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Have a question or a query about using the My Pet Friends site? Before contacting us, find answers to our users' most frequently asked questions here.
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NOTE: Many issues are also covered in our Terms and Conditions of Use.
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[Click on the question to be taken directly to that section]
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A. Use of the My Pet Friends Site
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1. General
1.1 What does the MyPetFfriends offer visitors to the site?
1.2 If the site is FREE to use and FREE to list, how does the site make money?
1.3 How can I tell My Pet Friends users about my pet business or pet service?
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2. Registration
2.1 Do I need to register?
2.2 Is registration really FREE?
2.3 Why do you ask for my date of birth when I register?
2.4 Who can and can’t register?
2.5 What are the terms and conditions of use?
2.6 I’ve registered but not received the notification email
2.7 I’ve registered, but the system says that I haven’t.
2.8 I am a visually impaired person and need help registering
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3. My account
3.1 How can I change my password?
3.2 How can I change my Username?
3.3 I’ve lost my password / username / both
3.4 How do I upload a picture of myself or my pet?
3.5 How can I cancel my registration?
3.6 Why do you ask for my date of birth?
3.7 Why do you ask for my address?
3.8 I love the fact that I can include a profile for my pet, but I don’t have one.
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4. Newsletter
4.1 How often is the newsletter sent?
4.2 How do I stop my subscription?
4.3 How do I notify you of a change of email address?
4.4 I’ve registered for newsletters but am not receiving it
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5. RSS Feeds / Syndicated Content
5.1 What are RSS feeds?
5.2 How can I use them?
5.3 How can I stop receiving RSS feeds?
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6. Message Board
6.1 Why can’t I see or post messages on the message board?
6.2 Are there any restrictions to what I can write on the message board?
6.3 How can I remove my message board item?
6.4 Why has my message board item been removed?
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7. Forum
7.1 Why can’t I see or post messages to the forum?
7.2 Are there any restrictions to what I can write?
7.3 How can I remove my forum message?
7.4 Why has my forum message been removed?
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8. Events Calendar
8.1 How can I list an event on the My Pet Friends events calendar?
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9. Additional Features
9.1 What new features will be introduced and when?
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10. Technical Problems / Reporting
10.1 How can I report a technical problem with the site?
10.2 How can I report users that I suspect are misusing the site?
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11. Everything Else
11.1 I have another query that is not listed here?
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B. Listing & advertising
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1. Advertising, listing, ratings and User feedback
1.1 How can I list my business on your site and what does it cost?
1.2 How does my listing make it to the front page?
1.3 How does my listing get to the top of a User’s search?
1.4 Can I stop registered users rating my listing?
1.5 A user has left unfair / incorrect / offensive comments on my listing?
1.6 How can I place a link from my site back to My Pet Friends?
1.7 Can you help with the design of my listing?
1.8 What other advertising options are available on the My Pet Friends site?
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2. Making Payment
2.1 Do I need to have a PayPal or Protx account to pay for my listing?
2.2 Do you accept any other forms of payment?
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3. Businesses / Services
3.1 How can I put the My Pet Friends logo on my site or in my marketing material to say that I am listed?
3.2 How can I get copies of your fliers, posters and other marketing material to display for my customers?
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C. Everything Else
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1. Background Information
1.1 When, how and why did My Pet Friends start offering these services?
1.2 Who are Kitty & Teddy?
1.3 Is My Pet Friends only available in the UK?
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2. Press, Media or Research
2.1 How can I obtain more information about an article?
2.2 How can I write for My Pet Friends?
2.3 How can I cite, reference or point to an article, page or item from My Pet Friends?
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A. Use of the My Pet Friends Site
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1. General
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1.1 What does the MyPetFfriends offer visitors to the site?
My Pet Friends UK is a FREE service offering pet businesses, pet owners and their friends an online space to share information, read pet news and network with each other in an online pet community. If you want to meet other pet owners, or you’re looking for pet news, pet breeders, kennels, catteries, sitters, pet food, pet shops, pet grooming, pet behaviour training or anything else to do with pets you’ll find them at www.mypetfriends.co.uk. Just click away and enjoy.
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1.2 If the site is FREE to use and FREE to list, how does the site make money?
Everyone has FREE access to the site, and can upload one FREE business listing. We charge users a small fee to upload enhanced listings and charge for advertising around the site. By doing this we can cover our costs and provide the rest of the site’s services for free.
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1.3 How can I tell My Pet Friends users about my pet business or pet service?
You can add a FREE listing in our pet directory. If you want a more detailed listing you can add an enhanced listing for a small fee or speak to the My Pet Friends marketing team about advertising around the site. (See below for further details and information about our charges).
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2. Registration
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2.1 Do I need to register?
