My vision starts a bit smaller to one of the problems the Obamas face sooner than later. I'd be willing to bet the President-Elect never imagined the amount of input and discussion that would be had over getting a dog, but here we are.
My concern is the pressure that massive lobbying groups, including HSUS and PETA, are able to put on Congress and state legislatures in order to impose their views on Americans who don't understand their true position. I want Mr. Obama to realize that HSUS is indeed nothing more than a lobbying body, that is run by a non-pet owner who is a vegan and thinks that everyone else should be like him. They recently spent millions of dollars - dollars that were donated by unsuspecting Americans who *thought* they were helping animals, not influencing an election - to pass Proposition 2 in California, which will increase the cost of food in America (which we can scarcely afford) and will increase the risk of food-bourne illnesses when we start importing chickens and eggs from countries that do not regulate their food and health as stringently as the U.S. does.
I want to make sure that Mr. Obama knows all this, and does the smart thing for his daughter, as well as helping "the little guy" who put him in office. Visit home hobby breeders. Learn exactly what breeds Malia will and will not have a reaction to. At the same time he and the public will learn that the majority of our pets - and we do love pets in America - come from people who lose thousands of dollars a year just for the love of a breed. They choose an animal that they work to perfect and improve and continue, so that any American can have the choice of whatever pet we want. The vast majority of home hobby breeders have animals raised underfoot, in scrupulously clean conditions, with genetic and other health tests run as the general rule. Shelter adoption is wonderful if you have no concerns about behavior or health; that is not the case here.
Home hobby breeders live in fear of anyone who comes to their home - not for fear of their conditions, but fear of who will be at the door, trying to stop their breeding programs. Extremist members of groups like HSUS and PETA target breeders by damaging their property, filing false complaints, and trying to gain access to their homes through deceit. I am a cat breeder; NOT a business owner, but a home hobby breeder with a small breeding program that costs me thousands of dollars every year in money I will never recoup. I do this because I love this breed and I want to see it continue in good health. These extremists are causing Americans who are breaking no laws to live in fear. I want Mr. Obama to know that he does not want one of his first acts to be to align himself with these groups, who have been lying to Americans for decades to line their coffers and now are pushing legislation around the country (including Chicago and Illinois) to legislate the home hobby breeder, and indeed all breeding, out of existence.
My vision is one without radical Animal Rights activists telling Americans that they cannot or should not have a certain pet. My vision is one where HSUS and PETA are forced to change their 501(c)(3) status to recognize that they are lobbying groups, rather than traditional non-profits. My vision is one where all Americans have their Fourth Amendment right to security in their homes, and their Constitutional right to privacy, respected and are not legislated into giving up things they love that violate no laws. My vision is not an America that has only feral and stray animals to choose from for pets, or worse imported animals from countries that have uncontrolled communicable diseases (which, if he did not know it, is happening *now.* "Overpopulation" is a myth created by these activists - the "overpopulation" problem is actually a feral problem that cannot be touched by legislation against breeders or even legislation against substandard commercial breeders [in common AR parlance, "puppy mills"]). In short, my vision is one where on this issue, the people on the ground are heard, not those with the most money.
I hope the Obamas will find the perfect dog for their family, be it pedigreed, purebred or mutt - but I also hope the President-Elect will consider the above information when HSUS-led legislation (like "Baby's Law") come to his desk. The AR folks may scream the loudest but there are many more of us out here who are watching and who do not agree with their extremist views on how we should or should not have animals in this country, but we can't compete with their budget. We the people are the ones who elected you, not the animal rights lobby, and I hope that will be remembered.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
When Animal Welfare Became Animal "Rights" - and took your money with it
In American society there is an innate desire among many to stand up for those who cannot defend themselves. To help the little guy, to root for the underdog. In many arenas in society, this has resulted in very positive social change - the civil rights movement, voter registration initiatives, and widespread education for all children.
But in one arena, this desire has gone horribly wrong - and most of the general public isn't even aware it's happened. "Animal rights" has been hijacked by fringe extremists who are careful to hide what they've done. This insidious change has gone far beyond what the donating public has anticipated. The movement was initially responsible for positive change - more humane treatment for all animals, basic treatment for animals in laboratory settings, in factories and in farms as they are prepared for consumption. Multiple groups worked together to focus on these particular issues to effect truly positive change.
