diff --git a/app/controllers/pets_controller.rb b/app/controllers/pets_controller.rb
index 8dbaf3e4..97b25329 100644
--- a/app/controllers/pets_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/pets_controller.rb
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 class PetsController < ApplicationController
   rescue_from Neopets::CustomPets::PetNotFound, with: :pet_not_found
   rescue_from Neopets::CustomPets::DownloadError, with: :pet_download_error
+  rescue_from Pet::ModelingDisabled, with: :modeling_disabled
   rescue_from Pet::UnexpectedDataFormat, with: :unexpected_data_format
 
   def load
-    # Uncomment this to temporarily disable modeling for most users.
-    # return modeling_disabled unless user_signed_in? && current_user.admin?
-
     raise Neopets::CustomPets::PetNotFound unless params[:name]
     @pet = Pet.load(params[:name])
     points = contribute(current_user, @pet)
diff --git a/app/models/pet.rb b/app/models/pet.rb
index 50cd4992..40eeb57c 100644
--- a/app/models/pet.rb
+++ b/app/models/pet.rb
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ class Pet < ApplicationRecord
   attr_reader :items, :pet_state, :alt_style
 
   def load!(timeout: nil)
+    raise ModelingDisabled unless Rails.configuration.modeling_enabled
+
     viewer_data_hash = Neopets::CustomPets.fetch_viewer_data(name, timeout:)
     use_modeling_snapshot(ModelingSnapshot.new(viewer_data_hash))
   end
@@ -50,5 +52,5 @@ class Pet < ApplicationRecord
   end
 
   class UnexpectedDataFormat < RuntimeError;end
+  class ModelingDisabled < RuntimeError;end
 end
-
diff --git a/config/environments/development.rb b/config/environments/development.rb
index 41211e87..8f374d14 100644
--- a/config/environments/development.rb
+++ b/config/environments/development.rb
@@ -103,6 +103,10 @@ Rails.application.configure do
   # Allow connections on Vagrant's private network.
   config.web_console.permissions = '10.0.2.2'
 
+  # Allow pets to model new data. (If modeling is ever broken, disable this in
+  # production while we fix it!)
+  config.modeling_enabled = true
+
   # Use a local copy of Impress 2020, presumably running on port 4000. (Can
   # override this with the IMPRESS_2020_ORIGIN environment variable!)
   config.impress_2020_origin = ENV.fetch("IMPRESS_2020_ORIGIN",
diff --git a/config/environments/production.rb b/config/environments/production.rb
index 370e0246..58eae953 100644
--- a/config/environments/production.rb
+++ b/config/environments/production.rb
@@ -122,6 +122,10 @@ Rails.application.configure do
   # Skip DNS rebinding protection for the default health check endpoint.
   # config.host_authorization = { exclude: ->(request) { request.path == "/up" } }
 
+  # Allow pets to model new data. (If modeling is ever broken, disable this
+  # here while we fix it!)
+  config.modeling_enabled = false
+
   # Use the live copy of Impress 2020. (Can override this with the
   # IMPRESS_2020_ORIGIN environment variable!)
   config.impress_2020_origin = ENV.fetch("IMPRESS_2020_ORIGIN",
diff --git a/config/environments/test.rb b/config/environments/test.rb
index f677ede2..e57cbb53 100644
--- a/config/environments/test.rb
+++ b/config/environments/test.rb
@@ -62,6 +62,10 @@ Rails.application.configure do
   # Raise error when a before_action's only/except options reference missing actions
   config.action_controller.raise_on_missing_callback_actions = true
 
+  # Allow pets to model new data. (If modeling is ever broken, disable this in
+  # production while we fix it!)
+  config.modeling_enabled = true
+
   # Use a local copy of Impress 2020, presumably running on port 4000. (Can
   # override this with the IMPRESS_2020_ORIGIN environment variable!)
   config.impress_2020_origin = ENV.fetch("IMPRESS_2020_ORIGIN",
diff --git a/spec/models/pet_spec.rb b/spec/models/pet_spec.rb
index 55441286..22a6be0c 100644
--- a/spec/models/pet_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/pet_spec.rb
@@ -448,5 +448,13 @@ RSpec.describe Pet, type: :model do
         end
       end
     end
+
+    context "when modeling is disabled" do
+      before { allow(Rails.configuration).to receive(:modeling_enabled) { false } }
+
+      it("raises an error") do
+        expect { Pet.load("matts_bat") }.to raise_error(Pet::ModelingDisabled)
+      end
+    end
   end
 end