Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Porter Veterinary Center (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting the personal privacy of pet owners, clients, and website visitors. We understand that you trust us with personal information when scheduling appointments, inquiring about services, or bringing your pet to our veterinary hospital.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect your personal information when you:

• Visit our website located at portervet.com;
• Contact our hospital via telephone, email, online forms, or in-person visits;
• Receive veterinary medical care, boarding, or diagnostic services at our facility in Northridge, California; or
• Interact with our digital marketing and lead-generation campaigns, including promotional advertisements and Instant Forms hosted on Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram).

Please take a moment to read this policy carefully. By accessing our website, submitting contact or pet information, or booking veterinary care with Porter Veterinary Center, you acknowledge the practices described herein.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information that identifies, relates to, or can reasonably be associated with you or your household (“personal information”). We collect this information directly from you or automatically through your interaction with our digital platforms.

A. Information You Voluntarily Provide

• Contact Identifiers: Your full name, telephone number, email address, and physical residential mailing address.
• Pet Information: Your pet’s name, species (dog, cat), breed, age or date of birth, sex, spay/neuter status, microchip number, vaccination history, dietary preferences, and prior veterinary medical records.
• Appointment & Inquiry Details: Reason for your visit, current symptoms or health concerns, appointment notes, and communication preferences.
• Payment & Transaction Information: In-clinic transaction details for veterinary medical care, medications, or boarding. Payment card processing is handled securely in-person or via PCI-compliant payment terminals; we do not store full credit card numbers on public web servers.

B. Information Collected Automatically (Technical Data)

When you navigate our website, our servers automatically log standard technical data, including:

• Internet Protocol (IP) address and approximate geographic location (city/region level);
• Browser type, operating system, and device hardware specifications;
• Pages visited on our site, time and date of visits, and referring URL addresses;
• Standard technical error logs to maintain system stability and security.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use personal and pet information solely for legitimate clinical, administrative, and client service purposes:

• Veterinary Care & Clinical Delivery: Establishing patient charts, conducting examinations, performing diagnostic tests, dispensing prescription medications, and rendering veterinary surgical or boarding services.
• Appointment Coordination: Scheduling, confirming, rescheduling, or following up on veterinary visits and boarding reservations.
• Client Communications: Delivering vital health updates, lab results, vaccination reminders, preventive care notices, and post-treatment recovery checks.
• Promotional Inquiries & Eligibility Verification: Confirming eligibility for clinic promotions (such as our Free First Veterinary Examination offer) and contacting new pet owners to coordinate their initial visit.
• Customer Service & Inquiries: Answering questions submitted through our website, phone lines, or online advertising forms.
• Legal & Medical Compliance: Maintaining complete, accurate veterinary patient medical records in accordance with the California Veterinary Medical Board and applicable state and federal laws.
• Facility & Operations Improvement: Enhancing our clinical facilities, customer service, website functionality, and internal practice workflows.

4. Meta (Facebook & Instagram) Lead Ads & Campaigns

Porter Veterinary Center conducts paid digital outreach campaigns on Meta platforms (including Facebook and Instagram) to introduce our veterinary hospital and special service offerings to pet owners in Northridge, Porter Ranch, and surrounding San Fernando Valley communities.

Phone Number Verification: To safeguard against spam and ensure we are connecting with genuine local pet parents, Meta may verify the telephone number you provide during form completion using a one-time SMS verification passcode sent directly by Meta.

Meta Data Policy: Information collected by Meta on its own platform is also subject to Meta’s Data Policy. For details regarding how Meta manages, stores, and protects user data, please review the Meta Privacy Policy.

5. Free First Veterinary Examination Promotion Disclosures

From time to time, Porter Veterinary Center offers special introductory promotions, including our Free First Veterinary Examination for new pet patients. If you submit your information in response to this promotion, the following terms and disclosures apply:

• Purpose of Information Collection: Information submitted through promotional lead forms is used specifically to verify new-patient eligibility, contact you to answer your questions, and schedule your pet’s complimentary initial physical exam at our hospital.
• Promotion Scope: The promotion covers the professional physical examination fee for one eligible new pet patient (canine or feline) during their first visit to Porter Veterinary Center.
• Excluded Services: The free examination offer covers the physical consultation fee only. It does not cover diagnostic tests (e.g., bloodwork, digital x-rays, fecal tests, urinalysis), vaccinations, medications, preventative flea/tick/heartworm treatments, surgical procedures, dental cleanings, microchipping, boarding, or emergency/urgent critical care stabilization. Before administering any tests, treatments, or medications, our veterinary medical staff will provide a clear treatment plan and estimate for your approval.
• Eligibility & Terms: Offer valid for first-time canine and feline patients of Porter Veterinary Center only. Limit one free initial exam per household/pet. Subject to appointment availability. Not redeemable for cash, non-transferable, and cannot be applied retroactively to prior visits or combined with any other discount or offer.

6. Telephone, Email, and SMS/Text Communications

We respect your time and communication preferences. We strictly adhere to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and wireless carrier compliance guidelines:

How to Manage Your Communication Preferences & Opt Out

You maintain complete control over how we communicate with you:

• SMS / Text Messages: You may opt out of receiving text messages from us at any time by replying STOP to any text message you receive from our clinic.
• Email Communications: You may opt out of non-essential email messages by clicking the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any email or replying with a request to be removed from email correspondence.
• Direct Assistance: You may also call our front desk team at (818) 349-8387 during business hours to request changes to your telephone, SMS, or email preferences.