You can access the directory and news sections of the site without registering. If you want to access the full services we offer e.g. the My Pet Friends Message Board, the My Pet Friends Forum or want to have your own profile for other users to see or you wish to upload a listing of your own or leave user feedback, you will need to register – and the great thing is, it’s FREE.
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2.2 Is registration really FREE?
Registering is totally FREE and only takes a few minutes. You’ll just need a valid email address and provide a few details to join My Pet Friends.
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2.3 Why do you ask for my date of birth when I register?
Applicants wishing to register must be over 16 years old, or have permission from their parent or Legal Guardian to use the site if they are under this age. The minimum age someone can register is 11.
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2.4 Who can and can’t register?
Anyone can register – you just have to be over 16 years old, or have permission from your parent or Legal Guardian to use the site if you are under this age. The minimum age someone can register is 11.
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2.5 What are the terms and conditions of use?
Please read the Terms and Conditions of use which you must read and agree to when you register. These are also viewable by clicking on the “Terms and Conditions” link on the left hand menu.
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2.6 I’ve registered but have not received the notification email
Please check your email settings as the notification email may have been directed to your “spam” or “junk mail” folder. If you cannot find it, please go to the registration page, where you will see an option offering you the opportunity to re-send the activation email to yourself.
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2.7 I’ve registered, but the system says that I haven’t.
When you register we will send you an email which includes a link to activate your account. You will need to click on this link (or cut and copy it into your browser) to complete your registration. If you have done this and are still experiencing problems, please try to re-register. If you are still experiencing problems please send us an email detailing your issue using the “Contact Us” link on the left hand menu.
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2.8 I am a visually impaired person and need help registering
When designing this site we complied with the requirements expressed in the Disability Discrimination Act (2005). We have included a text resizing option and will assist users with disabilities or difficulties when registering to use our full services. If you continue to have difficulties, please email or call us so we can assist you with the registering process.
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3. My account
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3.1 How can I change my password?
You can change your password by logging into your account and choosing the “Change Password” option.
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3.2 How can I change my Username?
Unfortunately you cannot change your Username. If you have a special reason to request this please contact the My Pet Friends administration team for assistance via the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu.
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3.3 I’ve lost my password / username / both
Please contact the My Pet Friends administration team for assistance via the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu.
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3.4 How do I upload a picture of myself or my pet?
It’s easy and fun to add a picture of yourself and your pet to your profile for other users to view. After logging in to your account, go to your account settings where you will see full step by step details of how to do this. Pictures can be of any file size, but do keep the image size small so you can transfer them to our system quickly. They will automatically be resized to fit into the space provided.
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3.5 How can I cancel my registration?
We’re sure you won’t want to cancel your registration, but if you do wish to leave the My Pet Friends community and want your details to be removed please contact the My Pet Friends admin team for assistance via the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu.
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3.6 Why do you ask for my date of birth?
Applicants wishing to register must be over 16 years old, or have permission from their parent or Legal Guardian to use the site if they are under this age. The minimum age someone can register is 11.
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3.7 Why do you ask for my address?
Your address is not shared with other My Pet Friends users, but if you provide it we will be able to send you information that we think may be of interest to you. It also enables you to add a Google map to your profile. For your safety, the map does not show your exact address but provides a general view of your location.
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3.8 I love the fact that I can include a profile for my pet, but I don’t have one.
My Pet Friends is not just for people who own a pet, it’s also for people who like pets too. You can leave the pet profile blank….or why not create a virtual pet!!!
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4. Newsletter
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4.1 How often is the newsletter sent?
Currently, the newsletter is emailed out to all who have registered every 2 months.
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4.2 How do I stop my subscription?
Details of how to stop receiving the email newsletter are included at the end of the newsletter.
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4.3 How do I notify you of a change of email address?
Please end the subscription to your old email address and then re-register for the newsletter updates.
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4.4 I’ve registered for newsletters but am not receiving it.
Are you sure you entered the correct email address? Please enter your email address again to register for the newsletter. If you are still facing problems please check your email settings as the newsletter email may have been directed to your “spam” or “junk mail” folder.
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5. RSS Feeds / Syndicated Content
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5.1 What are RSS feeds?
RSS refers to a variety of meanings - Really Simple Syndication, Rich Site Summary or RDF Site Summary. RSS is a transmission of data that is used to publish frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds or podcasts.
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5.2 How can I use them?
If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or Mozilla’s Firefox, you can easily subscribe to one of our feeds whenever you see the RSS logo (usually at the end of articles in News, Kitty & Teddy’s Blog, and Kitty & Teddy’s Tips). Just click on the RSS image and then your browser’s reader will automatically check the subscribed feeds to see if any of those feeds have new content since the last time it checked, and if so, retrieve that content and present it to you.
