Info Ashley Caspillo-SakaraGT4/Sakara *Possible Buyer Beware!*

[Donnie Smith]

I was doing my best to avoid getting involved in this debacle, but I feel I must correct a misconception here.

Redtailboa.net is not attempting to shield Sakara. Simply put, a vote of all the staff was taken and we decided that it would be inappropriate per the TOS of the website to allow a link to this thread to be posted. Long ago it was decided that redtailboa.net is NOT the BOI. Our forums do not have the format for it, and this niche is nicely filled by FaunaClassifieds.com without any help from us.

When people make negative statements about ANY member, it gets treated as a violation of the TOS. This is no exception.

This statement is neither in support nor in opposition to Sakara and this situation. Redtailboa.net is neutral in this and all other issues involving it's members. We have a long track record of consistency in how we handle these sorts of situations.

I am terribly sorry that some of you dislike our policy, but it is the policy, and it is not likely to change. The moderator who suggested that people take any negative statements to the BOI acted appropriately in response to having to remove several posts from that thread.

Thank you,
Donnie "Morti" Smith

 

[deborahbroadus]

I was doing my best to avoid getting involved in this debacle, but I feel I must correct a misconception here.

Redtailboa.net is not attempting to shield Sakara. Simply put, a vote of all the staff was taken and we decided that it would be inappropriate per the TOS of the website to allow a link to this thread to be posted. Long ago it was decided that redtailboa.net is NOT the BOI. Our forums do not have the format for it, and this niche is nicely filled by FaunaClassifieds.com without any help from us.

When people make negative statements about ANY member, it gets treated as a violation of the TOS. This is no exception.
This statement is neither in support nor in opposition to Sakara and this situation. Redtailboa.net is neutral in this and all other issues involving it's members. We have a long track record of consistency in how we handle these sorts of situations.

I am terribly sorry that some of you dislike our policy, but it is the policy, and it is not likely to change. The moderator who suggested that people take any negative statements to the BOI acted appropriately in response to having to remove several posts from that thread.

Thank you,
Donnie "Morti" Smith

I am sure many of us understand your stance and attempt to stand by the TOS, but there are always exceptions and at least one forum owner has shown the ability to recognize when an exception must be made.

Moving on (I try to keep posts short and sweet these days..well, short anyway) ...The bolded part of your post seems to imply that even if a post is true, it will be deleted? That means it's ok to post nice polite, smiling lies as long as the TOS is followed?

See, this is how having a hard fast TOS/RULE can perhaps ruin a perfectly good forum. TOS and Rules are meant to provide guidance, they are not usually cast in stone.

 

[sally-dog]

I was doing my best to avoid getting involved in this debacle, but I feel I must correct a misconception here.

Redtailboa.net is not attempting to shield Sakara. Simply put, a vote of all the staff was taken and we decided that it would be inappropriate per the TOS of the website to allow a link to this thread to be posted. Long ago it was decided that redtailboa.net is NOT the BOI. Our forums do not have the format for it, and this niche is nicely filled by FaunaClassifieds.com without any help from us.

When people make negative statements about ANY member, it gets treated as a violation of the TOS. This is no exception.

This statement is neither in support nor in opposition to Sakara and this situation. Redtailboa.net is neutral in this and all other issues involving it's members. We have a long track record of consistency in how we handle these sorts of situations.

I am terribly sorry that some of you dislike our policy, but it is the policy, and it is not likely to change. The moderator who suggested that people take any negative statements to the BOI acted appropriately in response to having to remove several posts from that thread.

Thank you,
Donnie "Morti" Smith

Sorry, I agree with Deborah and the others.

 

[amercnwmn]

I understand if this is allowed, it would pathe the way for other posts to follow suit, and it would appear to be a "flame" war at times. I also realize the threads would have to have round-the-clock moderation.

I don't think this issue should be seen as "taking sides".
It's not meant as a personal attack.

While I know some are deeply offended at how things appear to have been handled, the MOST IMPORTANT issue is whether or not people's animals have been possibly affected by these actions.

The actions themselves are over and done with, you can't change that. All we can do is try to help locate people who purchased snakes, make sure they are aware of the mites & IBD probability, and make sure no one else is hurt.

