Scruff is never the sole hero of any video, activity book, advertisement, comic book, coloring book, or other material. Scruff must be used only for the purpose of educating children and adults about prevention of crime, violence, and substance abuse. Scruff is portrayed only in situations related to child protection or substance abuse prevention concerns of children his age. His character is designed to enable children to identify with him so that they can relate even more effectively to McGruff's messages. He may on rare occasions be tempted to do something that is not legally acceptable, but he never engages in illegal activity of any kind.
Scruff never endorses any person, product, service, or company.
He never endorses, directly or indirectly, any candidate for elected office, any political party, or any ballot campaign, whether issue-oriented or not. Scruff is never shown with a weapon or anything that might be construed as a weapon. He may not imply having a weapon in his possession. Scruff may not use or appear to be using or involved with alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, or drug paraphernalia. He is never shown in any sexually implicative way.