Buyer's Remorse

The anonymous commenting feature is enabled on this blog in order to allow whistleblowers the protection they need to speak out about cruelty in animal shelters and provide information in a public forum without fear of retaliation by their employers.  It’s been abused in the past but that has been the exception, not the rule, and since I have a pretty liberal comment policy, I’m not displeased with the feature overall.  Like all things internet though, it does have its drawbacks.

Someone who made use of the anonymous commenting feature has decided that she (or he, I don’t know either way) no longer likes what she wrote in those anonymous comments.  She contacted me, still masking her identity, and asked me to delete them.  Considering the fact that both the comments and the e-mails are anonymous, I have no way of verifying that the e-mailer is in fact the author of the comments on the blog.  It could simply be one faker attempting to subvert another.  But to be fair, I explained that I don’t delete comments unless they fall outside the posted guidelines and that she should feel welcome to post an additional comment clarifying her opinions.  She apparently felt that wasn’t good enough and now says I am causing her to suffer and that, stay with me here, by forcing her to contact her attorney regarding her intellectual property rights (lawl), I am taking money away from saving kittens.

Dude.  We have all, myself included, posted stuff on blogs that, upon reflection, could use some editing, clarification or in some cases napalming.  That’s the nature of online discussions.  Think before you post.  If that fails, clarify/apologize/explains it betters later.  Or just take your fake identity and go home since no one knows you anyway.  Options – you haz them.  But do not attempt to bully me.  That will get you banned from the blog.  Think of the kittens!

Photo submitted by reader Ashley, who writes: “My foster kitten, Ollie, at 1 week old, right after a feed.”