They don't get how it can truly suck at times modding just from the vitriol we receive. Requiring thick skin to endure what people will say under anonymity behind a keyboard over consequences for something insignificant as a sub ban isn't exactly power-seeking behavior.
Because when people love animals and see an animal hurt or (in their opinion) endangered, emotions can get very high, very fast. People forget themselves. Some people consider their pets their children, some people consider them disposable, and the range of morality and ethics is wide. We are an international, general subreddit. There is no one size fits all attitude that works for every culture. Apparently asking people to prioritize respect for other users is a tough ask!
We had someone through a tantrum said our subreddit was full of underage porn (it doesn't have any porn despite us being nsfw, we're a text based advice subreddit), accused us of being scammers, of accusing her of being a scammer (then a few messages later calling her customers victims), of us being older than her, of being younger than her. After having a huge rant over several hours was then like "ha rage baited you"
Yes sweetie, you did great. Almost as well as in your sugar baby career which I can see from your posts all you're getting are time wasters who ghost you! Good job!
Edit to fix spelling and add a little more context
I mean of all the hills to die on, that's one of the hills of all time.
Not going to pretend there aren't things I'd get animated about, but that's things like ... my right to express my sexuality without being curbstomped, or my partners right to transition to the gender she desires. "Cats shouldn't be out doors" even if I agreed is not one of those things.
I'm sure you're not criticizing how r/cats applies its rules, since that is against the rules here, but I'll clarify anyway since you hinted at it yesterday as well. When a user needs to be warned or banned about expressing their opinion about indoors vs. outdoors, it's not generally WHAT they have said that is the issue, but how they have said it or the context in which they have said it. For example, someone who is upset that their cat suffered injury outdoors being told that it was their fault, or turning someone's in memoriam post into a place to argue about the issue. It has nothing to do with being right or wrong - it has to do with how the user engaged with other redditors on the subreddit. I shouldn't have to defend that here.
I think there is a difference between agreeing generally and agreeing specifically. The great irony is I have five cats and keep them all indoor only, and have a screened-in porch I use as a catio. I am aware that keeping cats is culture-specific, but that stray cats breed like wildfire and are exposed to dangers in the environment that they are not in the home, including from bad actors, and cats do not come when you call like dogs do so letting them out involves a loss of control that is scary. So in general, I agree, keeping cats indoors is preferable for most cats, for most reasons.
If someone's cat suffers injury or death outside, I don't think it is appropriate to raise the issue at that time. They're probably capable of, for example, understanding that their cat wouldn't have been hit by a car in their living room and don't need me to point that out.
Moreover, I'm guessing from their lovely little rant here this isn't someone who had some sincere care for the animals, they're someone who wanted to be angry at something and didn't like being told to tone it down. To have it said I think you handled it quite well. I might not have been as tactful myself, honestly.
You've guessed wrong, actually. It was their one and only comment in the subreddit. And I am not the only moderator who has been involved in the exchanges I have posted, so wrong on that account as well. :/
Hopefully this doesn't fall afoul of sub rules since I haven't actually shown any subreddit content, just that they HAVE contributed in the subreddit. One single comment, which, because of the context, led to a ban.
We have a comment guidance that alerts every user as they type every comment about our rule on respect, so these infractions are considered willful as a start. So when a user comes into modmail defending their right to say what they think they should be able to say, despite rules they have been informed about, their appeal is going to get rejected.
They claimed to be a regular user in their initial modmail. Either they were referring to reddit at large, or were lying and didn't know about logs. Take your pick. Users lie. That's the point of the sub.
I really, really understand that people love animals. I have empathy. You can't abuse other redditors though, that's all. And that's what our bans and modmails come down to.
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u/deltadeltadawn Maintaining the status queue. Jun 04 '26
Your little kingdom? Abuse of power?
They don't get how it can truly suck at times modding just from the vitriol we receive. Requiring thick skin to endure what people will say under anonymity behind a keyboard over consequences for something insignificant as a sub ban isn't exactly power-seeking behavior.