In this respect, perhaps RTB.net and other forums not wishing to promote a BOI type setting could at least post a thread regarding the dangers of IBD, researching sellers, and proper quarantine. I'm sure there's hundreds of them on the site, but apparently it's not enough to protect people. Apparently it needs to be a post-it note on their foreheads..lol

 

[amercnwmn]

I should make it clear, this is Ashely's problem:

She KNEW she had mites, and sold anyways
She KNEW she had a necropsy indicating IBD
She KNEW she had NO quarantine & lied about it
She KNEW she had 3 other deaths that weren't necessarily NOT IBD related.

I think when it comes to the health of the animals and proof exists of a blatant disregard for the proper care and provention of disease/parasite spread it deserves notice.
That's my opinion, and I do understand the stance of RTB.net.

I think a lot of people are still under the misconception this is personal and it's not.
Obviously these people haven't bothered to READ the first post. It has all the info really needed.
Mites are obviously present, IBD is highly suspect at this time.
That's a problem!

 

[ozz465]

I was doing my best to avoid getting involved in this debacle, but I feel I must correct a misconception here.

Redtailboa.net is not attempting to shield Sakara. Simply put, a vote of all the staff was taken and we decided that it would be inappropriate per the TOS of the website to allow a link to this thread to be posted. Long ago it was decided that redtailboa.net is NOT the BOI. Our forums do not have the format for it, and this niche is nicely filled by FaunaClassifieds.com without any help from us.

When people make negative statements about ANY member, it gets treated as a violation of the TOS. This is no exception.

This statement is neither in support nor in opposition to Sakara and this situation. Redtailboa.net is neutral in this and all other issues involving it's members. We have a long track record of consistency in how we handle these sorts of situations.

I am terribly sorry that some of you dislike our policy, but it is the policy, and it is not likely to change. The moderator who suggested that people take any negative statements to the BOI acted appropriately in response to having to remove several posts from that thread.

Thank you,
Donnie "Morti" Smith

While i agree negative post can be dealt with ,but how is a fact or something confirmed by sakara considered a neg comment ? .,seems to me by remaining neutral in a way your supported the actions of a member that may have endangered countless collections .

 

[sally-dog]

I should make it clear, this is Ashely's problem:

She KNEW she had mites, and sold anyways
She KNEW she had a necropsy indicating IBD
She KNEW she had NO quarantine & lied about it
She KNEW she had 3 other deaths that weren't necessarily NOT IBD related.

I think when it comes to the health of the animals and proof exists of a blatant disregard for the proper care and provention of disease/parasite spread it deserves notice.
That's my opinion, and I do understand the stance of RTB.net.

I think a lot of people are still under the misconception this is personal and it's not.
Obviously these people haven't bothered to READ the first post. It has all the info really needed.
Mites are obviously present, IBD is highly suspect at this time.
That's a problem!

I'll say it again: Half that forum would have been infected with mites if this thread weren't posted when it were. There were baby Bolivians up for sale and 2 boas up for Auction (I don't know what happened to those). Those mites could have IBD, or maybe some other lovely bloodborne disease. Who knows!

Now that the stance has been made by a member of RTB.net staff, I"ll just have to recommend people do what I did earlier: Don't comment on Ashley's posts. She has business to attend to and it looks like she can't stop playing on Forums.

 

[Donnie Smith]

I am sure many of us understand your stance and attempt to stand by the TOS, but there are always exceptions and at least one forum owner has shown the ability to recognize when an exception must be made.

To make an exception would require a majority vote from the staff. A vote was taken. The majority decision was to not allow this on RTB.

To those who disagree with the majority decision of the staff... Sorry.

 

[deborahbroadus]

To make an exception would require a majority vote from the staff. A vote was taken. The majority decision was to not allow this on RTB.

To those who disagree with the majority decision of the staff... Sorry.

I understand, the decision is unfortunate, but I understand.

Good luck.

 

[Drew Zaun]

This statement is neither in support nor in opposition to Sakara and this situation. Redtailboa.net is neutral in this and all other issues involving it's members. We have a long track record of consistency in how we handle these sorts of situations.
Thank you,
Donnie "Morti" Smith

Snipped for brevity...

I am sorry Donnie, but you could not be any more wrong if your name was H. Wrongy Wrongenstien.

