confidential basis to anyone or otherwise use the ideas, without any additional compensation to you. You acknowledge that, by acceptance of your Submission, PetPartners does not waive any rights to use similar or related ideas previously known to PetPartners, or developed by its employees, or obtained from sources other than you.

6. PUBLIC VOTING

Public voting will take place in two (2) phases:

Phase I

Initial Public Voting (the “Initial Voting Period”):

From 10:00 a.m. ET on Friday, October 23, 2020 until 10:00 p.m. ET on Friday, November 20, 2020, the public will be able to vote daily at www.petpartners.com/animaltarian. . Limit one (1) vote per entry or person or email address each day. A day will be defined as beginning at 12:00 a.m. ET and ending at 11:59 p.m. ET. Only the public will vote during Phase 1. The determination of the Eight Finalists (as defined herein) will be the finalist with the highest amount of public votes.

Phase II

Finals Public Voting (the “Finals Voting Period”):

From 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 10:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 8, 2020 the public will be able to vote daily at www.petpartners.com/animaltarian. Limit one (1) vote per entry or person or email address each day. A day will be defined as beginning at 12:00 a.m. ET and ending at 11:59 p.m. ET. The public will be asked to vote on which of the eight finalists (“Eight Finalists and each individually, a “Finalist”) they think best represents the Animaltarian of the Year based on the same judging criteria as listed below in Term 7. The Initial Voting Period and Finals Voting Period are together the “Voting Period”.

During Phase II, a panel of five (5) judges (the “Panel”) will be evaluating submissions based on the Contest criteria. The Panel’s votes will be objective and point based. The Panel will be given ten (10) questions pertaining to the judging criteria. Each question will be answered numerically on a scale of one to ten. Each member of the Panel will vote independently, with no collaboration with the other members of the Panel. Panel points will be tallied for each Entrant and added to the number of public votes for such Entrant.

7. SELECTION OF EIGHT FINALISTS AND 2020 ANIMALTARIAN OF THE YEAR

In selecting the Eight (8) Finalists, submissions will be judged on the following criteria: (a) theme of compassion, welfare, and advocacy for animals; (b) originality and vision; and (c) demonstration of passion for animals. Finalists will be determined by the highest number of public votes.

The Eight (8) Finalists will be announced on PetPartners' web site at: www.petpartners.com/animaltarian on Tuesday, November 24, 2020. The decisions of PetPartners and the Panel are final and binding on all matters relating to the Contest. The Eight Finalists' Entries (including all elements submitted by the Finalists) will be posted for the public to vote for their favorite Finalist during the Finals Voting Period. Finalists' Entries may also be posted for public voting on other social media pages operated by PetPartners during the same period, at PetPartners’ sole discretion. Limit one (1) vote per entry or person or email address each day. A day will be defined as beginning at 12:00 a.m. ET and ending at 11:59 p.m. ET. The public will be asked to vote on which of the Eight Finalist Entries is the best Finalist based on the same judging criteria listed above.

A gallery of the Finalist Entries may be posted at the PetPartners’ website showcasing the top trending entries during the Finals Voting Period. This gallery is for entertainment purposes only and does not reflect the final results.

During the Finals Voting Period, a Finalist may encourage family, friends, and/or their social media community to vote for him or her, but a Finalist may not attempt to induce or attempt to induce others to vote for him or her through the use of any incentive, sweepstakes or other promotion. Any use of automatic voting methods by any party will void all such votes and will result in the Finalist in question being declared ineligible and disqualified from the Contest. Any attempt by a Finalist and/or his/her family or friends or community to vote more than the one vote per person per email address per day using “bot” technology, or engage in vote farming or any activity that artificially inflates the Finalists' votes, and/or any other fraudulent or inappropriate means, as determined by PetPartners in its sole discretion, shall give PetPartners the right to disqualify the Finalist in PetPartners’ sole discretion.

8. PRIZE DETAILS

One (1) grand prize, the 2020 Animaltarian of the Year, will be awarded by PetPartners. The grand prize will be awarded to the one (1) Finalist that receives the most public votes during the Finals Voting Period combined with the highest score from the Panel during the Finals Voting Period, with the public votes and the panel score each given fifty percent (50%) weight (the “Grand Prize Winner”). The Grand Prize Winner will be named the 2020 Animaltarian of the Year, and the Entrant will be awarded $5,000. In the event that the Grand Prize Winner is an Entrant that has submitted on behalf of a nominee, PetPartners reserves the right to award the single $5,000 award to either the Entrant or the nominee, as applicable.

The Grand Prize Winner may be contacted by PetPartners for up to eighteen (18) months following the announcement of the Grand Prize Winner and may be asked by PetPartners to give an oral or written testimonial regarding how the grand prize money was/is specifically utilized and helped/helps the Grand Prize Winner further and achieve the goals specified in his/her/its Submission.

