Statement about our recent inactivity

In the last two months, there has been a yawning void and silence on both our homepage and our social media channels. In this message we would like to inform you about the last few months and also how things will continue in the future. There were two main reasons for the long break. On the one hand, we had various hacker attacks on the website and on our social media accounts. While those on the homepage could be recognized and defended at an early stage, an attack on our Facebook account and all private accounts linked to it was unfortunately successful. But more on that below. The other reason was the recent increase in critical voices about our work, which gave our project manager some thoughts. More details on that are also below.

Over the last few months, we had various hack attempts on our homepage, and most recently, on our Facebook account. The first of them was on our homepage last summer. That attempt was recognized and blocked by our provider. We immediately adjusted and expanded our security precautions accordingly. Except for a brief interruption, this had no further consequences. Other minor attacks that followed were completely unsuccessful. However, one of our office computers was infected with malware, which ultimately led to the Facebook account being taken over, including the private profiles linked to it. As a result, the account and the associated profiles were blocked by Facebook. The reactivation of these is proving to be more complicated than expected and is currently still ongoing. With nearly 100% of the Agility community happening in social media, getting firsthand information is nearly impossible. This circumstance will continue to accompany us in the coming months until we built up our network again.

The second reason for the interruption was, among other things, the hostility from the community itself. Enclosed is a short statement from our project manager: “We were criticized on Facebook for the news about the Polish championships. This made it seem as if Aleksandra Gronek and Deal only won because Iwona Golab was injured. Anyone who has seen Aleksandra Gronek run, or anyone who knows how high the level is in Poland, knows that this just isn’t true. We were thankful for the factual criticism under the news in the comments and immediately adapted and corrected the news. All transparently. We have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

We always welcome objective criticism. The way we were approached on Facebook felt a bit unfair. Especially because of the “criticism” of having called Iwona Golab as one of the favorites for the Polish championships. If someone has always been consistently at the top in previous international tournaments, then in our opinion, it is more than legitimate to call the team one of the favorites for the title. This has absolutely nothing to do with personal sympathies. If words are used, like whether we are not ashamed to write something like that, then I have little understanding for it. Firstly, because this is definitely not objective criticism, and secondly, there are a number of ways to contact us personally and point this out to us directly. I think it’s easy to forget that we all work here more or less in our free time. Especially knowing how much effort and time everyone puts into this project. A project that is free for all interested readers and most importantly with a neutral mindset. The visitor numbers show that the community is quite interested in it – even during our inactive time.”

Unfortunately, we will always make small mistakes in our news and articles from time to time. Even if we try to avoid them as much as possible. Sometimes it is just difficult to get verified information at all. This usually begins with the search for results. By the way, by far the most time-consuming work of all. We try not to spread rumors based solely on statements made by anyone. As long as this is not publicly communicated by officials, i.e. by people from the organization, the event, or an association. A lot of work also happens behind the scenes. Such as the forwarding of contact details from companies for sponsorship inquiries or media inquiries from the traditional press. We’re always happy to provide information – even if we don’t benefit directly from it. After all, a successful event or a positive image of our hobby is also in our interest. Just like a positive development in dog sports, it grows and falls with the community.

We will try to work up the lost time and add the most important news retroactive. However, due to the situation surrounding our Facebook account and that of our employees, we will also only be able to report limited in the near future. We hope to clarify the situation as soon as possible so that we will be able to report to the usual extent.