Apathetic forum or not?

[Elaine]

Right following on from the cute cats debate and moving forward from it, how about we all come together and try to get something which we can put forward to Az to try to promote this forum as one that does not condone irresponsible cat ownership/breeding. Perhaps something which can be put into the posting guidelines.
Before anyone says it, I* know full well that it will not stop people from breeding indiscriminately but wouldnt it be nice to have a forum where we are all united in the fact that such practice is not acceptable?
Something like......
We do not accept members who are commercial breeders or kitten traders.
We expect breeders to adhere to relevant breed society/club ethics and that all apropriate health checks performed.
We reserve the right to refuse or terminate the membership of anyone breeding found not to be acting in the best interests of their cat/s, this includes the indiscriminate breeding of moggies.

or

Breeding from your queen Before choosing a stud you should consider why you wish to mate your queen. Remember that you are planning a litter of kittens for your sake, not for hers; there may be birth complications and she may even need a caesarean section, so if you planned to have a litter of kittens for her sake, have her spayed instead.

Open to constructive critisism only or I'll cry:wink:
I dunno, just trying to get the ball rolling really I guess...............

Any better suggestions are welcome.
Maybe some one or collectively, we could get some articles written about breeding responsibly, the pit falls of breeding, why we should encourage breeding at all, just throwing it out there.....

Are we going to continue be one of the many apathetic forums who constantly bang heads over this or are we going to become pro-active about how we should deal with the issue for the sake of a damned good forum.

[MrsH]

I think rather than lots of us putting forward suggestions as to what should appear in a charter, it might be simpler to ask one of the mods to create something on the lines we want and then asking us to pm them with any ideas for alterations we feel we would like to see. Otherwise I fear a "Charter Thread" could go on for ages, round and round in circles and we'd end up dispirited.

I'm sure the mods realise how strongly we feel about BYB breeding, lack of neutering etc. and we certainly don't want this to go unaddressed any longer. I would dearly love to have the stipulation that posting in conflict of our charter will result in removal of the post and a warning issued. Any repeat of the offence would result in banning the poster.

[angieh]

I would support the idea of a Charter. Potential members should sign that they have read it before registering.

Wonder if one of the Mods would be interested in taking that forward?

[Mags]

All very good ideas ladies, I suggest you put forward your ideas and suggestions in the Site Feedback/Suggestions section of the board. Azz will give it thought and hopefully come up with some ideas and answers as to how this can be handled.

[dandysmom]

Agree with Mags comment.

[Elaine]

Ok fair enough.

[Shelley123]

I think a charter would be a good idea, it would idealy help educate and also help people decide whether they want to be part of the forum.
I have to say that yes i hate to see any cruelty/suffering on the part of animals but i also hate to see a person walk into trouble because they don't know any better or perhaps have different views. It all leaves a very nasty taste on what is otherwise a great forum.
Also going to play devils advocate here. How can we define commercial breeders as i'm sure all breeders of Pedegree Cats will charge for the kittens even though there is apparently no money in it ?
Also think it would be good for the moderator to perhaps do one for us to comment on.

[Az]

Sorry didn't see this thread, I'll quote what I put in the other thread:

I've lost count the number of times I've suggested that if people feel strongly about it they should consider getting together and writing an article (as a thread for now) for Catsey - and we will add a prominent link to it.

SB felt strongly enough about it to write one for Dogsey, Thinking about breeding? Think about this... (http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=12589) it is our most read article, ever! Just imagine how much good that has done - it doesn't take a scientist to work out it's done much more good than not having one. Whenever I notice a hint of someone considering 'breeding' in a thread on Dogsey, I always post a link to that thread - and many others do too.

Re a 'members charter' - I don't think this is a good idea. For one I am against censorship as we're not a draconian site, and two, most people will just skip it, or us and move on to the next forum. What good will that do? What's the point of having a voice if nobody can hear you - or is unwilling to listen to you. (And that goes for being overtly hostile too - it achieves little because people stop listening.)

We have to make a social change about why breeding willy nilly is wrong - and we're not going to do it by yelling from inside a closed cast iron cube.

Education is the key, not censorship or closed off quarters ;)

[angieh]

I like your measured sensible approach Az. Not being a member of Dogsey, do you think the article you refer to would "translate" here and would it's writer agree to it being used, or do you think a new one should be written? I find it very encouraging that you say it's the most read article - so at least people are paying attention.

[yola]

I think the charter is a good idea - it's all in about how it is worded. IF someone genuinely comes looking for information concerning their pregnant cat AND we are able to present ourselves as a positive, helpful place where they can get advice etc.

I think it offers a strong 'selling' point for the forum and sets it apart from others. It clearly outlines what someone coming with this dilemma can expect i.e., we have information - ancecdotal, educational and from personal experience but we do feel strongly about un-neutered pets and if you come for advice we do expect you to listen, learn and take steps that it doesn't happen again.

Of course we can make it obvious too that it's a good place for chat and support :-D

[Az]

Just thought of a good compromise for a charter (if that's what people really want). Rather than 'require' people adhere to it on registration (which I would not be comfortable with tbh) we could make it a sticky thread in the general cat chat section and everyone who agrees with it says so in the thread.

That way we send out a strong message (ie here's a list of members who adhere to these responsible and ethical practises), but at the same time we don't come across like some extreme dictatorship type site :smt023

[Elaine]

Sounds good Az but what if some of us "dont" agree with whats written in it?;)

[Az]

Sounds good Az but what if some of us "dont" agree with whats written in it?;)

We can do what I have planned for the Dogsey directory... a choice of about 5 'charters' that breeders who wish to list must select one of, or say they adhere to their own 'charter'.

There would 3 Dogsey ones, A B C, with A, being the highest most stringent(/most desirable from an owners point of view) a kennel club one, etc

Anyway I'm digressing, my point is we could have a number of them (say 3?) and people can say they're with A B C etc :)

[Az]

Just a quick note to say I have moved our old Articles section in a more prominent position... and made it so that you can get help from the rest of the community when working on one... and simply post your final article in the main section when you're done :D

This seemed like the best idea as you don't have to wait for me to edit all of them - you guys will be able to do it better and faster this way... dunno why I didn't think of it before :roll: :lol: :blush:

[Gladys]

I love Elaine's idea of a members' charter.

I can also see Az's argument that precluding certain people from membership is not the way forward, and that education is the key.

I wonder, however, if the inability to be included on Catsey as a member would be education in itself?

[Elaine]

[quote=
I wonder, however, if the inability to be included on Catsey as a member would be education in itself?[/quote]

Sorry, what do you mean?

[Hreow]

...
I wonder, however, if the inability to be included on Catsey as a member would be education in itself?

If they never join, how will they know how wonderful we are as a community and know what they are missing? :D

I much, much prefer the educational articles way of showing us to be the knowledgeable and (cat) friendly people we are, than the iron rules to exclude people. More flies with honey and all that, and much better chances of helping the merely confused to be the best cat-owners that they can be.
Less time wasted for the mods in factfinding and enforcing rules in a world where nothing much is purely good or evil, just shades of grey. I think we stretch their patience enough at times with our sometimes heated debates. :mrgreen:

[dandysmom]

Common sense as usual from Hreow; I concur completely.