Note: Opting out of marketing or promotional follow-ups will not prevent us from contacting you with essential clinical notices regarding an active patient in our care (e.g., critical diagnostic alerts, post-op recovery checks, or appointment confirmation for an upcoming scheduled visit).

7. Cookies, Web Tracking & Analytics

Our website uses standard, functional web cookies and basic log files to ensure secure, smooth operation. Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a webpage.

• Essential & Functional Cookies: Necessary for core site navigation, page responsiveness, and layout display.
• Performance & Diagnostic Logs: Anonymous server logs that help us diagnose broken links, monitor server loads, and prevent malicious cyber threats.

No Sale of Behavioral Profiles: Porter Veterinary Center does not deploy invasive surveillance tools or sell behavioral profiles of our visitors. If digital marketing tags or analytics tools are active on certain promotional landing pages to measure campaign effectiveness, you can easily control or disable cookie tracking through your web browser’s built-in privacy settings (such as blocking third-party cookies or clearing cache).

8. Information Sharing & Third Parties

We do NOT sell, rent, or trade your personal information. Porter Veterinary Center does not sell, lease, or distribute your name, phone number, email address, or pet records to commercial list brokers, telemarketers, or independent advertisers.

We share personal information strictly within the following limited circumstances:

• Trusted Veterinary Service Providers: We work with established, secure service vendors who assist in operating our practice, including veterinary practice management software (PIMS), secure cloud hosting, digital appointment confirmation tools, and accredited diagnostic reference laboratories (e.g., when outside blood, histopathology, or microbiology testing is required for your pet). All such partners are legally bound by strict confidentiality and data security obligations and may only process data to perform their contracted veterinary operational functions.
• Professional Consultations & Referrals: With your consent, when transferring records to a veterinary specialist, 24-hour emergency animal hospital, or prior veterinary clinic.
• Legal & Regulatory Mandates: If required by law, court subpoena, animal health public reporting regulations (such as rabies licensing verification), or to protect the safety, rights, and property of Porter Veterinary Center, our staff, clients, or the general public.

9. Data Security

We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your personal information and pet health records against unauthorized access, accidental loss, destruction, alteration, or misuse.

Our security measures include firewalled internal networks, encrypted data transmission protocols (HTTPS/SSL), role-based staff access controls, and secure electronic medical recordkeeping software. While no electronic transmission or storage system is 100% immune from risks, we continually review and upgrade our safeguards to maintain high standards of patient and client confidentiality.

10. Data Retention & California Veterinary Records

We retain personal contact information and client records for as long as necessary to fulfill the clinical and administrative purposes outlined in this policy, provide ongoing veterinary medical care, and satisfy accounting or legal requirements.

Veterinary patient medical records, diagnostic imaging, and surgical records are retained in full compliance with the California Veterinary Medical Board’s statutory record retention mandates (California Code of Regulations Title 16, Section 2032.3), which require veterinary practices to maintain patient records for a minimum statutory period following the date of last treatment.

11. Your Rights & Managing Your Information

We respect your right to access and control the personal information you share with us. You may:

• Request Access: Request a review of the personal contact information we maintain in your client file.
• Request Corrections: Request updates or corrections to inaccurate or outdated phone numbers, mailing addresses, email addresses, or pet details.
• Request Medical Records: Request an electronic copy of your pet’s vaccination certificates, lab results, or medical records for personal records or specialist referral.
• Request Deletion: Request the deletion of promotional contact information, subject to mandatory medical, legal, and regulatory recordkeeping retention requirements under California law.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our front desk team directly at (818) 349-8387 or speak with our team during your visit.

12. California Privacy Notice (California Residents)

This section supplements our Privacy Policy and applies specifically to residents of the State of California under California privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA):

• No Sale or Sharing of Personal Data: Porter Veterinary Center does not sell your personal information and has not sold personal information in the preceding 12 months. We do not share personal information with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising.
• Categories of Information Collected: In the preceding 12 months, we have collected identifiers (name, address, phone number, email address), pet medical information, and standard website technical logs solely for direct clinical and client service operations.
• Your California Rights: California residents have the right to know what personal information is collected, request access to their data, request deletion (subject to medical record retention laws), request correction of inaccurate information, and to be free from discriminatory treatment for exercising their legal privacy rights.
• Submitting Requests: California residents may submit privacy inquiries or requests by calling Porter Veterinary Center at (818) 349-8387 or visiting our clinic at 18224 Parthenia Street, Northridge, CA 91325.

13. Children’s Privacy

Our website, veterinary services, and promotional campaigns are designed for and directed to adult pet owners and individuals aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly solicit or collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you believe a child under 13 has submitted personal data to us, please notify us immediately at (818) 349-8387, and we will promptly delete that information from our records.

14. Third-Party Links & External Platforms

Our website and social media profiles may contain links to external services, such as Google Maps for directions, veterinary education resources, or social media networks. Porter Veterinary Center is not responsible for the content, security, or privacy practices of external third-party websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practice operations, website technology, advertising campaigns, or legal and regulatory requirements.

When changes are made, we will update the “Effective Date” displayed at the top of this page. Any revisions take effect immediately upon posting. We encourage you to check this page periodically to stay informed about our data protection practices.

16. Contact Porter Veterinary Center

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data handling practices, please contact our hospital team: