Legal

Editorial & Veterinary Review Standards

Last updated: June 2026

PawHub publishes vet-reviewed health and care guides, breed profiles, nutritional information, news, long-form editorial features, product reviews, and service-directory content for pet parents in Singapore and across Asia-Pacific. These standards describe how we produce, review and correct that content, how we ensure veterinary oversight of health information, and how we maintain the independence of our editorial voice.

Veterinary review — the DVM standard

Every health article, care guide, symptom explainer, breed health profile and nutritional guide published on PawHub must be reviewed and approved by a named veterinarian with a qualifying degree (DVM, BVSc or equivalent) before it goes live. This is a non-negotiable requirement, not a best-effort goal.

“Reviewed by Dr. ___, DVM” credit: every health and care article displays the name and credentials of the reviewing veterinarian in a visible “Reviewed by” card at the foot of the article. This credit is only applied when the review has been completed — never as a placeholder.
Scope of review: the veterinary reviewer is responsible for verifying that the health information is clinically accurate, appropriately caveated, up to date with current veterinary guidelines, and free from claims that could mislead a pet owner into unsafe decisions.
Reviewer independence: veterinary reviewers are required to disclose any financial relationship with brands, products or services mentioned in a piece they review. A reviewer with a material conflict of interest will be recused from that piece.
No fabricated health claims: we do not publish health or nutritional claims that are not supported by peer-reviewed veterinary research, official veterinary guidelines, or the direct knowledge of the reviewing DVM. Speculative or unverified claims are not permitted.
Medical disclaimer always present: every health and care article links to or displays our Medical Disclaimer, making clear that the content is educational and not a substitute for in-person veterinary care.

Content that does not relate to health or veterinary topics (news, culture, travel, product listings, community) is subject to standard editorial review only and does not require DVM sign-off.

Editorial independence

PawHub’s editorial team operates independently of the commercial side of the business. Advertisers, commercial partners, pet-food brands, insurance providers, and the pet shop do not influence which stories we cover, how we cover them, or the outcomes of product or service reviews. A brand cannot pay to receive a better review score, and commercial partners cannot prevent us from publishing factual negative coverage.

Where a piece of content has a commercial relationship — for example, a sponsored guide produced in partnership with a brand or a service provider — it will be clearly labelled as “Sponsored content” or “In partnership with [name]” and is editorially distinct from our independent content.

Sourcing requirements

Every factual claim in PawHub content must be supported by at least one of the following:

A named primary source (a person who has direct knowledge, quoted on the record).
A verified secondary source (a credible media organisation, official body, or peer-reviewed publication — including veterinary journals such as the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, or equivalent).
Official data or guidelines from a recognised veterinary or regulatory body (e.g., AVS Singapore, the Australian Veterinary Association, WSAVA, AAHA).
Direct observation by a PawHub staff member or verified contributor.

Anonymous sources may be used for news reporting only where there is a legitimate reason for anonymity and at least one corroborating source. Anonymous sources are never used for health claims, product reviews or veterinary content.

We do not fabricate quotes, statistics, clinical outcomes or product specifications. We do not invent sources.

Fact-checking and review process

Before publication, all content goes through the following review workflow:

Writer / contributor self-check: all factual claims are verified against primary or credible secondary sources before submission. Health content is flagged for DVM review at this stage.
Editor review: a senior editor reviews for factual accuracy, source quality, fairness, tone, and consistency with these standards. The editor may reject a draft or request additional sourcing.
DVM review (health and care content): the reviewing veterinarian reads the full draft, verifies clinical accuracy, requests corrections or additional caveats where needed, and signs off before publication. The piece is not published without DVM approval.
Legal/compliance check (where applicable): content that covers regulated topics — including breed-specific legislation, import/quarantine rules, licensing requirements, or insurance products — is reviewed for accuracy and appropriate caveating before publication. Regulation content is dated and the source is cited.

News aggregation summaries link to the original reporting. We do not present third-party reporting as our own original reporting.

Content production

All PawHub content is written or edited by human writers and editors before publication. Our editorial team is responsible for the accuracy, fairness and quality of every piece that goes live.

Every article, review, guide and news item is written or substantially edited by a named human writer or editor before publication.
Human editors are responsible for verifying all factual claims, sourcing requirements and editorial standards described in this document.
Health and care content undergoes an additional layer of DVM review before it is published — the human veterinary reviewer is responsible for clinical accuracy and appropriate caveating.
We do not publish content that has not been written or reviewed by a human editor.

Pre-publication “DRAFT” content

During the development and pre-launch period, some pages on this Site may contain placeholder copy, illustrative data or draft content marked with a “DRAFT” notice. This content has not completed the full editorial and veterinary review process and should not be relied upon. Draft content will be removed or replaced before the relevant pages are publicly promoted.

Corrections policy

We are committed to correcting errors promptly and transparently.

Minor corrections (spelling, punctuation, grammar) are made silently.
Factual corrections are accompanied by a correction note appended to the article, stating what was wrong and what the correct information is. We do not delete or conceal corrected content.
Clinical or health corrections — where an error in health content could have misled a pet owner into an unsafe decision — are treated as significant corrections. The corrected article is re-reviewed by the DVM reviewer (or an alternative qualified vet). A correction note is appended. Where the piece was widely shared, we note the correction via our newsletter and social channels.
Significant corrections (where the error materially changes the meaning or accuracy of a piece) are also noted in a corrections summary and communicated via our social channels.

To report an error or request a correction, contact editorial@ourpetcircle.com. We will acknowledge your message within 3 business days and publish any warranted correction within 5 business days of verification.

Tone, accuracy and positivity

PawHub editorial aims to be accurate, warm, trustworthy and genuinely useful to pet parents. We prioritise:

Accuracy above all. We would rather delay a story than publish something we cannot verify. When we are uncertain, we say so. When the science is evolving, we represent it as such.
Warmth with substance. We write for pet parents who love their animals and want the best for them. We are warm and approachable without sacrificing accuracy or clinical rigour.
Community uplift. We actively seek stories that support responsible pet ownership, animal welfare, adoption and the human-animal bond. We believe good content strengthens the pet-parent community.
Fair representation. We reflect the full diversity of pet owners — across species, breeds, life stages, budgets, backgrounds and geographies.

Corporate social responsibility

PawHub is a community-focused business and we take our obligations to the pet-parent community seriously. Our CSR commitments are:

Responsible pet ownership advocacy. A portion of revenue is directed back into free community initiatives — adoption drives, responsible-ownership workshops and school programmes in Singapore.
Carbon offset goal. PawHub is committed to offsetting 10 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent annually through verified carbon reduction programmes. We report progress on this goal each year.
Free content, always. Our care guides, health articles and long-form editorial are free to access — always. We will never paywall content that helps people care for their pets.
Animal welfare. We do not accept advertising or commercial relationships from brands that have been found to engage in credible, substantiated animal welfare violations.
Local sourcing. Where possible, we partner with local veterinarians, photographers, writers and businesses in each market rather than using generic global suppliers.

Feedback on our community and editorial commitments is welcome at hello@ourpetcircle.com.

Writer and contributor standards

All PawHub contributors — staff and freelance — are required to disclose any material conflicts of interest before a piece is assigned or published. This includes financial relationships with brands featured in a review, personal relationships with subjects of profile pieces, professional relationships with providers listed in the directory, or any other relationship that could reasonably be seen to influence the content.

Contributors must not accept undisclosed gifts, product samples, hospitality or payments from brands or organisations they are covering for PawHub.

Questions about our editorial standards? Contact editorial@ourpetcircle.com.