Is castration a taboo topic?

So, I opened a thread titled "castration - health benefit" where I posed a very straightforward question, fully expecting some equally straightforward answers. Instead, the whole topic gets locked. I’m curious—which specific rules did I supposedly violate? Thanks.

It’s funny how people call this a taboo subject when there is an entire dedicated thread in that 157-page PDF titled "Group Discussion: Spaying and Neutering Dogs and Cats"... if anyone actually takes the time to sit down and carefully read through all the posts, they'll find the answer right there 😉.

Fine, I misspoke. What I meant to type was "castration - is it a dogma?". I’m not even questioning the topic in that link; I’m talking about the thread I started titled "castration - health benefit." Why on earth was it locked?

I’ve let the moderators know about your questions here. They’ll get back to you as soon as they have a moment...

Thanks.

electricstag16 said:Yeah, I misspoke. I should have titled it "castration - dogma?". I’m not asking about the topic in the link provided; I’m talking about the thread I actually started, which is called "castration - health benefit." So why was it locked?

And what makes your specific thread so special that it can't be discussed in the one linked above?

I'm not asking you as a moderator, just as someone who hangs out on that subforum and knows people were already debating the pros and cons of castration/sterilization over there. 🤷 Not to mention, those people were actually providing arguments in favor of it, yet you just dug your heels in, ignored their points, and told them to shut up because you didn't care what they had to say.

There’s no point trying to argue in the thread linked above, because every time I attempted to engage there, my posts were immediately deleted. I don't know how many times I have already stated this, but I am not interested in hearing any arguments for or against the issue. That is precisely why I started this specific thread, where I posed one very straightforward question: what are the health benefits of castration? Instead of receiving an answer to that question, the entire topic was simply locked. And, naturally, when I asked here why the thread was shut down, I was met with total silence.

electricstag16 said:And I still haven't received an answer regarding why the thread was locked, which was my original question...

I don't see any actual reason to assume the worst just yet. It all comes down to when you posted and how quickly I noticed it and reached out to the moderators to step in.

If we don't hear anything within 24 hours, then your assumption might be right. Please just bear with us for a moment...

You're right on the timing aspect. My issue—and this goes back to that controversial locked thread—is that everyone is just shouting into the void. People are posting whatever random nonsense comes to mind, yet nobody actually addresses the question at hand. That’s the core of the problem. But, as you pointed out, it's still too early to assume we won't get an answer eventually.

The Pets sub is a bit of its own thing, so certain topics are always gonna be off-limits, no matter how you spin them. On this forum, we pretty much push for neutering pets, and anyone who starts acting cocky about it—like you are right now—is just asking for a locked thread. It’s the same deal with ear or tail cropping. Since those practices were banned by US federal law, you can't even post pics of cropped animals here anymore, even if they were done before the ban actually kicked in.

Look, I'm not a mod, but I'm not blind either. Just look at your tone:

cut/
And please, cut out the nonsense like saying there's less chance of testicular cancer if you just take them out—that's not an actual argument, it's just straight-up insanity.

Pugs, please just read the original post.
It’s like saying we should lock up innocent people just because they might commit a crime someday. Totally nonsensical and crazy. How would you feel if a doctor suggested you have your daughter get a mastectomy just because she might get breast cancer down the road? By that "logic," why don't we just rip out a dog's kidney so it won't get kidney cancer? Or maybe take all four legs so it doesn't run into traffic?

I'll say it again: what are the actual medical benefits of removing healthy organs from healthy animals?
If my neighbor's son died from testicular cancer, am I supposed to go neuter my own son?

And then on the other side, a mod jumps in with a warning:

electricstag16, please stop talking down to people just because you don't like their answers or think they're wrong. That kind of attitude falls into disrespectful communication, and if you keep it up, I'm locking this thread..

So you get a warning, then a strike, then the whole thread gets nuked just like the mod said it would. Weirdest thing ever. ☕

electricstag16 said:So, I started this thread called "Castration - Health Benefits" where I just wanted to ask a super straightforward question and get some simple answers. But now the whole thing is locked. Does anyone know which rules I actually broke? Thanks!

Well, you actually tripped over a few different rules across three separate threads here:

- off-topic stuff or spamming
- trolling
- being disrespectful toward other users
- ignoring moderator advice and warnings (both in the thread and via DM)
- talking back rudely to mods when they tried to warn you

On top of all that, the way you started the thread wasn't really how we do things here—you didn't use the multi-quote tool, and instead of just editing your posts, you kept dropping new ones one after another in a really short amount of time.

