***Announcement*** - Animal Welfare Forum now the "Animals & Pets Premoderated" forum

seamus

Discussion of Animal Welfare and Animals in general is understandably an emotive issue. Most of us who frequent the Animals & Pet Issues forum - and certainly all of the moderators - are passionate about animals.

Unfortunately even the best of us can sometimes get the red mist when provoked on the subject and say things which at best we regret, and which at worst can land us in civil or even criminal trouble.

The pre-moderation of the Animal Welfare forum has had the intended effect of reducing the possibility of libellous comments being made public and preventing heated debates from escalating out of control.

However, it's not without its problems and it seems that the forum has suffered somewhat from a lack of direction in recent times and people have become more frustrated with the delays caused by pre-moderation than with the actual topics being discussed themselves.

After a discussion between the moderators, we have decided to change the name of this forum to reflect it's intended usage from now on.

This forum will be now be a holding place for the more controversial topics, topics which have are likely to result in libel or illegal comments or any other topics which the moderating team feel need to be kept on a leash (pun intended).
It is no longer intended as solely a place for discussing Animal Welfare.

Topics will be moved from the main forum to the pre-moderated forum (and vice-versa) as we see fit. As ever, do not discuss moderation issues on-thread. Instead, the moderator who moved the topic will be clear (they will post on the thread) and you can PM that moderator to discuss it with them. Please be patient when you PM us; we are not online 24/7 and even when we are, we may need some time to consider our response.

We would ask that posters are as vigiliant and self-policing as possible in this - please use your head. If you think that a topic is going to cause consternation or there's a high possibility that a person or organisation is going to come in for some strong criticism, then it is in the best interests of the forum that the thread is posted in the Pre-moderated forum. If it turns out to be a tame thread, no harm, it can be moved to the main forum.

The moderators for our part will do our best to be as communicative as possible;

• When a thread is moved, we will post on the topic with a very brief reason for why it's been moved
• If we do not approve a post we will PM the affected user notifying them and give them the opportunity to re-post with more appropriate text
• We will do our best to ensure that posts are approved in a timely fashion. Obviously we are not a full-time service, so there will inevitably be delays.

As with any forum change or creation, there will be a settling in period, while everyone finds their feet, so please bear with us. An updated charter will be posted in due course.

In the meantime, the moderation team are always open to friendly discourse and constructive suggestions. Please do not hesitate to PM any/all of us if you have anything you would like to share about the forum(s).