The Lost Dogs’ Home is committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

Who do we collect personal information from?

We collect personal information from a variety of individual who interact with us, for example:
• animal owners, adopters and re-claimers, and their secondary contacts,
• customers who buy products from our store,
• clients of our private veterinary clinic,
• donors and supporters,
• staff and volunteers, and
• employees of our partners who help us deliver our services.

What personal information do we collect?

We collect personal information that assists us to identify the individuals we are interacting with. This information commonly includes:
• names,
• age,
• physical and/or email addresses,
• telephone numbers, and
• identification documents, such as a driver’s licence.

Occasionally, we may collect sensitive information. This most commonly occurs if you are seeking to adopt an animal so we can match you with the right animal. We may collect the following sensitive information:
• health or disability information.

How do we collect your personal information?

In most instances, we collect personal information directly from the individual, for example, as part of a registration or subscription process, in connection with content submissions or fundraising activities, and in our customer service area, private veterinary clinic and other transactional areas.
Sometimes it will be impracticable or unreasonable to collect your personal information directly from you. Where this is the case, we will seek to obtain your personal information from a third party in accordance with the Privacy Act and other applicable laws.

Why do we collect your personal information?

We collect, maintain and use personal information for the purpose of undertaking our functions. These include:
• animal welfare and management,
• customer service,
• veterinary services,
• educational,
• community engagement, and
• fundraising operations.

We may also collect your personal information where we are required to by law (e.g., to administer pet registrations on behalf of local municipal authorities under the Domestic Animals Act).

Who may we share your personal information with?

We will not disclose your personal information to another entity unless it is necessary for us to undertake the above functions, or you have provided your consent, or we are authorised or required to do so by law.

We work with local municipal authorities as part of our animal welfare functions and disclose some information to local municipal authorities as part of performing these functions. This usually involves sharing information such as your name, address, contact details and pet details, but may include other information we hold.

We use Sheltermate as part of our animal welfare functions. Sheltermate is operated by Shelterbuddy. Shelterbuddy stores all information in Sheltermate in Australia and keeps back-ups of this information in US. You can find out more information about Shelterbuddy on their website https://www.shelterbuddy.com/.

How do we keep your personal information secure?

Access to your personal information will be limited to the purposes described in this policy, or as informed to you, and relevant authorised staff within The Lost Dogs’ Home and our affiliated entities (such as contracted service providers and local municipal authorities) to the extent reasonably necessary for us to undertake the above functions.

We take all reasonable steps to ensure that the information we hold is accurate and complete, and that it is protected from misuse, loss, unauthorised access or disclosure.

We will usually store your personal information on computer or cloud-based servers located in Australia. Where your personal information is transferred to a contracted service provider based overseas for the above purpose, we will make sure that they are bound to comply with similar privacy obligations.

We will retain your personal information for as long as it is required for the purpose it was collected and otherwise in accordance with our legislative obligations.

How can you access, correct or update your personal information?

You may request to access, correct or update the personal information that we hold about you. We will use all reasonable efforts to act in accordance with your request. On the rare occasion that we refuse access, we will provide you with a written response setting out reasons for refusing access in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

You may also ‘opt out’ of receiving any future contact from us for marketing, promotional and fundraising purposes at any time.

You may make these requests or submit a privacy-related enquiry or complaint to:

Privacy Officer The Lost Dogs’ Home
2 Gracie Street, North Melbourne VIC 3051
privacy@dogshome.com

How do we use cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are saved by websites that you visit on your device. Cookies are widely used to make websites work efficiently, as well as provide information to website owners. The Lost Dogs’ Home uses cookies to optimise the functionality of our website and your browsing experience. Some of these cookies facilitate the use of third-party plug-ins on our website. No personally identifiable information is collected by our cookies. You can manage your cookie preferences via your browser settings.

The privacy policy was last updated December 2023.