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5.3 How can I stop receiving RSS feeds?
If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or Mozilla’s Firefox, you can delete them from your list of RSS feeds in your favourites folder.
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6. Message Board
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6.1 Why can’t I see or post messages on the message board?
You need to be a registered user and logged in to read or post messages to the My Pet Friends message board. Registration is quick, simple and FREE.
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6.2 Are there any restrictions to what I can write on the message board?
Only a few, please read our Terms and Conditions which will explain these in more detail. You can view these by clicking on the “Terms and Conditions” link located on the left hand menu.
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6.3 How can I remove my message board item?
Your message board item can only be removed by a My Pet Friends administrator but will automatically be removed after a certain amount of time. If you wish to have your message deleted please contact the My Pet Friends administration team for assistance via the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu.
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6.4 Why has my message board item been removed?
Your message board item was removed by a My Pet Friends administrator because it breached our Terms and Conditions of use.
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7. Forum
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7.1 Why can’t I see or post messages to the forum?
You need to be a registered user and logged in to read or post messages to the My Pet Friends Forum.
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7.2 Are there any restrictions to what I can write?
Only a few, please read our Terms and Conditions which will explain these in more detail. You can view these by clicking on the “Terms and Conditions” link located on the left hand menu.
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7.3 How can I remove my forum message?
Your forum message can only be removed by a My Pet Friends administrator. If you wish to have your message deleted please contact the My Pet Friends administration team for assistance via the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu.
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7.4 Why has my forum message been removed?
Your forum message was removed by a My Pet Friends administrator because it breached our terms and conditions of use.
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8. Events Calendar
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8.1 How can I list an event on the My Pet Friends events calendar?
Please contact the My Pet Friends administration team with details of your event using the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu. We’ll be happy to list any event that we think might be of interest to other My Pet Friends users for FREE
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9. Additional Features
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9.1 What new features will be introduced and when?
Following the site's official launch in 2007, we will be working hard to bring you additional features over the next year. These will include “Light a Candle” (for users to create and upload memorial pages for pets that are gone but not forgotten), lost and found board, live Chat facility, charity donation link, expert live chat sessions and many more fantastic facilities for all My Pet Friends users.
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Check out Kitty & Teddy’s blog for regular updates and subscribe to the Newsletter so that you hear about them first.
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10. Technical Problems / Reporting
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10.1 How can I report a technical problem with the site?
As we add new features to the site it is inevitable that you may encounter technical bugs and problems that we may not have noticed. To help us improve your experience, and that of other My Pet Friends users, please inform us of these by sending us an email using the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu.
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10.2 How can I report users that I suspect are misusing the site?
Unfortunately we cannot monitor all user activity on the site. Users who register to use the full services so that they can contribute to the site have to agree to our Terms and Conditions which set out clear guidelines for use. If you feel a User is misusing the site by using abusive, threatening or inappropriate language; is breaking the law or anything else that constitutes misuse of the site as indicated in our Terms and Conditions please inform us of these by using the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu.
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11. Everything Else
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11.1 I have another query that is not listed here?
If you have any questions that are not answered here, please get in touch using the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu.
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B. Listing & advertising
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1. Advertising, listing, ratings and User feedback
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1.1 How can I list my business on your site and what does it cost?
You can list your service on My Pet Friends for FREE by using your free basic listing. Once activated, this lasts for up tp 10 years.
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You can also add an unlimited amount of enhanced listings. These will enable you to add more text and pictures, and are offered at a reasonable rate.
To download a step-by-step guide to creating your listing, click on the following link - PDF File size 1.03MB
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1.2 How does my listing make it to the front page?
All listings have an equal chance of making it to the front page right hand border that’s shown on every page. The more hits your listing receives in the past 28 days, the more chance you have of making it to this section of the site.
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1.3 How does my listing get to the top of a User’s search?
Enhanced listings are listed above basic listings. Then it just depends on how many hits you receive. So, tell your customers about us and increase your hits and your place in the directory.
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1.4 Can I stop registered users rating my listing?
The great thing about My Pet Friends is the valuable customer feedback and rating scores. This provides added buying confidence for your current and future customers. All registered users can leave ratings and feedback comments and this option cannot be turned off and on.
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If you have an issue with feedback left by a user please contact us using the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu with full details of the matter and after further investigation we will consider removal of the item.
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1.5 A user has left unfair / incorrect / offensive comments on my listing?
Please contact us using the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu with full details of the matter and after further investigation we will consider removal of the item.
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1.6 How can I place a link from my site back to My Pet Friends?
We’d love you to. Please see our “Links” section located on the left hand menu, for further details of how you can do this.
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1.7 Can you help with the design of my listing?