Since you just joined us about a week ago, we were being pretty patient. We pointed you toward the forum rules, suggested better ways to communicate, and sent you warnings both on the thread and through private messages. We even let you start the thread in a non-standard way just because it had potential for a good debate, provided people weren't being obnoxious to each other. But since that didn't happen, the thread had to be shut down.

I honestly don't see what the big deal is regarding my previous comments. My stance remains: removing healthy organs from perfectly healthy animals under the guise of preventing potential future diseases—without a shred of actual evidence—is nothing short of nonsensical and insane. I am entitled to my opinion, whether certain people find it palatable or not. Furthermore, I fail to see why anyone would take offense at the highlighted portion.
Secondly, the fact that people on this forum are pushing castration has absolutely nothing to do with the topic I initiated. I was simply seeking an explanation regarding the specific health benefits of the procedure. I made it quite clear that I wasn't interested in those dismissive "answers" suggesting we should just cut them out now to prevent hypothetical tumors later. Naturally, every single "response" followed that exact same line of thought. Not one person actually answered the question I posed.
It is the exact same pattern here. I pose a straightforward question to the moderators, and instead of receiving a direct answer from administration, I get bombarded with all sorts of "input" from everyone except the actual admins.
The fact that certain threads are perpetually shut down only serves to highlight how little this forum respects diverse perspectives. If this is truly how things operate, then perhaps "DogmaUSA.com" would have been a much more fitting name for this site.

So, here’s the deal—apparently I bruised the admin's ego? Fine by me.

And as for this trolling accusation—where exactly was I trolling? I’ll admit, I was posting in the off-topic section, which is why I started a dedicated thread. Every single person who actually achieved something was posting in off-topic at the time. Yet, instead of having their posts removed, they just locked the entire thread.

electricstag16 said:I just asked the admins a simple question, and instead of getting a straight answer from them, I get all sorts of "responses" from everyone else except the actual admins.

Look, the standard procedure here is that moderators handle the responses—ideally, it’s the specific mod who was handling the thread and whose decision you're actually questioning. Then, a supermod steps in to review the appeal, like MS. Pringles did here, to judge if any mistakes were made and correct things if necessary. The admins aren't obligated to jump in if they feel the moderator and supermod made the right call, and honestly, I think they nailed it this time. The issue wasn't really about what you were asking, but rather the way you were going about it—your tone toward other users and how you reacted to the warnings from the mods. We tried to point out where you were going wrong and even gave you some pointers to follow, but you just brushed them off. Ultimately, the thread had to be locked because, frankly, that kind of back-and-forth just doesn't work for a healthy community.

Fine, I’ll start a new thread. I’ll even be on my absolute best behavior, just to see how long it actually lasts before someone shuts it down.

electricstag16 said:Alright then, I'll go ahead and start a brand new thread, and I promise to be on my absolute best behavior—let's just see how long I can actually keep it up.

You better clear that with the moderator first.

When I said "admin," I was actually referring to the person in charge—so, you mean the moderator? I'm still pretty new here and haven't quite wrapped my head around all the terminology yet. Glad I finally figured it out, thanks.

electricstag16 said:When I said "admin," I just meant the person in charge—like, is that the moderator? I'm still pretty new here and haven't quite picked up all the lingo yet. Thanks for clearing that up!

Well, we all have our roles to play! The hierarchy basically goes moderator, then super-moderator, and finally the admin. The moderators handle the day-to-day stuff like managing the subforums, while the super-moderators deal with appeals and weigh in on the big-picture decisions, like tweaking the site rules or adding new sections. Then you've got the admins, who can step in and override those decisions if they feel it's absolutely necessary. Ultimately, the admin has the final say, though they don't always feel the need to chime in if they're already on board with what the mods and super-mods have decided.

Before you go ahead and start that new thread, just make sure to check in with the moderator first. We try to avoid duplicate topics here, and once an old thread gets locked, you aren't supposed to just spin up a brand new one without asking.

I went ahead and started this new thread before I realized there was a post stating I needed to clear things with an admin first. My apologies. So, which administrator handles these matters, and what’s the best way to coordinate—should I send a private message, or can we settle this right here on the forum? Thanks.