Corrections Policy

1. Why we publish this

A site that never publishes a correction is not a site that never makes mistakes. It is a site that does not admit them.

We write about decisions people make for an animal that depends on them. An error in an article about crate hours or feeding portions is not a typo with consequences confined to our reputation. So we would rather be told, publicly and often, than be left looking clean.

2. What counts as an error

All of these are worth reporting, and none of them are too small:

• A factual claim that is wrong — a wrong age range, duration, weight, dose reference, or figure.
• A citation that does not support what we wrote, or that leads to the wrong page.
• Guidance that has been superseded by newer veterinary consensus.
• A statement made more confidently than the evidence allows.
• A missing warning or risk that should have appeared alongside an instruction.
• A misattributed quote, or a source credited to the wrong organisation.
• A product detail that is wrong, or a product that has been recalled.
• A broken or dead link, or a spelling or grammatical mistake.

Disagreeing with our conclusion is not an error, and we will say so plainly if that is what we think. But tell us anyway — sometimes what looks like disagreement turns out to be a claim we cannot actually support.

4. What happens next

1. We acknowledge it

   A person replies within one business day confirming we have it and who is looking at it. This is not an automated receipt.

2. We check it against the sources

   An editor who did not write the article opens the original sources and establishes what they actually say. Where the point is unsettled in the veterinary literature, we look for the most current guidance from the highest tier of source available.

3. We decide what kind of fix it needs

   Using the four levels in section 5. The decision is about the substance of the error, not about how embarrassing it is.

4. We make the change and label it

   The article is updated, the review date changes, and a correction note is added where the level calls for one.

5. We tell you what we did

   You get a reply explaining the outcome — including when we concluded the article was right and why.

6. We check whether it spread

   If the same claim appears in other articles, we fix those too. A correction that leaves the error standing three pages away is not a correction.

5. How we label a fix

Silent fix

Spelling, punctuation, grammar, formatting, or a dead link swapped for a working one. Nothing that changes meaning. These are made without a note.

Clarification

The article was not wrong but could be read the wrong way. We rewrite for clarity and add a dated note saying what we clarified.

Correction

A factual error. We fix it and add a dated note at the top of the article stating what was wrong and what it now says. The original error is described, not hidden.

Retraction

The article’s central claim was wrong and cannot be repaired by editing. We replace the content with an explanation of what we got wrong and why, and leave that in place at the same web address.

Where an error could have affected an animal’s wellbeing, the correction note appears at the top of the article rather than at the foot of it, regardless of how small the change was.

6. Our timelines

Acknowledgement

Within 1 business day.

Resolution

Within 5 business days.

Safety-critical errors

Same day. Where a claim could lead someone to harm an animal, we take the passage down immediately while we check it, rather than leaving it up pending review.

Complex cases

Where a point needs deeper research, we tell you within those 5 days what we are doing and when to expect an answer.

Our office works Monday to Saturday. Business days exclude Sundays and Indian public holidays.

7. Updates are not corrections

We review articles on a rolling schedule and revise them as guidance evolves. Adding a new section, refreshing a product list, or rewriting for clarity is a routine update. The review date changes, but no correction note is added, because nothing was wrong.

We are careful not to blur the two. Describing a genuine error as an “update” is a way of avoiding accountability, and we do not do it.

8. Errors we find ourselves

Most corrections start with us, not with a reader. When a scheduled review, a new source, or a second look turns up a mistake, it goes through exactly the same process and gets exactly the same public note.

An error nobody else noticed is still an error.

9. What we will not do

• We will not edit quietly. Changing a factual claim without saying so is how a reader loses the ability to trust anything else on the page.
• We will not delete an article to bury a mistake. If something has to come down, the explanation stays up at the same address.
• We will not backdate. Correction notes carry the date the correction was actually made.
• We will not remove a correction note later. Once published, it stays on the article permanently.
• We will not ignore a report because of who sent it. Competitors, anonymous readers, and people who are rude to us all get the same check.
• We will not remove criticism. A comment pointing out an error stays up after we have fixed it.

10. If you disagree with our decision

Reply and say so. A second editor who was not involved in the first decision will look at it again, and we will tell you the outcome with our reasoning.

If we still disagree after that, we will say so honestly rather than going quiet. We would rather have a documented disagreement with you than an unanswered email.

11. Our record

Every correction is recorded on the article it belongs to, with the date and a description of what changed. Those notes are permanent and are not removed when an article is later revised.

We keep an internal log of every correction report we receive, what we decided, and how long it took. We review that log to find patterns — a source we lean on too heavily, a topic where we are consistently imprecise, a step in our process that is not catching what it should.