Sorry we can’t, but if you need to have a logo designed or button advert produced we can put you in touch with the My Pet Friends designers. Please contact us using the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu and we will try and assist you.
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1.8 What other advertising options are available on the My Pet Friends site?
There are many ways you can advertise on the My Pet Friends site to increase your visibility on the web to potential customers. As well as basic and enhanced listings, you are able to place an advert on the right hand border buttons, either side of our logo, include an editorial in our news section or the newsletter. For prices please see our rates card or get in touch using the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu with more details of your requirements.
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2. Making Payment
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2.1 Do I need to have a PayPal or Protx account to pay for my listing?
For your security we use the payment facilities offered by PayPal. You will not need a special account, you will just need to provide some basic details about yourself and your credit or debit card details. These are kept safe with PayPal and are not viewable by any of the My Pet Friends team or our users.
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2.2 Do you accept any other forms of payment?
We prefer customers to use our online payment facility, but if you wish to pay by another method please contact us using the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu.
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3. Businesses / services
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3.1 How can I put the My Pet Friends logo on my site or in my marketing material to say that I am listed?
To create a link partnership, please see our “Links” section located on the left hand menu. If you wish to include our logo on your marketing material, please contact us using the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu and we will be happy to discuss your individual requirements with you.
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3.2 How can I get copies of your fliers, posters and other marketing material to display for my customers?
Please contact us using the “Contact Us” link located on the left hand menu with full details of your business or event that you would like marketing materials for.
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C. Everything Else
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1. Background Information
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1.1 When, how and why did My Pet Friends start offering these services?
The My Pet Friends site was set up after the owners’ frustration at not being able to find suitable, reliable and trustworthy services for their own pet – a rescued West Highland White Terrier who suffers from a skin allergy that medication only provided partial relief.
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They found some sites on the internet, located services in the phone book and heard about remedies from friends and family, but searching for these was tiresome and information varied in quantity and quality. Having no idea about how good the services provided were; other than the ones they heard about via personal recommendation, they wanted to utilise the power of the internet to assist them and other pet owners to find services, read about pet news and get in touch with other pet owners to share solutions, ideas and make friends.
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They found other pet sites difficult to navigate and many were simply online directories forwarding them to other sites and services. As they continued their research they found pet owners like them wanted a clear and user friendly site with access to a network of services, but also wanted to be part of a community where they could read what others were saying about the services they had used so they could be better informed about what they were buying into, and then leave their own feedback about services.
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Their research also suggested that pet owners wanted to chat and share information about them and their pets, hear about pet events, special offers, and leave messages for other pet owners (lost and found, requests for advice and help etc). In essence, what they wanted was a site that offered far more than a simple business directory. They wanted information and an opportunity to share ideas with each other. My Pet Friends would provide the space for an online community of informed and knowledgeable pet owners to thrive.
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After four years of thinking and planning they pulled all their research and ideas together and developed My Pet Friends. The beta version was launched in autumn 2006, with a full launch in summer 2007.
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My Pet Friends is proving to be a clear, easy to use and powerful site which appeals to owners of all ages who own all manner of pets – connecting pets and their owners to people that care.
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1.2 Who are Kitty & Teddy?
Kitty and Teddy are the website’s resident pets. They’re fictional characters based on real pets that the owners of the site own – a West Highland White Terrier and a Ginger Tom cat. You will see them popping up all over the site, but also have their own special areas – Kitty and Teddy’s blog, where they provide their own unique take on events and news items; and Kitty and Teddy’s tips, where they provide helpful hints, tips and how to guides for pet owners.
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Kitty & Teddy are only speak cat / dog language and are unable to type articles themselves because their paws are so big. For these reasons, articles are translated and written by the My Pet Friends team writer listed at the beginning of each article.
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1.3 Is My Pet Friends only available in the UK?
At the moment we are only focussing our marketing and services to the UK. In time we will consider other areas of the world to grow the My Pet Friends community.
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2. Press, Media or Research
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2.1 How can I obtain more information about an article?
Please contact us using the “Contact Us” link on the left hand menu and we’ll do our best to assist you.
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2.2 How can I write for My Pet Friends?
We have a core team of writers based across the UK, but are always on the look out for more people to join the team. If you are passionate about pets and have some proven writing history behind you, we’d love to hear from you. Please use the “Contact Us” link on the left hand menu and let us know what you have written and we can discuss this further.
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2.3 How can I cite, reference or point to an article, page or item from My Pet Friends?
Each page will have a unique web address. It will begin with http://www.mypetfriends.co.uk/ - and then be followed by a unique page identifier. This is the part after the forward slash just after the .co.uk. You will need to use the whole link to cite the reference. For referencing academic work you will also need to make a note of the date you accessed the page.
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FAQ's and Help 
