Last Updated: May 26, 2026
Bailing Out Benji (“we,” “us,” “ours”) respects your privacy. This Privacy Notice explains how Bailing Out Benji collects, uses, discloses, and protects information in connection with our website, directory, research features, educational resources, donation pages, merchandise links, newsletter signups, and other online services that link to this Privacy Notice (collectively, the “Services”).
Bailing Out Benji is primarily an advocacy and educational nonprofit organization. Our website and research tools are designed to help consumers, advocates, journalists, policymakers, and members of the public better understand publicly available information relating to commercial dog breeding, puppy-selling, breeder, broker, retail, licensing, inspection, enforcement, and supply-chain records. Our Services are not intended to operate as an enforcement database, legal adjudicator, blacklist, marketplace, animal-sale platform, or account-based user community.
Please read this Privacy Notice carefully. By using the Services, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Notice.
This Privacy Notice applies to information collected through or in connection with:
This Privacy Notice does not apply to:
Bailing Out Benji’s website and research features are consumer-facing educational tools. They are intended to translate complex and often inaccessible public records into clearer, more understandable information about patterns within the commercial pet breeding and selling industry, including breeder, broker, and retail connections.
Bailing Out Benji’s protectable value lies in its proprietary research methodology, data curation and normalization processes, entity-linking framework, consumer-friendly presentation, and original compilation and analysis. The underlying public records themselves may be obtained from public or governmental sources, but Bailing Out Benji’s organization, presentation, research analysis, and compilation may be proprietary.
Bailing Out Benji does not currently provide general user accounts, user dashboards, saved profiles, public comment features, marketplace messaging, breeder listings submitted by users, buyer requests, or user-generated content features. Bailing Out Benji does not intentionally collect personal information directly from general website visitors through user accounts or database submissions. However, personal information may be collected in the following limited circumstances:
You may voluntarily provide information to Bailing Out Benji when you:
Depending on how you interact with us or our third-party providers, this information may include your name, email address, mailing address, phone number, donation information, merchandise order information, communications, or other information you choose to provide.
Bailing Out Benji may use EveryAction to support donation processing, fundraising communications, advocacy communications, and newsletter signups. If you choose to make a donation or sign up for communications through EveryAction, EveryAction may collect and process information you provide, such as your name, email address, mailing address, payment-related information, donation amount, and communication preferences.
Bailing Out Benji may receive information from EveryAction as needed to process donations, maintain donation records, send newsletters, communicate with supporters, comply with legal obligations, and support our nonprofit mission. Payment card information is generally processed by third-party payment processors and is not intended to be stored directly by Bailing Out Benji.
Bailing Out Benji may link to merchandise offered through Bonfire. If you choose to purchase merchandise, Bonfire may collect and process information needed to complete the transaction, such as your name, email address, shipping address, payment information, order details, and customer service communications. Merchandise transactions, fulfillment, shipping, returns, exchanges, and payment processing are handled by Bonfire or other applicable third-party merchandise providers under their own terms and privacy policies.
Even where Bailing Out Benji does not intentionally collect personal information from general website users, some technical information may be automatically collected by the website, hosting providers, analytics tools, security tools, or other technology providers that help operate the Services. This may include information such as IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, referring URLs, access times, and general interaction information. Bailing Out Benji’s website is operated through WordPress, and Bailing Out Benji’s search engine is hosted through ESRI ArcGIS. These providers may process technical, usage, security, or operational information in connection with hosting, displaying, securing, maintaining, or improving the Services.
Bailing Out Benji does not intentionally collect the following categories of personal information directly from general website users through account-based Services:
Bailing Out Benji’s website may be used by individuals of all ages and may be used for classroom research projects. The Services are designed as educational and informational resources. Bailing Out Benji does not knowingly collect personal information directly from children through user accounts, public posting features, or database submissions. If a child or minor contacts Bailing Out Benji directly, signs up for communications, makes a donation, or uses a third-party service linked from our website, information may be processed by the applicable third-party provider or received by Bailing Out Benji as part of that communication or transaction.
Parents, guardians, and educators should supervise minors’ use of online services and should review the privacy policies of any third-party services used in connection with donations, newsletter signups, merchandise purchases, or research tools. If you believe a child has provided personal information directly to Bailing Out Benji without appropriate permission, please contact us at info@bailingoutbenji.com.
Bailing Out Benji may receive information from the following sources:
Bailing Out Benji may use information for the following purposes:
Bailing Out Benji does not use personal information for targeted advertising, profiling, or the sale of personal information.
Bailing Out Benji may disclose information in the following circumstances:
We may disclose information to vendors, contractors, service providers, and third-party platforms that help us operate our nonprofit, website, donation processing, newsletter communications, merchandise links, hosting, search engine, email systems, security, or other Services. These providers may include EveryAction, Bonfire, WordPress, ESRI ArcGIS, payment processors, email platforms, and similar service providers.
