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Introduction

On behalf of the Administrators, Moderators, and members of www.pitbull-chat.com, welcome to Pit Bull Chat. Please be aware of the following rules and regulations regarding usage and membership to this forum. Pit Bull Chat prides itself on being one of the premier pit bull forums on the Internet. As such, it’s important that we keep the site as friendly and on-topic as possible. The following rules outline how we try to keep this a place where anyone can feel comfortable and welcome.

Enjoy your stay!

User Conduct

1. Attacks on moderators will not be tolerated, and may result in an immediate permanent ban. Moderators sometimes have to make difficult judgment calls, but remember we *are* human (well at least most of us are!) Hopefully we'll make decisions that are considered "correct" by the majority of the community. Do not post complaints, criticisms, or moderation questions on the forum. These posts will be deleted and no explanation will be given. If you have a concern about a particular moderator, send a private message to an Administrator. And if you have constructive suggestions on improvements that can be made to the forum or its moderation, please post them in the Suggestions area.


2. Keep in mind that this is not a democracy. We have the right to refuse service to anyone. If you make yourself too big of a pain in the butt to the moderating community or otherwise are a bad influence on the forum, your access may be revoked.


3. This is not a flame war site, so please do not engage in such. No distinction will be made between the instigator and those who merely participate.


4. Personal attacks against other forum members will not be tolerated, nor will any type of "trolling" for a fight. This includes political attacks, slurs, or sneering at any viewpoint or political party.


5. No racist, homophobic, or misogynistic remarks, including derogatory slang, be it overt or covert, will be tolerated.


6. Do not make posts about anything which would be defined or deemed to be statutorily illegal. This includes, but is not limited to: death threats, terroristic threats, threats of harm to another individual, multi-level marketing schemes, "ponzi schemes", invasion of privacy, credit card fraud, racketeering, defamation, slander, and other common illegal activities.


7. Be respectful. This is harder to define, but will be moderated. An example would be disrespecting pit bull owners who chose a blue dog over a red dog, and "sneering" at them or acting like they're idiots for the choice they made. If a moderator believes you are being purposefully disrespectful to a fellow member, you will be notified. Bashing for the sake of bashing will not be tolerated.


8. Don't make libelous accusations. If you have a problem with another member or business, and cannot prove it absolutely, don’t bring in into the forum. It could be treated as grounds for a lawsuit if you do. Provide your proof in any such posts. Post with accusations but no proof will be deleted, and the poster will be notified.


9. No sexually explicit material, nudity, or graphic violence are to be posted. The rule of thumb is that if it's something you wouldn't see on network TV, don't post it. The forum strives to maintain a welcoming atmosphere for its members. Any attempts, overt or covert, to undermine this goal will not be tolerated.


10. If you are posting a new thread, do not use vulgarity in the title of the thread. Inside a thread, profanity will only be allowed if used in a controlled manner, and not directed at a particular forum member. Again, just try and be respectful of other forum members.


11. Attacks on new forum members will not be tolerated. Remember we were all new to the forum once.


12. Do not post a thread solely aimed at getting the attention of another forum member (i.e. posting ATTENTION FRED SMITH!) The forum provides a private messaging system for contacting individual forum members.


13. Posts soliciting for multilevel marketing schemes (e.g. Free Ipod or similar) are not allowed.


14. Multiple posts about the same thing across many forums are considered "spamming" the site and may result in the poster being banned.


15. Please include a descriptive subject for your thread. People shouldn't have to open the thread to find out what the topic is!


16. Do not deliberately inflate your post count, aka "post-whoring" by responding to a thread with multiple responses when one would do, or "contributing" to threads with a constant string of "me to" or "yeah!" type comments. Deliberately inflating one's post count does nothing but waste server space and turn otherwise useful threads into impossible to navigate pages of junk. If you want to chit chat, go to the lounge where useless threads are the norm. :-)


17. Do not start threads on religion or politics in the Lounge area or anywhere else. Experience with the forum has proven that political or religious discussions inevitably become flame fests, which are prohibited (see the first rule above). So don't start them.


18. Items may be posted for sale in the Products and Equipment forum.


19. Advertisements for dogs or puppies for sale are not permitted to be posted. Breeders with websites may submit their link to the Breeder's discussion forum for review, criticism, advice, input, etc. Any breeder who has puppies listed for sale on their website may not use their link in their signature or anywhere else on the forum (other than Breeder's discussion), unless explicitly approved by administration.


20. We understand, that on occasion, there will be discussions about dog fighting. While we do not support or condone the illegal act of dog fighting, we understand the necessity of such discussions for the purpose of education only. Approved conversations would include discussions pertaining to current events in the news media or historical accuracies on the subject. However, dog fighting is not to be discussed in any other manner including, but not limited to: insinuating or accusing members of dog fighting for pictures they post or posts they make, pedigrees or dogs they may or may not own, etc. If you find you have an issue with something posted to the site, or is in direct violation of our rules, please report it to the administration so that it may be properly handled. Please do not make a post to it.


21. No other forums should be bashed on this forum. If you want to talk about something that happened on another forum (drama)- take it to PM. We are a part of a larger community that involves several forums, however, we ask that you do not link other forums in your signature.


22. Pit Bull Chat has a very useful search feature. Many questions that new members might have will already have been answered - we recommend that you do a search first before posting a question.


23. When posting pictures, nekked human feet are not allowed. If human feet are included in any pictures, they must be covered in proper attire, such as socks, shoes, boots, etc. Flip flops, mandals or any other footwear that exposes toes is not proper foot attire.

How We Handle Violations

Failure to comply with ANY of the Forum rules may result in disciplinary actions being taken against you, including a ban on your forum account. These actions are usually as follows, though the moderators may, at our discretion, skip steps as we deem necessary:

• For the first violation, a warning may be sent via private message (PM) and the offending post is modified or deleted.


• For the second violation, a warning may be posted in the thread(s) or other "public" place.


• Third violation is a 3 strikes you’re out. The result is usually a permanent ban, although temporary bans of varying duration may be given on occasion. We only use temporary bans occasionally, and only when we're convinced that the person getting banned just needs a lesson, but will play nice when they return


• We will not get into a debate with a ban-ee or follower of them, here or on other forums. If you would like to discuss the reasons for a ban you may email us at admin@pitbull-chat.com Any threads opened to discuss/debate/complain that a user was banned will be deleted, and the thread participants may find themselves also banned.


• After banning, we will frequently edit the banee's title to reflect why they are banned.


• If you're banned, do not register with another ID -- we *will* find out eventually, ban you again, and we may take further action, including the possibility of contacting your ISP to report the violation. Violations could possibly constitute federal charges.


• The forum Administrators and Moderators retain the right to modify, edit, move, or delete any posts made on the forum by virtue of their position and in compliance with the aforementioned standards. Further, if you continually or repeatedly violate the rules of the forum, your account may be banned.


• Before we un-ban someone who wants back, we may require they provide a verifiable real name, age, address, and phone number; and if under the age of 18, parents name, address, and phone number. Only when we verify this info will we consider them coming back. The idea here is this removes the anonymity of the Internet and may lead to people who have been banned thinking twice before they start becoming an internet tough guy.