Hello, everyone. You might’ve noticed earlier tonight that the pet that recently won pet spotlight was in bad taste. I’ve deleted that post and will be working with staff on how we are going to handle the pet spotlight win tomorrow due to the fact it’s the middle of the night for most of us on Staff!
We appreciate everyone messaging us on our social media platforms and comments here about how inappropriate this pet win is.
Wow I remember not having much time but seeing it pop up as spotlight and I didnt think anything of it as I've seen previous pets turn a light on virus', disabilities, mental illness and the like, I had NO idea that it was actually anti-lockdown and such I hope that the owner has learned as its very sad the state of affairs in the world at the moment and how people are treating others. I hope any that unfortunately saw that is ok now ♥ I know how damaging the pandemic is and how it may have hurt users on this site at home, I apologize for how tone deaf the person was but there are lot more informed and helpful people here and it was taken care of quickly! ♥ If anyone needs to vent my comments are open :) and my inbox
The pet profile is still up and ALL of the other covid related pets are also Lasirus. That's... not cool. :/
the truly scary thing to me is not just the amount of excusing the gross racism and misinformation in these comments, but the amount of likes said posts have gotten. the silent people that don't add their names to the pile of support for this pet and the views expressed outright, but still think these defending parts are right...
on a completely separate note, people with pets sitting in the queue for 3 years watching this profile with all its terrible connotations get fast tracked through the process? quality control, who's that?
Hey everyone, we are closing comments on this post and are temporarily hiding some news comments until a moderator is around. I've also removed the pet spotlight trophy from this pet, so it no longer has its win, and will no longer show up on the home page or pet spotlight page. As mentioned, we will address this further in a post later when more staff are around. Thank you for your understanding.
me logging in, seeing this post, visiting melody, and logging off
JUICY
Thank you.
"The panic is slowly dying down as of today."
Covid literally just became the leading cause of death in the U.S. surpassing Heart Disease. The U.S. has been labeled as a hot spot for Covid. People are still dying every. single. day. Children, grandparents, mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, people with pre-existing conditions, people who are fit as a fiddle. It is completely disrespectful to put on a pair of rose colored glasses and almost have this absolutely ignorant way of portraying the "current/past events" with Covid. We're all living in the same world, the facts are the facts. A little research goes a LONG way and the person who spewed out this pet was obviously Very uneducated about Covid and current world events.
And for people who Don't see how this is BLATANTLY RACIST and bigoted because it is specifically referencing CHINESE PEOPLE EATING BAT SOUP AND SPREADING COVID (a very uneducated and Racist opinion) then I feel sorry for you. You're not seeing the bigger picture, at all. My boyfriend IS Chinese. He and I have to be SO careful when we are out in public BECAUSE HE IS CHINESE. BECAUSE OF COVID. BECAUSE OF UNEDUCATED PEOPLE LIKE THIS. People want to ATTACK and HURT my boyfriend BECAUSE HE IS CHINESE.
These are real actual problems effecting the world and humanity and it makes me physically ill to my stomach to see this. Thank you for removing this awful pet, staff.
“I hope you people aren’t as bonkers as you look”
Bruh you’ve got anti-fluoride conspiracy crap in your profile 😂😂
Thanks for removing that xenophobic and negationist junk from our sights.
def agree comments should have been closed, not even monitored. Staff can't and shouldn't have to be a referee, and if they saw the pet as controversial, then just remove and announce the removal and leave it. But it's done now. Maybe since this isn't the first time a pet has been deemed "controversial," rules can be amended a bit so this doesn't happen again, if Staff feels the need. Personally, I don't think everyone is going to be comfortable or approve of every pet, and that's okay, sometimes discomfort takes spotlight, but with this kind of thing it's just temporary. I don't think pets should be removed entirely from site for people finding them offensive (someone mentioned that), but just monitored for this competition more. Anyway, hope everyone finds the rest of the day well.
Yeahhhhh the pet is pretty distasteful, specially the "mystery soup" part. The infamous bat soup video wasn't even filmed in China, but in Palau! However...I don't really see anything wrong with the pet being a Lasirus since it's a fact that coronavirus originated in bats.
This post really should have been closed for comments if staff weren't going to moderate. This was predictable. Especially certain usernames who crawl out of the woodwork every time there's anything remotely contentious, some of whom should have been banned long ago.
