PDF Photos (or "why is this forum so trash?")

Why this entire forum is an absolute joke

It all boils down to nonsense like this:

To give you an idea, we have a thread dedicated to pet photos, and then some power-tripping moderator decides to rename it "Pets AND OTHER LIVESTOCK"—essentially labeling someone’s actual family members as nothing more than farm animals.

But the platform isn't just garbage because of these petty insults; it's also because I was slapped with a warning for "trolling," even though calling out a moderator for referring to people's families as livestock isn't trolling—it's an observation. To make matters worse, they completely ignored their own moderation guidelines; the mod in question handed me a strike for being offensive, which is a total farce, considering he's the one acting like a sociopath by suggesting anyone with a shred of sanity would call a person's family "livestock."

Then his buddy, another moderator who has harbored a grudge against me ever since I dared to ask legitimate technical questions about splitting PDF files—questions he couldn't answer, by the way—steps in to label me a provocateur before deleting my post entirely. When I tried to take it to the site administrators to ask why my message vanished, he deleted that too.

And so it goes.

That is precisely why this forum is a dumpster fire.

It's because the moderators here treat users' families like cattle, and they have a little clique of moderator friends to back them up.

That’s why I’m done participating here (so, silverpanther13, enjoy being the forum's cleanup crew).

Just remember, according to these people, you don't have pets at home—you just have livestock.

Look, I’ll just say it—calling people "livestock" isn't some grand insult—it’s actually just a technical term for a specific group of animals, many of which end up as pets anyway. This thread is meant for photos of those creatures, and any other animals that share our space. A little wordplay in the title isn't hurting anyone.

Besides, I don't have a single enemy in the world. 😉

That post you linked really just shows how much I was aiming for a bit of dark humor rather than actually trying to insult pet owners—and trust me, as a fellow pet lover myself, I know how sensitive that can be!
There’s honestly a much classier way to tell someone you don't like their thread title without making it sound like a personal attack.
And look, if you truly feel like I messed up or crossed a line, feel free to report me.

Since I am fully aware that the reporting system here is rigged so that I’d essentially be filing a complaint against myself—and since those reports never actually reach the admins or supermods because that isn't how this software is designed—reporting a moderator is nothing more than a futile, pointless exercise.

You are more than welcome to refer to your own pets as livestock if that helps you sleep at night, but you will not do it to mine. For the record, this is my thread; I started it.

I spent over fifteen years with a dog who was practically my brother, and now I have cats that are my daughters. They aren't livestock; they are FAMILY. Take that pathetic attempt at "humor" of yours and go dump it somewhere far, far away, where the sun doesn't shine. Mature, grown, rational adults don't act like this, nor does it ever cross their minds to use such language, simply because it isn't funny. Unless, of course, you're still stuck in middle school, giggling, "Hehe, livestock! Hehe!"

Goodbye. This forum remains a total disaster, and I have zero patience left for the moderator cronyism, the sheer rudeness, the insults, the shady dealings, and the endless ego trips. That is why I left, and that is precisely why I have no intention of ever coming back.

I don't usually weigh in on the pet threads, but I simply cannot let this slide. I know exactly what "scum" means, both literally and figuratively, and I fail to see even a shred of wit in this pathetic attempt to rename the topic—whether you use emojis or not.

If you had titled it "Pets and Other Creatures" or "Pets and Small Animals," fine. But calling them scum? Really?

Total facepalm moment. Honestly, I'm hitting my head against the wall here, though I can't even use emojis thanks to this clunky mobile app. The developers are completely clueless.

Like silverpanther13 said, that crowd never is never meant to be a compliment, period. I seriously doubt anyone’s actually posting photos of real livestock here anyway—if someone actually kept a farm animal in their apartment, they wouldn't call it vermin, they'd call it a pet.
Just a really cringey attempt at being funny.

The mods are gonna swap out the thread title once they touch base and agree on something that actually covers everything you see in these photos.

Look, calling them "livestock" isn't some kind of slur when you're talking about farm animals. In fact, folks who actually raise these animals use the term all the time. There’s a real sense of respect there—they care for them deeply because those animals are what put food on their family's table. It's a way of life.
The word wasn't meant to be an insult. If you look at the end of the thread, you'll see photos of pigs, horses, and sheep mixed in with the usual cats and dogs, along with a few other creatures too.

I'll admit, the title was a bit of a clumsy choice. It didn't land quite right, but I promise there wasn't any malice behind it. No one was trying to be mean-spirited here.

Kate Wilson said:The thread title was just a clumsy, unfortunate choice of words, but there wasn't any actual malice or bad intent behind it like people are trying to claim.

Thanks, Kate Wilson.

Look, you can totally voice your criticisms calmly without resorting to insults or being provocative. If anyone wants to debate this new topic and its title, please do so over here.

Appreciate you all listening.