Prayers and good thoughts for you and Rufus

DB

This is going to sound absolutely nuts, but we buy the organic animal crackers at Costco and the dogs love them and we can give them lots of them because they are so small (they think they are getting a lot that way). With our pack, they could probably eat a buffalo and still be hungry

db

Probably won't do any good, but I started a thread over their called "An Open Letter To Natura", & posted the following:

Geff

can't hurt

Good idea, what is the worst that can happen, takes up some space on the hard drive. Maybe you will get a response, I know that one company responded to a negative post in 36 minutes. So we know that they are watching. Maybe you can get a positive result.

good luck

db

partly because there are fewer members

Therese

To give you some idea, back in May there were maybe 600-700 members, latest is over 1200 and growing daily. Itchmo himself does not really censor unless it gets really bad. The influx of new people is the scary part. We have no idea who they are, what there agendas are etc.

So to keep safe it is better to err on the side of caution.

There have been a few posts on the food forums, if I hadn't deleted them immediately I am sure there would have been a lawsuit.

I always remember that anyone can sue anyone for anything. Whether they win or not is another story, but MOST of us can't afford the legal fees, big biz can.

Freedom has become a relative function, relative to who is doing what to whom and how much money that whom has.

db

Ginnys

Invisible fence has limitations. It really depends on the breed of dog and how much they want to get out.

Our guys would just keep going, especially if there was something to chase.

Just wanted to give you something to think about.

db

The one problem I have there is that Itchmo's forums are so large I often follow links & don't even know which of the forums I'm in! (unfortunately I'm being serious here).

Geff

That is the reason that we moderate the food forums, otherwise they become like some you mentioned, can't find anything, way off topic, and make no sense.

With the food forums, we set up stricter rules and Justme and I moderate daily to MAKE sure it doesn't get that way and it hasn't.

One of the things to keep in mind there is that if discussion was allowed, it would start to drift off topic and before you know it, everyone is talking about all kinds of food, problems, what the cat did that was so cute, etc. and then the whole thing becomes worthless.

There is on topic now that has over 73 pages, it started out on topic but it goes who knows where now. I don't even try to read it.

Itchmo has over 1200 members, some of which have never been on a forum, have no idea of etiquette, etc. The only way we could keep the food forums readable was to do what we did.

As to our wonderful, great, legal system, you have hit the nail on the head.

Everything we do on these forums is monitored, like I had written above, this member posts a complaint, within 2 minutes there is a company rep. responding. I put disclaimers on everything but that still doesn't stop them from legal action. Typically these large corps have attorneys on staff, usually with nothing better to do. They would love to shut us all down.

Oh well, it is the way it is, and in knowing that we can prepare for it.

db

I'm posting at both. However, if they really follow Justme's new rules, I'll likely be banned from Itchmo's forum by tommorow! I ask questions. I give answers. I post opinions. I post weblinks. I post emails to & from pet food companies. All are against their new rules.

Geff

That simply is not true.

The rules only apply to the food forums, not the whole site. I have seen your posts and they are fine with me. I have seen you post all of the above and there is nothing wrong with any of it. Just don't want the emails to and from in the food forum, trying to make it easy to navigate. There is nothing wrong with putting a link in your food forum post to direct to another forum where discussions can happen.

It is not our intent to censor or remove anyone, just trying to moderate, which if you ever did it is not an easy job, or nothing like I thought it would be.

"Absolutely NO claims are to be made FOR or AGAINST any food without ABSOLUTE PROOF, veterinary  certificates, lab results, statements of fact, evidence etc."

Davis

Hope I can clarify this for you.

In the 2 weeks that we have been doing this, there have been cases where someone would post something similar to the following

brand x killed my dog, they should all burn in hell, their food is crap, the company is full of a$$holes etc.

That is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Most people didn't see it because I deleted it immediately. Then the poster sent me a PM, calling me names, etc.

So the rule was created.

What we are looking for there is, substantiated proof. However since this forum was originally meant to be a easily searchable place to get information any proof would then go into another forum, by a link, where it could be discussed if anyone wanted to. So it would look something like this.

Brand x killed my dog see following link for info, proof, etc

"link to another forum where discussion would be"

This way the forum would not get clogged with the discussion, like so many of them have.

We encourage you to list your food, and experience, but name calling, is out.

Conversely the same applies to overt praise and recommendations, would could be misused by said organization. We are not scientists, lab techs, etc so we can't really recommend one food over the other. We can only relate our experience.

Some thing to keep in mind, the pet food companies are watching these forums constantly, there was a case on Friday, someone posted something negative about a particular food, almost immediately a company rep put in a response. THEY ARE WATCHING US CONSTANTLY.

So the liability increases, and don't think for a minute that they wouldn't just love to shut us all down.

These are some of the reasons for the rules in those 2 forums only.

In the others the similar rules apply, but less strict.

I am sure that if someone here posted slanderous statements about food without proof it would be censored also.

These are the facts of life in our society, I don't like them anymore than anyone else.

So you are all welcome to put your experiences there but it will be up to the 2 of us as to what stays. Every rule there has come from the experience of the last 2 weeks. Also keep in mind we have over 1200 members there many of them new, I have no idea who the troublemakers are, who has been sent by a pet food company to disrupt things, who is who??

hope this helps

db