- Learn about the breed and educate others.
- Promote responsible pit bull ownership.
- Share personal experiences.
- Exchange training tips and health information.
- Provide support and develop friendships with other pit bull lovers.
- Find solutions for the problems the breed faces.
- Defend the breed's reputation and fight breed-specific legislation (BSL).
- Talk about our dogs and exchange pet pictures.
List Rules
Posting to the list
Your first post to the list should be a little intro of yourself, your dog(s) and your interest in the breed.
It is advised that you read the list for a few days before sending your first message. It will give you a chance to know what topics are being discussed at the moment.
Note that certain topics are often addressed on the list. If you ask a question and you don't get an answer right away, it's possible that the topic was discussed just a few weeks before you joined. Please be understanding, wait a little bit, and ask your question again. The list generates so much mail that it's impossible to comment every messages. Don't take it personal!
Stop and Think
Email communities can be wonderful, supportive, friendly environments where people get to know each other and learn and share experiences. Occasionally, we can even meet in person and extend our friendships to include real live events--not just online conversations. The trouble with online communities however, is that they can also harbor people who have very different agendas than the stated purpose of the community. These people could be using the community for personal or financial gain. They could be mentality unbalanced, out to make a quick buck, or just plain nasty individuals. It is extremely easy to create an online persona that is nothing but fiction.
Before you get involved on any level with someone from an online community, (be it to meet for coffee, relinquish a dog, or to write a check) stop and ask yourself (or ask others) if this person is known or trusted by someone else that you know and trust. This can be an easy, commonsense practice, that will keep Pitbull-L safe for us and the dogs.
Hostility and Waste of Time
Debates are welcome, but insults, name calling, and rudeness will not be tolerated.
Participants are invited to resolve conflicts off-list and not waste the other participants' time with personal animosities. If necessary, the list's hosts will intervene. Rude participants will see their posts moderated or will be asked to leave the list.
Off topic conversations may be tolerated, but must not degenerate into endless irrelevant threads. If the list hosts judge it necessary, they will advise the participants to change to a subject more appropriate for the list.
Pro pit-fighting posts will not be tolerated on this list.
The authors of pro-fighting posts will either be banned from the list or their posts will be moderated. Anyone is welcome to participate in the conversation but this list will not support or encourage pit-fighters and their illegal activities. We can talk about the history of the breed without trying to excuse or glorify it. Pitbull-l participants believe there is absolutely NO justifiable reason to throw these dogs in a pit and watch them tear each other apart. People are invited to join other lists if they have a problem with this rule. There are plenty of pro dog-fighting lists on the net, PitBull-L isn't one. This rule is strictly reinforced.
Fund-raising on the List
For everyone's protection, including the list participants, the list owner, and the administrators, fundraising is not permitted on PitBull-L. Because of its affiliation with the list, PBRC is the only organization allowed to fundraise via the list. The list administrators and owner can not guarantee the legitimacy of other rescue groups and individuals asking for money. Rescue organizations are encouraged to get their nonprofit 501c-3 status and create their own web site and mailing list for fundraising if needed. Individuals or groups in need of financial assistance for pit bulls can apply here.
Pictures Welcome
List participants enjoy viewing pictures of each other's dogs. Image files should not exceed 50K.
Note that participants in digest mode or reading from the web interface cannot view pictures. If you want everyone to enjoy your photos, please upload them to a photo album format and send the link to the list.
Edit Replies
Before sending a reply to the list, you can delete the non-relevant text of the post you are replying to. However, be sure to leave the appropriate portion of the message so people will know what point you are responding to.
Please use a spell check program, formulate complete sentences, use punctuation, and do not type in capital letters. If your messages are difficult to read, there is a good chance they will be not taken seriously and ignored.
Message Subject
When you stray off the original subject when replying to a post, you should change the subject title so that people know what the message is about.
If your questions or comments are addressed to someone in particular, type their name in the subject line.
Cross-Posting
Please respect participant privacy. Always ask permission from the author before forwarding posts to other lists or individuals. This applies if you forward from Pitbull-l to another list, or forward from another group to Pitbull-l.
"Urgent! Desperate Dog" Emails
Please do not send in desperate pleas to rescue a particular dog. Nor do we allow rescuers/fosters/shelters to list their dogs for adoption via Pitbull-L. Thousands upon thousands of dogs are desperate for a home every single day. If we allowed such posts, the email list would reach its daily limit very quickly and any potential for education would cease.
As with the ban on fundraising, the admins cannot testify to the health, temperament, nor sanity of either the rescuers or the dogs that they list. The safety of our participants has to come first.
The appropriate place to list a dog for adoption is PBRC's dog pages. Please click here for more info: http://www.pbrc.net/submission.html
Subscription Guidelines
Avoid using the name of your dog as a password. Try to choose a word that does not exist in the dictionary. Ex: "iluvpit"
There are two ways to participate on the list:
- Through the Web interface - When you subscribe to the list and chose your settings, check the option "NOMAIL". List mail will not be sent to your email address. You can read and reply to the list via the web interface. Note that pictures are not displayed in the Web Interface.
- In the mail box of your regular email program. This is the most efficient way to read and reply to list messages. You are free to chose the settings that meet your needs; Regular, Digest, Index, etc.
Since the list generates a large amount of mail everyday, we suggest that you create a folder for it, and use the filter option to receive all the list mail directly in your folder.
Ready to Join? Click Here
If you receive a maximum subscriber limit message from our list server, please try to join again in a day or two. We have a 500-participant limit but when we are full, space usually opens up again in a day or two. Thanks for your patience.
Already a Participant? Click Here
A resource created by Veronique Chesser, Pitbulls on the Web: The Mega PitBull Center |
