Privacy policy

Last updated: 6 October 2026

Who we are

RescuePets.ie (“we”, “us”) is the data controller for the personal data described here. For anything about your data, email privacy@rescuepets.ie.

What we collect

When you browse

You can search and view animals without an account. We count how many times each rescue’s page and each animal is viewed, and how often people click to message a rescue, apply, visit its website or call it. These are totals per day; they aren’t linked to you, and we don’t store your IP address for them.

Our hosting provider, Cloudflare, processes your IP address and basic details of each request (such as your browser type) to deliver the site and protect it from attacks.

When you create an account

• Your first and last name and your email address.
• Your password. It is stored by our database provider in a scrambled (hashed) form that nobody, including us, can read.
• For a rescue account: which rescue you work with and your role there. If your rescue isn’t listed yet, also its name, website, address and phone number.

Your adoption profile (optional)

If you fill in an adoption profile, we store what you enter. This can include your phone number, address, town, county and Eircode; your home (type, whether you own or rent, landlord permission, garden); your household (adults, children and their ages, allergies); your current and previous pets and your vet; your work pattern, how long an animal would be alone and holiday care; your experience; the animals you’re looking for; and photos of you and your home. Fill in only what you’re comfortable sharing.

Messages

When you message a rescue, we store your message, the conversation and the rescue’s replies, and we email your message to the rescue. When a rescue replies by email, we receive the reply and add it to your inbox.

Listings you create

If you list your own animal for rehoming, we store the details and photos you add, the town and county, and any fee. We check listings before they go live; once published, the listing is public.

Search alerts

If you ask us to email you about new animals, we store your email address, your search and how often to email you.

Sharing your adoption profile with a rescue

Your adoption profile is private. A rescue sees it only if you choose to share it when you message them. They then get your name, phone number, profile and photos, through a private link in their email. The link keeps working for that rescue while the conversation exists. Deleting the conversation from your inbox turns the link off, but the rescue may keep the email they already received.

Why we use your data, and our legal basis

• To run your account and the services you ask for (messages, inbox, adoption profile, listings, alerts, password resets): to perform our agreement with you.
• To share your adoption profile with a rescue: your consent, given each time you choose to share it. You can withdraw it by deleting the conversation.
• To keep the site secure, prevent abuse and check rescue accounts and listings: our legitimate interest in running a safe service.
• To show rescues how many people view and contact them: our legitimate interest. These counts contain no personal data.
• To meet legal obligations, for example if the law requires us to keep or disclose information.

Who we share it with

We don’t sell your personal data. We share it only with:

• Rescues you message: your name, your messages and, if you choose to share it, your adoption profile.
• Service providers that run the site for us, under data processing agreements, who may only use it to provide their service:
  • Supabase: database, sign-in and file storage, hosted in the EU (Ireland).
  • Resend: sending and receiving our emails (account confirmations, password resets, messages to rescues and reply notifications), sent from its EU (Ireland) region.
  • Cloudflare: website hosting, domain name system and security.
• Google, for advertising, as described under “Cookies and similar technologies” below.
• Authorities, if the law requires it.

Resend, Cloudflare and Google are based in the United States and may process data there. Where data leaves the European Economic Area, it is protected by the EU–US Data Privacy Framework or the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses.

Information about rescues

Rescue listings, including each rescue’s contact details, come from the rescues’ own public websites and are updated daily. If you’re a rescue and something about you is wrong, or you’d like to be removed, email privacy@rescuepets.ie.

Cookies and similar technologies

Some cookies are needed for the site to work, so we don’t ask for consent to them:

• Sign-in cookies (named sb-…-auth-token) keep you signed in.
• A language cookie (NEXT_LOCALE) remembers your language.
• Session storage in your browser notes which pages you’ve viewed in this visit, so each view is counted only once. It is cleared when you close the tab.

Advertising

We show ads from Google AdSense to help pay for the site. Google and its advertising partners may use cookies and similar technologies, and may process data such as your IP address and device identifiers, to show ads and measure them, and, if you agree, to personalise ads to your interests.

When you first visit, a message from Google asks for your consent. Advertising cookies are only used for the purposes you agree to; if you don’t consent, you may still see non-personalised or limited ads. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time with Privacy & cookie settings at the bottom of every page. Google is responsible for its own use of this data: see how Google uses information from sites that use its services. We don’t use analytics cookies.

How long we keep it

• Your account and adoption profile: until you delete your account.
• Conversations: until you delete them from your inbox, or your account. A rescue may keep the emails it received.
• Listings: until you withdraw or delete them, or your account.
• Search alerts: until you turn them off, or delete your account.
• Server and email logs held by our providers: for the limited time each provider keeps them.

To delete your account and all its data, email privacy@rescuepets.ie from the address you signed up with.

Your rights

Under the GDPR (and, in Northern Ireland, the UK GDPR) you have the right to:

• get a copy of your personal data;
• correct it (you can edit your adoption profile yourself on your account page);
• have it deleted;
• restrict or object to how we use it;
• receive it in a portable format;
• withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent.

Email privacy@rescuepets.ie to use any of these rights. We will reply within one month. If you’re unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Data Protection Commission in Ireland (dataprotection.ie) or, in Northern Ireland, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk).

Security

All connections to the site are encrypted. Passwords are hashed. Adoption profiles, home photos and messages are visible only to you and to the rescues you choose to share them with. Access to them in our database is restricted, and we look at them only when needed to run or protect the service, for example to deal with a report of abuse.

Age

You must be 18 or over to create an account.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top. If the changes are significant, we will tell account holders by email.

See also our terms of use. Questions? Email privacy@rescuepets.ie.