Ostriches

What is it that some people are missing in their lives that makes them want to cause trouble to others? I hang about a lot on a dog information forum, where for most of the time we deal with the routine questions along the lines of “I’m looking for a XXXX puppy, do you know of any reputable breeders?” which is a nice easy question to answer. You do a link to the Kennel Club Breed Standard and refer them to the list of relevant breed clubs at the bottom of the page. Job done, everyone’s happy. There are also very many people who say “I’ve got a dog/bitch and want to stud him/breed from her, how do I go about it?” This is trickier, because naturally everyone thinks their dog is the best, and don’t realise that probably 90% of pedigree dogs aren’t good enough to breed from. They are delightful animals and lovely pets, but not a breeding prospect. They have no idea of the tests for hereditary problems that should be carried out, and the research into bloodlines that is required to be as sure as you can be that the proposed match isn't going to be a disaster. As far as they are concerned you just put a dog and bitch (of hopefully the same breed) together and make a fortune. Diplomacy is called for in the wording of the replies because naturally you don’t want them to go off in a huff.

But the really annoying ones are the Trolls and WUMs who simply take pleasure in being stupid and irritating people. They repeatedly get banned from the forum, but re-register under a different username and start all over again. It’s as if they don’t realise that the site owners can trace their computer’s ID. I suppose you have to feel sorry for them, that they have nothing better to do, but sometimes you just want to detonate them and be done with it.