We may disclose information if we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to: comply with any law, regulation, subpoena, court order, legal process, or governmental request; enforce our Terms of Service or other policies; protect the rights, property, or safety of Bailing Out Benji, our users, supporters, volunteers, partners, or the public; detect, investigate, or respond to fraud, security issues, scraping, misuse, or unauthorized activity; or defend against legal claims.
If Bailing Out Benji is involved in a merger, restructuring, reorganization, transfer, or similar transaction, information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to applicable law and nonprofit governance requirements.
We may disclose information with your consent or at your direction.
The Services may link to or integrate with third-party services, including EveryAction, Bonfire, WordPress, ESRI ArcGIS, social media platforms, public records databases, and other external websites or services. These third-party services are not operated or controlled by Bailing Out Benji. Their collection, use, disclosure, retention, and protection of information are governed by their own privacy policies and terms. Bailing Out Benji is not responsible for the privacy practices, security practices, content, or services of third parties. You should review the applicable third-party privacy policy before using a third-party service, donating, signing up for communications, purchasing merchandise, or interacting with an external link.
Bailing Out Benji or our technology providers may use cookies, logs, analytics tools, or similar technologies to operate, secure, maintain, and improve the Services. These technologies may collect technical or usage information such as IP address, browser type, device information, pages viewed, referring URLs, and access times.
You can set your browser to refuse some or all cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent. Some parts of the Services may not function properly if cookies are disabled. Bailing Out Benji does not knowingly use cookies or similar technologies to sell personal information or engage in targeted advertising.
Bailing Out Benji retains information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. For example, donation-related records may be retained as needed for tax, accounting, reporting, fundraising, and legal compliance purposes; newsletter and communication preferences may be retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion, subject to our need to maintain suppression lists or compliance records; communications you send to us may be retained as needed to respond, maintain records, or protect our rights; technical logs may be retained by us or our service providers for operational, security, troubleshooting, or legal purposes; and research materials and public-records-based information may be retained as part of Bailing Out Benji’s educational, advocacy, and research mission.
Bailing Out Benji uses reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect information in our possession from unauthorized access, use, alteration, or disclosure. However, no website, system, database, email, hosting service, or online transmission is completely secure. We cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted to or through the Services. Any transmission is at your own risk. Because donations, newsletter signups, merchandise transactions, hosting, and search engine functions may involve third-party providers, you should also review those providers’ security and privacy practices.
Depending on where you live and the nature of your interaction with Bailing Out Benji, you may have rights under applicable privacy laws. These rights may include the ability to request access to, correction of, deletion of, or information about certain personal information.
To make a privacy-related request, contact us at:
Bailing Out Benji
PO Box 203
Ames, Iowa 500106
Email: info@bailingoutbenji.com
We may need to verify your identity before responding to certain requests. We may also deny or limit a request where permitted by law, including where we do not maintain personal information about you, where the information is part of public-records-based research, where retention is required or permitted by law, or where an exception applies.
If you receive newsletters, advocacy updates, fundraising communications, or other promotional emails from Bailing Out Benji, you may unsubscribe by using the unsubscribe link included in the email or by contacting us at info@bailingoutbenji.com.
Even if you unsubscribe from promotional communications, we may still send non-promotional communications, such as responses to your inquiries, donation-related communications, or legally required notices.
Bailing Out Benji does not sell personal information. Bailing Out Benji does not use personal information for targeted advertising or profiling.
Bailing Out Benji is based in the United States, and the Services are primarily directed to users in the United States. The information provided through the Services is generally specific to the United States.
The Services may be accessible from outside the United States. If you access the Services from outside the United States, you understand that information may be processed in the United States or by service providers used to operate the Services.
Bailing Out Benji’s research and search engine may include information derived from public records, government records, licensing records, inspection records, enforcement records, supply-chain records, and other lawfully available sources. This information is used for educational, transparency, research, advocacy, and public-interest purposes. Bailing Out Benji does not present the search engine as an enforcement database, legal adjudication system, or blacklist. Requests relating to research information may be evaluated in light of Bailing Out Benji’s nonprofit mission, applicable law, the public-records nature of the information, the accuracy and integrity of the research, and any applicable legal obligations.
Bailing Out Benji may update this Privacy Notice from time to time. When we make changes, we may update the “Last Updated” date above and post the revised Privacy Notice on the Services. Your continued use of the Services after the revised Privacy Notice is posted means that you acknowledge the revised Privacy Notice.
If you have questions, comments, concerns, or privacy-related requests, please contact us at:
Bailing Out Benji
PO Box 2037
Ames, Iowa 50010
Email: info@bailingoutbenji.com