By suppressing any information in those threads you are acting as if it is RTB.net's position that there is no problem. That is hardly neutral. In fact using the term "debacle" implies you have a negative take on this thread and the information that has been presented here.

If you truely wish to remain "neutral", you would allow links to this thread, you would allow mention of IBD, etc. You can easily place a warning that any member that becomes disagreeable will have their contribution and account deleted, thus maintaining a pleasant atmosphere. Instead you chose to suppress what may turn out to be very important information to some of your membership.

For your sake I hope that all that is here just appears to be IBD, and in reality is nothing. But I can tell you, if I were to have obtained an animal from Sakara, based on a relationship I made on your site, and found out that moderators there were actively suppressing information, I would be less than pleased.

 

[Abish]

I can understand a website not wanting to post a warning or an informational thread from the ownership/staff... but allowing someone who's had mites for years, lax quarantine and IBD diagnosed in her collection to continue using your site to move animals while your staff actively works to remove all warnings about her is irresponsible (IMO).

If you want to cover up for the sake of keeping things nicey-nicey, perhaps you should also remove her abilities to use your site to contaminate any more members' collections? It has been demonstrated that Ashley cannot be trusted to curb herself without the social pressure in place.

 

[kmurphy]

Has this thread switched topics? Is it now about RTB.net?

 

[Drew Zaun]

I can understand a website not wanting to post a warning or an informational thread from the ownership/staff... but allowing someone who's had mites for years, lax quarantine and IBD diagnosed in her collection to continue using your site to move animals while your staff actively works to remove all warnings about her is irresponsible (IMO).

If you want to cover up for the sake of keeping things nicey-nicey, perhaps you should also remove her abilities to use your site to contaminate any more members' collections? It has been demonstrated that Ashley cannot be trusted to curb herself without the social pressure in place.

Quoted for emphasis. Well said.

 

[Elizabethlea27]

I GUARANTEE had this not been posted when it was, half of RTB.net would be infested with mites.

I completely agree. As a member of RTB.net I implore the mods there to PLEASE consider the REPTILES we are all supposed to be promoting, protecting and caring for so much, and see if they can sleep at night knowing that new members at rtb.net and those who like Ashley but don't know the facts will continue to think everything's fine with her collection.

How can they sleep at night knowing that they could be creating situations like mine - no one told me she was unsafe, rtb.net supported her as a responsible breeder, and so I put her up there on my "can trust" list. Look where that got me.

 

[Elizabethlea27]

Sorry while I was writing two pages of posts were put up... wow... Donnie all I can ask is, did the staff members read the BOI thread entirely? Or was it a vote on their impression of Sakara? Can there not be a re-vote based on new information?

 

[Elizabethlea27]

Oh and in addition I realize there was a recent change in mod membership on RTB.net, can you do a re-vote on those grounds also, making sure every mod is fully informed of the situation?

 

[Donnie Smith]

Since some of you are not aware of this:

We removed the contest threads involving Sakara's boas
She no longer has animals for sale on redtailboa.net
We have never suppressed threads about IBD in general. There is lots of information about IBD on redtailboa.net

I don't understand how some of you seem to perceive that we are some how promoting Sakara on our site. She is a member of redtailboa.net just like 8000 other members. She has no special privileges or abilities than anyone else enjoys.

Perhaps I misstated when I used the word "Debacle". I did not mean to downplay the severity of this issue. I used that word in association with the conversation specifically about redtailboa.net and I think you will find that the comments about redtailboa.net were all I addressed in my post.

You are welcome to your opinion that I am wrong, but to accuse redtailboa.net of some how promoting the spread of IBD is not only inflammatory, it is on the verge defamation.

I am not here to seek anyone's opinion on how we handle situations on our website. I am here to explain why we made the decision we did using a majority vote of our staff. Some of you are not going to accept that and I understand your perspectives, but insulting me personally and our site in general is not going to change it.

 

[sally-dog]

Has this thread switched topics? Is it now about RTB.net?

No, it's about how Ashley is hiding out on that forum, posting on threads like she doesn't have more important matters to take care of elsewhere. It has been discussed whether or not RTB.net should issue a warning thread about her like the other RTB site. The moderators reached an agreement that they shouldn't post a thread like that on open forum, by having a vote amongst themselves.

