Terms & Conditions

1. These terms and your account

Bark Maps is based in Massachusetts, United States. These terms govern your use of Bark Maps, including its directory, accounts, reviews, photos, and meetup or playgroup listings. By selecting Sign up, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not create an account or use the interactive features. Accounts and event organizing are intended for adults aged 18 or older who can enter a binding agreement. You must provide accurate account information, protect your credentials, and take responsibility for activity you authorize through your account.

Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle information. You retain any rights that applicable law does not allow you to waive.

2. A directory and community bulletin board

Bark Maps provides information and tools for users to publish and discover activities. We do not own, operate, inspect, or manage the listed parks. User-created meetups and playgroups are independently organized by their creators. Providing a listing, RSVP function, map, review, or recommendation does not make Bark Maps the organizer, sponsor, supervisor, agent, insurer, or provider of that activity.

We do not conduct background checks or verify participants' identities, dogs' health or temperament, insurance, qualifications, or suitability. A profile, photograph, review, RSVP, or listing is not an endorsement or safety certification. An RSVP indicates interest and does not guarantee attendance, admission, supervision, or an available space.

3. Park information and outside services

Listings, descriptions, maps, hours, rules, fees, and amenities may be incomplete, inaccurate, or outdated. Verify access, conditions, permissions, and current rules with the park operator before visiting. Map markers and directions are approximate and are not safety or navigation advice. External websites and services have their own terms; we do not control or guarantee them. Bark Maps does not provide veterinary, medical, legal, or emergency services. In an emergency, contact the appropriate local authorities.

4. Host and participant responsibilities

Hosts are responsible for their event descriptions, arrangements, permissions, permits, applicable insurance, safety measures, and communicating changes or cancellations. Hosts must follow venue rules and applicable laws and must not represent that an event is operated, insured, or approved by Bark Maps. Hosting through Bark Maps does not grant permission to use a park or provide professional dog care.

Participants independently decide whether to attend and must assess the venue, other participants, and their dogs. You are responsible for supervising and controlling your dog, complying with leash and vaccination requirements, cleaning up waste, and paying any required fees. Do not bring a dog that is ill, aggressive, or unsuitable for the activity. Parents or guardians are responsible for children they bring; Bark Maps does not provide childcare or supervision. Leave an activity if conditions are unsafe.

5. Assumption of risk and limited release

Visiting parks, interacting with animals or strangers, and attending meetups or playgroups involve risks, including bites, fights, disease, falls, escape or loss of an animal, property damage, serious injury, and death. You voluntarily choose whether to participate and assume the inherent and reasonably foreseeable risks of those activities.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you release Bark Maps and its operators, employees, and agents from claims arising from your voluntary participation in independently organized activities or the acts of other users, hosts, animals, or venue operators, including claims based on ordinary negligence in providing the directory or listing tools. Nothing in this release excludes liability or limits rights that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. It does not waive another person's rights or replace any agreement a venue or independent host requires.

6. Content and acceptable use

You retain ownership of your content and are responsible for having permission to post it, including photographs of other people. Do not post unlawful, misleading, infringing, threatening, discriminatory, or harassing material, private information without permission, spam, or content promoting unsafe or illegal activities. Do not impersonate others, manipulate ratings, bypass security, or interfere with the service.

You grant Bark Maps a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, resize, and display your content to operate the service, and to allow service providers to do so on our behalf. This license ends when your content is removed, except for limited backup, security, or legal retention. Public content may have been independently copied or cached by others. We may remove content or restrict accounts for violations, safety, legal requirements, or abuse, but do not promise to review every submission or monitor activities. Moderation does not constitute an endorsement.

7. Service and warranty disclaimers

To the extent permitted by law, Bark Maps is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, noninfringement, accuracy, availability, or safety. We do not guarantee uninterrupted service, error-free information, or any particular outcome from using the site or attending an activity.

8. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Bark Maps and its operators, employees, and agents will not be liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages, including lost profits, lost data, or business interruption arising from the service. Their aggregate liability for claims arising from the service is limited to the greater of US $100 or the amount you paid Bark Maps for the service in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

These limitations apply only where lawful. They do not exclude liability for fraud, reckless or intentional misconduct, gross negligence, or death or personal injury where exclusion is prohibited, and do not override mandatory consumer protections. If a limitation cannot be enforced, it applies only to the extent permitted by law.

9. Responsibility for third-party claims

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify Bark Maps and its operators, employees, and agents for reasonable losses, damages, and legal costs resulting from third-party claims caused by your unlawful content, infringement of others' rights, violation of these terms, or negligent or wrongful conduct while organizing or attending an activity. This obligation does not cover our own gross negligence, reckless or intentional misconduct, or liabilities that cannot legally be transferred to you. We will provide reasonable notice of a claim and an opportunity to participate in its defense. No settlement may impose an admission or nonmonetary obligation on you without your consent.

10. Governing law and disputes

Massachusetts law governs these terms, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, except where mandatory law requires otherwise. Subject to any nonwaivable right to bring a claim elsewhere, disputes will be heard in the state or federal courts in Massachusetts that have jurisdiction. Nothing in these terms restricts mandatory consumer protections, access to a competent regulator, or a forum required by applicable law.

11. Changes and severability

We may change or discontinue features and update these terms. Material changes will be identified with an updated date and a notice on the service, and we will obtain renewed acceptance when required by law. Changes do not apply retroactively to existing disputes. If any provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue to apply to the extent lawful. These terms do not restrict rights or remedies provided by mandatory law.

12. Contact

Send legal notices, content concerns, or questions about these terms to Bark Maps at contact@barkmaps.app.