I read all the comments here. I also found the pet in question but I will admit there are other Laisurus pets of similar naming but nothing on the profiles, so idk if people would also take issue with that. I did read the profile and it does seem rather yikes. But I think it is more upsetting that it won an award for it that all users got to see.
But I also hope this doesn't cause some sort of witch hunt. Like, I get that it is rather distasteful, but a whole hoard of users harassing the person in question is kinda like a "two wrongs don't make a right" sort of thing. I am also interested in the people who aren't from the US sharing their comments about their experiences in the pandemic in relation to maybe the user in question is not from the US? It is a sensitive subject, but it is something that is different for every country and region, so painting them with a broad brush of "you should've known better because in the US xyz happens" is a little close-minded because the world doesn't revolve around news, behaviors, and rhetoric from the US.
That being said, as someone who lives in the US, the TC with the "mystery soup" is upsetting to see. Please don't send me hate mail/hate comments. I am someone who has traveled (not this year lol) both within and outside the US and I will say that a common US stereotype is that people think those from the US are always frustrated that other cultures aren't completely educated on all things US. Telling others to educate themselves but never providing resources on where to start is kinda odd because you can't expect everyone to know everything that offends a different country.
But if this user is from the US, then yeah I do see where y'all are coming from.
Oof big yikes on all of this. This whole thing was a train wreck and done in poor taste. Definitely text book definition of 'too soon'. This kind of pet could have been done in such a more respectful way, but even then I would have personally waited until the situation was far past before doing it. My stepmother ended up getting it since she works in the hospitals and is still dealing with long-hauler symptoms/issues months later. It is not a joke or something to be taken lightly... Glad the staff acted so quickly on this one though!
Wow this got messier after I left. Honestly probably should have been handled without a news post announcing it being handled, other than literally saying, "It's being/been handled," and that's it. Three words. The Pet was removed from spotlight for drama and now the post announcing it is creating drama.
... 
Hm... Nah.
Thank you for addressing the situation so quickly
You forgot to answer? Or... coward?
JAKFOSOG COWARD??? ily bro keep it up hahaha
Ssevora, what was the nonsense again? Coward?
I read this last night and can say it has not been edited in any shape or form. Shame on those who are try to add fuel to the fire.
That being said, I read the comments and the explanations people have given as to why this is upsetting. I now understand why people are upset but I still see it as a hopeful story. It references some things I may not agree with but it’s all stuff I’ve either heard on the news, from a friend, or experienced myself.
As for the soup in TC and bat choice for the pet species. Yeah, that did happen. Asian people were ridiculed, mocked, discriminated against, ostracized, and even attacked for a narrative that was never even confirmed. I remember in the news that many Asian restaurants lost business or closed because of COVID. I wouldn’t hide that, rather the creator should dive more into it, as to how people were unfairly treated just because of their ethnicity.
All in all, I think that the comments about timing were right. This shouldn’t have won pet spotlight right now. Maybe in a year after we DO overcome this.
Honestly when it popped up I was like "...... huh..."
I read the spotlight. If anything it was a much rosier version of events than what we are experiencing in the US. If it had touched on lives lost and acted more as a tribute it might have been a little more palatable.
I don't think it was good enough to win a spotlight, regardless. It was basically one person's diatribe about a worldwide event killing hundreds of thousands. Probably millions by the time we are done. That and the layout was literally just a centered box.
TBH I think the biggest thing to come of this should be staff reviewing how this came about and setting up a way for more eyes to go on these before they are published.
So not to defend this pet because...yikes.... but i actually think the Lasirus is an apt species for the pet to be? Not because of "bat eating soup" but because this "novel coronavirus" is only novel in humans and was actually first isolated in bats. Like most new coronaviruses that impact humans. Both SARS and MERS were also from bats through other animals to humans. I super don't care for the TC and other undertones of the pet and hope that others aren't right about the intention of the species, but epidemiologically it does work as a species based on the zoonotic origin point.
everything else has been explained ten times over so I'll just leave this meme here.
I saw this profile when it first went up and my reaction was more "lolwut" than anything. It's remarkably low-effort for a Pet Spotlight winner: minimal page decoration, childlike prose, just the bare minimum. So was it championed solely on the basis of its topicality? If real user votes went into making it a winner, it bears looking at why such a small number of people is participating relative to those who are outraged.