I personally, don't favor that outcome. It's nice to know that I'm not alone, but that doesn't change how I feel.

Donnie, I never got the impression that people think RTB.net is "promoting" Sakara. Sakara promoted herself on that forum- she posted very frequently up until the birth of this thread here.

I myself understand the RTB.net has reached a decision regarding posting a thread about her on that forum. From what I can gather, the Staff on RTB.com had trouble reaching the decision they made on the matter. Nothing is going to change it.

I think, what no one has mentioned so far, is that just seeing her active on the forum with her knowing about this thread and the problems she has caused so far (and not trying to fix them), hits people very hard. It's making some people kind of angry, myself included. I highly doubt posting a thread on RTB about all this will deter her from doing what she wants instead of trying to make good. I know you guys can't do anything about that as she hasn't broken any TOS.

She can either try and salvage herself, or she will fade away if people don't give her the attention she craves.

 

[Drew Zaun]

Since some of you are not aware of this:

We removed the contest threads involving Sakara's boas
She no longer has animals for sale on redtailboa.net
We have never suppressed threads about IBD in general. There is lots of information about IBD on redtailboa.netI don't understand how some of you seem to perceive that we are some how promoting Sakara on our site. She is a member of redtailboa.net just like 8000 other members. She has no special privileges or abilities than anyone else enjoys.

Perhaps I misstated when I used the word "Debacle". I did not mean to downplay the severity of this issue. I used that word in association with the conversation specifically about redtailboa.net and I think you will find that the comments about redtailboa.net were all I addressed in my post.
You are welcome to your opinion that I am wrong, but to accuse redtailboa.net of some how promoting the spread of IBD is not only inflammatory, it is on the verge defamation.

I am not here to seek anyone's opinion on how we handle situations on our website. I am here to explain why we made the decision we did using a majority vote of our staff. Some of you are not going to accept that and I understand your perspectives, but insulting me personally and our site in general is not going to change it.

I was not aware of this. My language was strong as I had read the post by Rev Mojo, I took that as a threat that any mention of this issue would not be tolerated.

Combined with your language here I had the distinct impression RTB.net was doing its best to keep heads in the sand and pretend there is nothing going on. I can certainly see the attraction there, as it makes your jobs as moderators much easier when there are no flame fests.

I did not mean to imply RTB.net supports Sakara personally, but rather supressing the conversation makes the forum an easier place to manage.

I do apologize if I am wrong, however I am sure you can appreciate my angle here? You can view the asthetics from an outsider perspective?

 

[amercnwmn]

Not trying to completely perpetuate the issue here, since I agree it IS about Ashley, and NOT RTB.net..

HOWEVER,

Ashley WAS given the option to reopen the Auction threads AFTER they were closed.

They were closed BECAUSE we brought it to the attention of the members the snakes were NOT properly QT'd and kept with a snake that died of reported IBD. It was considered "off topic" in relation to the auction threads. The other thread regarding IBD was also closed.

The posts on the first thread were deleted regarding the IBD, and the threads remain.

http://www.redtailboa.net/forums/auctions/66839-1-boa-auction-tammy.html

http://www.redtailboa.net/forums/auctions/66838-2-boa-auction-tammy.html

Ok folks,

I am going to have to void this auction.

Sakara, please feel free to restart this auction if you so desire.

Re: #2 Boa Auction for Tammy!
Auction threads are NOT the place for conversation folks!!!

If the OP wants this back open, feel free to PM me, and I will clear out or move out the posts in question.

As it stands...

I am calling this auction closed until further notice.
__________________

(Those were posted by another Staff member on the site, not Donnie)

That's not intended to cause controversy with RTB. Their stance on the matter is not something I agree with, in this instance.

Donnie's always shown himself to be a fair Admin, and I respect him for that. My point in quoting/pointing that out is to illustrate why people may feel like sides are being taken.


As far as sharing the info, of course I feel it should be shared!

I don't want MY friends or people I respect getting sick snakes or mites.

It's not my site, it's not my call.

Since it was stated it wasn't to be tolerated on RTB.net, and the word NEEDED to be shared, it was brought here, where it IS allowed.