9. GENERAL CONDITIONS

The Grand Prize Winner is subject to verification, including without limitation, verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules. The potential Grand Prize Winner shall be required to complete, sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability Release and, where lawful, Publicity Release. If required, the potential Grand Prize Winner shall return a signed model/image release for any persons included in their submission. The potential Grand Prize Winner may also be required to execute an Assignment of Rights, in which he/she irrevocably assigns and transfers to PetPartners any and all rights, title and interest in each element of the Submission (including, but not limited to, the photo(s), video, essay/description, and title), including, without limitation, all copyrights, and waives all moral rights in those works. All completed documents must be returned to PetPartners within seven (7) calendar days of the date notice was sent or Grand Prize Winner status will be forfeited and an alternate Finalist may be selected. Notification of Grand Prize Winner status shall be kept confidential until announced by PetPartners. Failure to comply with this confidentiality requirement may result in disqualification. The Grand Prize Winner is solely responsible for any taxes or governmental fees on prizes. No substitution for the Grand Prize will be offered, except at the sole discretion of PetPartners. Prizes are non-transferable. If for any reason the Contest is not capable of running as planned, including without limitation, infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Contest, PetPartners reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel, modify or terminate the Contest. Any decision to cancel, modify or terminate the Contest will be posted at www.petpartners.com/animaltarian. Further, PetPartners reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual deemed to be (a) tampering or attempting to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the Contest; (b) violating the Official Rules; or (c) acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person. PetPartners reserves the right to require Grand Prize Winner to submit to a confidential background check to confirm eligibility as a condition of awarding any prize to help ensure that the use of any such person in advertising or publicity for the Contest will not bring Contest Parties into public disrepute, contempt, scandal or ridicule or reflect unfavorably on the Contest as determined by PetPartners in its sole discretion. Entrants agree PetPartners has the sole right to decide all matters and disputes arising from this Contest and that all decisions of PetPartners are final and binding. This Contest is governed by the laws of the state of North Carolina, and by entering; Entrants agree that all claims or disputes must be resolved exclusively in the federal or state courts located in Wake County, North Carolina.

10. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY AND RELEASE

No liability or responsibility is assumed by PetPartners resulting from Entrant's submission in the Contest, or attempt to participate in the Contest, or ability or inability to upload or download any information in connection with the Contest. No responsibility or liability is assumed by PetPartners for technical problems or technical malfunction arising in connection with any of the following occurrences, which may affect the operation of the Contest: hardware or software errors; faulty computer, cable, satellite, network, electronic, Internet connectivity or other online or network communication problems; errors or limitations of any Internet service providers, servers, hosts or other providers; garbled, jumbled or faulty data transmissions; failure of any online transmissions to be sent or received; lost, late, delayed or intercepted transmissions; inaccessibility of the website in whole or in part for any reason; traffic congestion on the Internet or the website; unauthorized human or non-human intervention in the operation of the Contest, including without limitation, unauthorized tampering, hacking, theft, virus, bugs, or worms; or destruction of any aspect of the Contest, or loss, miscount, misdirection, inaccessibility or unavailability of an email account used in connection with the Contest. PetPartners is not responsible for any printing, typographical, technical, computer, network or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest, the uploading, processing or judging of submissions or votes or the tabulation of votes, the announcement of the prizes or in any Contest-related materials. Use of website is at the user's own risk. PetPartners is not responsible for any personal injury, death, or property damage or losses of any kind which may be sustained to the user's or any other person's computer equipment resulting from participation in the Contest. Should any portion of the Contest be, in PetPartners’ sole opinion, compromised by virus, worms, bugs, non-authorized human intervention, technical failures or other causes which, in the sole opinion of PetPartners, corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness or proper play, or uploading of submissions, PetPartners reserves the right at its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Contest, and select the winners from eligible submissions received prior to action taken or as otherwise deemed fair and appropriate by PetPartners in its sole discretion.

11. CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION

By participating in the Contest, Entrant agrees (and agrees to confirm in writing, if requested) (a) to release PetPartners from any and all claims, losses, damages, rights, liabilities, or actions of any kind arising from or relating to such Entrant's participation in the Contest; and (b) Entrant waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental, consequential, indirect, exemplary, special, enhanced or any other damages. Finalists and the Grand Prize Winner agree to periodic follow up calls or visits for a period of up to eighteen months following the conclusion of the Contest. Follow ups may include request for testimonials, requests for images or video of the use of the prize money and/or details on how the prize money was/is used. If a Finalist or Grand Prize Winner is found to be ineligible or not in compliance with these Official Rules, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner may be selected.

12. WINNERS LIST

For a list of the Finalists and Grand Prize Winner, www.petpartners.com/animaltarian or send a self-addressed, stamped, #10 envelope to:

13. PRIVACY

By submitting a Submission in this Contest, each Entrant agrees to PetPartners’ use of participant's personal information as described in PetPartners’ Privacy Policy, located at here.

14. SPONSOR

15. DISCLAIMER

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Google®, Facebook®, Twitter®, YouTube®, Pinterest®, Instagram®, Vine®, The American Kennel Club®, or Tumblr®. Use of their trademarks or intellectual property is incidental to this Contest. You are providing your information to PetPartners and not to any specific social platform. The information you provide will only be used to notify promotion winners and for sending subscribers company updates and announcements. Subscribers will have the ability to opt out of receiving company updates and announcements at any time.