Community Guidelines

Draft prepared for review by legal counsel. Not yet in effect.

Effective date: [placeholder] Operator: PURRSCO LLC, a California limited liability company, doing business as SavCatChat ("PURRSCO," "SavCatChat," "we," "us," or "our")

Plain-English summary

SavCatChat is a small, close-knit community built around a love of Savannah cats. We want it to feel warm and welcoming, not like a comment section on the internet at large. These guidelines cover: being kind to each other, keeping scams out, holding a high bar for animal welfare, not shaming breeders or buyers over price, how to report problems, and what happens if someone breaks the rules (warning, timeout, ban) plus how to appeal. These Community Guidelines work alongside our Terms of Use, and violating them can result in the account actions described below.

1. Our starting point: this is a small community

SavCatChat exists because Savannah cat people do not have a real home online. That means every member's behavior shapes the whole community more than it would on a larger platform. We are asking everyone, new members, longtime breeders, first-time kitten shoppers, to hold themselves to a higher bar of kindness than the internet default.

2. Kindness norms

• Assume good faith. Most people asking a "beginner" question are genuinely new, not trolling.
• Disagree with ideas, not people. You can push back on a claim about generations, coat patterns, or care practices without attacking the person who made it.
• No harassment, hate speech, or targeted insults. This includes pile-ons in reply threads, repeated unwanted contact, and mocking someone's photos, cats, home setup, or writing ability.
• Keep things on topic and constructive. Nested replies are for building on the conversation, not for derailing it.
• Respect privacy. Do not share another member's personal information (real name, address, phone number, financial details) without their consent.

3. Scam prevention

Because real money and living animals are involved, scam prevention is one of our top priorities.

3.1 Who can list or solicit kitten sales

Only verified breeders with an active advertising plan may list kittens or cats for sale, or otherwise solicit a sale, anywhere on SavCatChat, including in forum posts, replies, profiles, or direct messages. This applies whether or not the poster says the sale is "just this once" or "as a favor." Community members who are not verified breeders with an active plan may discuss kittens, share photos of their own cats, and participate in the community, but may not advertise animals for sale.

3.2 No rehoming-scam patterns

We prohibit rehoming-scam patterns, including but not limited to:

• Claiming an urgent personal crisis (moving, illness, death in the family, eviction) to pressure a fast sale or deposit outside the normal verified-listing process.
• Posting on behalf of a "friend" or "family member" to route around verification.
• Reposting stock photos or another breeder's photos as if they are your own available kittens.
• Any listing pattern designed to create urgency or bypass buyer due diligence.

3.3 No off-platform payment solicitation

Do not solicit or direct another user to pay outside of the normal channels described in a verified breeder's listing, whether in direct messages or in threads. This includes requests to "just Venmo/Zelle/wire me directly" as a way of avoiding scrutiny, requests for gift cards or cryptocurrency as payment for a kitten, and any attempt to move a transaction into private channels specifically to avoid moderation visibility. Remember: SavCatChat never processes kitten sale payments itself (see our Terms of Use), so this rule is not about routing payments through us. It is about keeping the community visible enough to catch bad actors before someone loses money.

3.4 Scam-alert banners

We may display scam-alert banners on threads, profiles, or listings that show common scam warning signs, whether identified by human moderators or flagged by AI-assisted tools. A banner is a caution, not a final determination of wrongdoing, and can be appealed the same as other enforcement actions.

4. Animal welfare standards

• No sales of wild-caught servals. SavCatChat is a community for domestic Savannah cats. Listings or solicitations involving wild-caught servals are prohibited outright and will result in immediate removal and account action.
• Respect state legality of Savannah generations. Savannah cat ownership laws vary by state and sometimes by generation (F1, F2, F3, and later). Breeders are responsible for only advertising sales to buyers in jurisdictions where that generation is legal to own, and buyers are responsible for knowing their own state's rules. SavCatChat may remove listings that plainly disregard known state restrictions.
• No underage kitten placement. Kittens may not be placed with a buyer before 8 weeks of age. Listings or completed placements that violate this minimum will be treated as an animal welfare violation.
• General care standard. Listings and discussions should reflect responsible breeding and care practices. Content that promotes neglect, cruelty, or unsafe conditions is not allowed.

5. No price-shaming or breeder-bashing

Savannah cats are a specialty breed, and prices vary widely based on generation, lineage, coat, and region. We do not allow:

• Publicly shaming a breeder or buyer for the price they charge or paid.
• Pile-on threads or reply chains that pile criticism on a specific breeder's business, pricing, or personal choices.
• Repeated, unsolicited "you're overcharging" or "you got scammed on price" commentary directed at a specific person's listing or purchase.

Constructive, general discussion about market pricing trends is welcome. Targeting a specific individual is not.

6. Reporting

Any user can report a post, reply, profile, or listing that appears to violate these guidelines using the report feature available throughout the Platform. When you report content, please include enough detail for a moderator to understand the concern. Reports are reviewed by human moderators, sometimes with AI-assisted flagging to help prioritize review. We aim to review reports promptly, though response times may vary with volume.

7. Enforcement ladder

We use a graduated enforcement ladder for most violations of these guidelines:

1. Warning. A first or minor violation typically results in a warning and, where applicable, removal of the violating content. This is a chance to course-correct. 2. Timeout. Repeated or more serious violations result in a temporary suspension from posting, replying, or messaging, for a period set by moderators based on severity and history. 3. Ban. Continued violations after a timeout, or a sufficiently severe single violation (for example, wild-caught serval sales, clear rehoming-scam patterns, or repeated off-platform payment solicitation), result in permanent removal from the Platform.

Severe violations, including fraud, illegal animal sales, or safety threats, may result in immediate ban without progressing through the earlier steps, consistent with our Terms of Use.

8. Appeals

If you believe a warning, timeout, or ban was issued in error, you may appeal by contacting [support@savcatchat.com] with your account information and an explanation of why you believe the enforcement action was incorrect. Appeals are reviewed by a human moderator, even where the original flag involved AI-assisted tools. We will notify you of the outcome. Submitting an appeal does not pause an active timeout or ban while the appeal is under review, unless a moderator determines otherwise.

9. Relationship to our Terms of Use

These Community Guidelines are part of your agreement with PURRSCO LLC and are incorporated into our Terms of Use. Violating these guidelines can result in the account actions described above, in addition to any other remedies available to us under the Terms of Use.

10. Questions

If you have questions about these Community Guidelines, contact [support@savcatchat.com].