For the record, I see bat-related COVID jokes on Chinese social media. The link hasn't been proven, as far as I know, but it can't be taken off the table. The idea that it's racist to reference a real scare that actually occurred seems more applied by Western viewers than homegrown in China. There are so many more racist items that could have gone in that treasure chest (generic-Asian Shengui Guo anyone?)
it's not really nonsense, and i don't entirely get why you think it is, but sure.
yikes................................................................... thanks, staff
i'm glad for the swift response and look forward to the more in-depth explanation later.
now why are there so many people in here saying "well i don't see how it's racist" etc. over and over again when it's been explained over and over again why it is. like thanks for taking the time to share that you're ignorant but maybe read one of the hundreds of comments on this very page explaining it instead of making your own...
i'm getting more annoyed at the amount of people either defending this crap or playing devil's advocate when they self admittedly don't understand than i even was at the initial spotlight win. i'm glad there are so many users with more patience than i have.
highly doubt they're on your side when it comes to (justified) criticising of government response but by all means sit with them as they spout their nonsense
the one about what's happened because of covid? yeah, and i agree with it. the united states is collapsing in on itself because of the overtly political response to the pandemic. we're on track to have one in six people going hungry by christmas. the moratoriums on rent and the unemployment benefits are running out, and it's highly unlikely we'll get another stimulus check until trump is gone. people are scared, angry, suicidal, and a dozen other things. if franken supports trump (i can't actually tell from that comment), that's fine, to each their own.
the story in the pet profile as it is right now is a highly optimistic view of where we're going, and there's nothing wrong with that.
The number of people defending or finding anything redeemable about this pet spotlight is actually staggering.
I appreciate that the staff team are addressing it.
yea but did you see their bonkers post before the seperate one saying the story was fine
i'm with franken tbh, there's nothing offensive about that pet profile as it is right now. i'm white and can't speak to the pet type choice or any of the TC items; if others say it's racist, then it's racist, but the story itself is fine and i don't understand what the fuss is about.
◔_◔ Lame.
Lol Franken u crack me up keep being insane my guy
the post is gone and yet the fight continues
*current form
And seriously, how heavily edited is this profile? Absolutely not offensive in any way in its cure3form wtf, I severely hope it's been massively changed and you people aren't as bonkers as you look.
This got on social media???
Uh oh.... am I going to hear a summary of this situation on a Youtube video soon? Sometimes when a controversy goes down on Twitter various Youtube channels comment on it.
oh yikes
It's not "alt-right" to be anti-mask or anti-lockdown you lunatics. Being smart enough to see that the "cure" is worse than the disease doesn't automatically mean you support Trump, and even if you do it doesn't automatically mean you hate gays or blacks or whatever the nonsense else.
Spousal abuse is up. Child abuse us up. Unemployment, depression, homelessness, violence, suicides. All way up, all way worse than covid.
So even if "freedom" weren't a strong enough argument (it is), it's not just about that. The reaction to covid has destroyed more lives than covid itself, and even if you stop right now (you won't), it's probably too late anyway.
Enjoy the hell you fought so hard to get. Keep fighting for that hell, screaming all the way down how much you want it. Thumbs way up!
Yikes.
[pet not found]
what's the pet that won? i feel like i'm missing out by not actually seeing it
Its still on the unlogged in page...Is it really hard to take it off there? Please. I know its late but... if you arent logged in or a user its...still right there, featured.
I have opinions but others have stated the same thing better then I could. Tone deaf is the light word for it. I live in a place we are still surging in numbers with record deaths and it was unpleasant to be dismissed as only sick people used to die to similar things. There are people whos parents friends grandparents fighting covid that dont love the minimizing of it. And that TC bat soup implication :(. Yikes. I hope the user who made the pet isnt getting dogpiled but rather learn a bit more about why this was inappropriate? Being hopeful is nice but needs to be done very carefully. Especially when its generalizing something so serious. And whoever approved this needs a chat with, yeah. Thank you for addressing this anyhow. Take care everyone.
I really don't have the energy to continue this discussion, and I apologise for engaging with it in the first place. If I can't commit to responding as helpfully as I'd like to, I really should just let others address it.
I'm not here to argue, and I know it came off that way. It's too nuanced an issue to be discussed effectively in the comments of a preliminary news post anyway. Goodnight, and stay well.
Guys this is still being addressed. Please be patient; a lot of our staff, including moderation staff, are just logging on now!