Welcome to our community. Please read our FAQs first.
“We are not soulless, hateful, empty people.
We do not condone the harming of animals or people.
Many of us have been attacked or traumatized by dogs.
Others are just annoyed or inconvenienced by them, or even allergic. In the end, it doesn't matter.
The message here is that if you don't like dogs, welcome to your new home. If you do like dogs and want to express your opinion, feel free to do so, but know that you are preaching to the wrong choir.”
~ Zythomancer
Welcome to r/dogfree! We invite you to participate in our discussions. First, however, whether you are new to our sub or a dog lover who just doesn’t quite understand where we are coming from, please take the time to read our sub FAQs so you can come to understand our community and the type of content that is appropriate for our small but mightily active corner of the world.
Why don't you like dogs?
Because: https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogfree/comments/7bk3wo/just_curious_what_is_the_reason_why_you/
I created a post asking why you don’t like dogs. Where did it go?
We receive and remove this question just about daily. This is our community’s space to vent and commiserate about an unpopular opinion, not a place where we come to feel burdened with the task of having to justify ourselves constantly. If you would like to know why we don’t like dogs, you may read the link above and/or put some time and effort into browsing our sub.
I like dogs. Am I welcome here?
As with anything, there's no one-size-fits-all reason we don't like dogs. Anyone is welcome to post here, even those who love dogs, so long as you are posting here in good faith without trying to convert anyone.
It seems like the problem you all have is really more with dog owners. So you really do like dogs, just not irresponsible owners, right?
Our opinions vary widely, so in some cases, maybe that's the case. However, true to the name of our sub, and though it might be a tough pill to swallow, most of us simply don’t like dogs.
Someone on Reddit said that this sub likes to murder dogs. Is that true?
Of course not! We span a wide spectrum of reasons for disliking dogs, but we do not wish harm upon them and often find aspects of dog ownership to be more cruel and unethical than do dog owners themselves. In fact, we have a strict sub rule against content that advocates animal abuse of any kind. It reads: “Self-defense discussion is acceptable. Celebrating, depicting, or suggesting animal abuse is not.” We take this rule more seriously than any other, and we err on the side of caution when it comes to removing this type of content.
Some examples of off-limits content include videos depicting gratuitous violence against or amongst dogs, discussion of eating dogs, suggestions of deriving pleasure from a dog's death, and references to hitting, kicking, or shooting a dog with little or no cause.
It is okay to discuss self-defense measures and the justified, humane euthanization of dogs. If you have a graphic video you want to share, create a thoughtful text post about the point you'd like to make and link the video to supplement your point. If you've had to live with a significant other's dog for years and wish to express relief over its natural passing, that's okay. Really, context is everything.
I posted a dog-related screenshot of something I saw on social media. Why isn’t it showing up?
Our community is small but extremely active. As the amount of content can be increasingly overwhelming as the sub grows, it’s important that the meaningful discussion does not get lost. Therefore, we have a sub rule that reads “[s]ubmissions should be thoughtful and should promote quality discussion. News articles and text posts are encouraged. Pictures of dogs or dog-related items, videos of dogs doing gross things, social media screenshots, memes, title-only posts, posts with minimal text, and anything that might be found on r/aww are some examples of low-effort content that do not contribute anything of value to the conversation.
Memes and comics are at home over at our sister sub, r/dogfreehumor.”
If you would like to post a social media screenshot or anything else that might fall under this category, create a thoughtful text post addressing the core issue in order to open the discussion. You may link to your screenshot as supporting evidence. It is important to remember that names, subreddits, titles, group names, and any other identifying information should be blocked out entirely.
r/dogfreehumor?! That’s interesting - tell me more!
r/dogfree is historically a discussion-based sub that aims to tackle dog-related issues in the world around us through thoughtful conversation. At the same time, there is a demand for memes and other types of humor. We created r/dogfreehumor in order to streamline content and give everyone an outlet for everything that they want without detracting from the discussion. Subscribe, contribute, help us grow, and enjoy!
I think it would be fun to make a rude comment to a dog lover in another subreddit and tag r/dogfree. That's a good idea, right?
No, and please don’t. We encourage positive, civil, thoughtful conversation about dogs wherever you go, but if you need a vent, keep it here. When you troll other places on Reddit, it invites unwanted attention, reinforces negative stereotypes, and impedes our ability to create change in the world. This community is better than that.
Do I have to feel a certain way about keeping other pets or about having children to participate?
The topic that unites us in this sub is dogs. Feelings about other types of pets, negative or positive, and decisions whether or not to have children are considered off-topic for the sub. That said, these topics will arise in the normal course of conversation. We should respect the wide variance in views on these topics and always treat those with differing opinions kindly.
At the end of the day, we are dog-free, and we are pro-human.
Should I be a certain race or of a certain political affiliation to participate?
One of the coolest things about r/dogfree is that, in a world that’s so divided along so many different lines, this is a community where we can come together, break down those barriers, and unite over something different with people from all walks of life. Just as dog culture transcends racial, political, socioeconomic, and gender lines, so does this subreddit. You may even find that your reasoning for something dog-related challenges your views on something completely unrelated.
This community strives to be respectful of all groups of people. As such, bigotry is not allowed, and political discussion is divisive and off-topic. Dogs? Fair game!
That’s great! Do you have any information about the demographics of those who participate in this subreddit?
Why yes! If you haven’t already, you can take our survey here.
You can view the results here.
Check back as the sub grows.
Why all the pit bull hate?
As much as we dislike dogs, we especially dislike this class of dogs that is statistically most capable of and responsible for inflicting catastrophic and often lethal harm upon people and their pets. You can apologize for pit bulls all day, but the stats and anecdotes don’t lie.
Of course, it is also true that all dogs bite: Dog Bite Statistics
For more specialized information on the topic of pit bulls, please visit r/banpitbulls.
I saw a post I don’t like. What should I do?
Report it! On any post or comment, there is a “report” button. It will prompt you for further information as to why you are reporting the content to the moderators, who will then review it and determine whether or not it should be stay or be removed. Reports are anonymous and very helpful, as we can't see everything.
Someone alluded to a conversation in another subreddit about dogs, and I really want to go down vote everything. Should I?
No, please don’t. This is called “brigading” or “vote manipulation,” and it is against Reddit’s Terms of Service. We actively discourage this behavior, as if we are found to be the source of a brigade against another sub, it could land us in big trouble. If you stumbled across a reference to another conversation on Reddit, the appropriate place to discuss that would be here, in our sub, in the thread in which you found it. Remember how it felt when a YouTuber made a video that resulted in a massive brigade against us; we must grant others the same respect for their space as we wish for ours, no matter how vehemently we disagree with them.
Our sub is committed to abiding by all Reddit Terms of Service.
I want to crosspost something from another part of Reddit. May I?
Usually no. If you crosspost something, it will go to a queue for moderator review. What we are looking for is whether or not the crosspost will incite drama between our sub and another. If we think the temptation for our sub to locate the post and participate would be too strong, we’ll decline it.
My post mysteriously disappeared, and I don’t feel like I broke any rules. Why?
Unfortunately we cannot account for every contingency in the sub rules, so moderators do reserve the right to remove content at their discretion. That said, the moderation team is very much against arbitrary censorship and is committed to letting the conversation happen whenever possible. “I don’t like it” is not a good reason to remove a post or a comment; however, “it would be in the best interest of the community” is. The team is committed to being firm but fair in community moderation and will make all decisions in good faith.
Thank you for taking the time to get to know our community! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to message the mod team.
Posted May 12, 2019, 9:20 PM UTC · edited · locked