However, after acheiving positive and laudable goals, the movement was taken over. Rather than retain focus on true cruelty and humane treatment, a few individuals turned their attention far afield to a new target - ALL animals. This dramatic alteration in purpose - not publicized and actively hidden behind the traditional fund-raising campaigns - remains unknown to much of the public, including those who make donations to their efforts.
The reason for the public's lack of awareness is obvious. The current animal rights activists continue to rely on decades-old direct mailing techniques for massive donations. Certainly the original treatment of animals in labs and factory farms and product testing was, in some cases, abysmal. Even minimal standards of care were ignored and painful and unnecessary procedures conducted. The legitimate animal rights movement changed this, through years of fundraising and public awareness events. But instead of disclosing the triumph of humane standards in labs and factory farms, they must continue to hide behind it to ensure that donations continue.
After their initial acheivements of proper care and welfare and the ending of unneeded experimentation, the movement lacked direction. Of course there would always be a lab or a farm that didn't follow the rules - but by this point, the movement had become a PR and donation gathering juggernaut with millions of dollars and big-name celebrities making endorsements. The decision, made by the very few who had been attracted by the media spotlight and millions to spend, was to expand their target to anyone who used animals in any part of industry - and their definition of industry suddenly took on anyone who used animals.
Most of the public never realized this change in course took place. That's because they were deliberately misled into thinking it hadn't. Direct mailing campaigns remain the lifeblood of these organizations, and not one word or tactic changed to inform the public of the new direction of animal rights. After all, they knew animal lovers would respond to a plea for help that comes wrapped up in photos of rabbits undergoing painful medical tests, or puppies wearing heavy chains in small pens outdoors in a thunderstorm. It's likely that, given the changes we've made in animal treatment, that the animals shown on PETA mailings are either old stock photos of events that no longer take place, or are deliberate setups to encourage the public to continue to give to their "rescue" campaign.
Now I've written here already about PETA's idea of "rescue." With a 97% kill rate of the animals it "rescues" - I'd be happy if the state of Virginia closed their "shelter" immediately. It's nothing more than a death house, the very thing they rail against in other states.
But the real purpose of this topic is education on the funding of these animal rights groups. They continue to solicit donations based on the horrific treatment of animals, without ever disclosing to the public that their money in reality goes to lobbying. The public assumes, incorrectly, that their donation will go to the suffering animal they read about in their solicitation letter. What they don't know is that nearly all of their money - after paying for overhead - goes to things like billboards in Times Square, for putting down thousands of animals a year, and to PETA and HSUS' favorite topic - lobbying for restrictive laws against all pet owners. Yup, they lobby for restrictions against the very people who fill their pockets with donations!
These animal rights groups are now becoming incredibly fringe in their targets. The general public is starting to see how far out there these groups are; however, situations like Michael Vick's cruelty case come along and put them right back in the media spotlight, allowing them to solicit even more money and giving them ammunition for more restrictive pet laws. (The HSUS collected tens of MILLIONS of dollars after the Vick case - even though HSUS did not care for even ONE of Vick's dogs, and has instead begun using that money all across the country to support breed specific bans in towns, counties and states. Think that's what those donors hoped their money would be spent on?)
The original actions of these groups - the genuine support and desire to care for animals humanely made them welcome at all animal based events. However, in recent years, their radical and at times violent behavior, and increasingly bizarre belief system (poisoning animals at cat and dog shows because the animals are "better off dead" than in cages) has made them unwelcome even at pet fairs. Their new policy - to end all breeding of any animal, create a nation of vegans, and eliminate pet ownership - is still only known in the small communities of hobby breeders and farmers. These small communities don't have the money or lobbying power to get the word out to would-be pet owners about where their money is really going.
But perhaps they didn't hide their purpose well enough. Publicly espousing veganism of course demonstrates the desire to end the killing of animals for food. Poisoning show cats and dogs shows their desire to reduce the number of purebreds available for adoption to the public. And of course, killing 97% of the animals they take in (and this number doesn't account for the thousands more that never make it to their "shelter" in Virginia - who are just killed and dumped in dumpsters across the eastern seaboard) perhaps proves that it is PETA's desire not to *have* any animals available for adoption as domestic pets. Because that's their new campaign - no more sentient animals should be "owned" as slave pets.
If that sounds ridiculous to you, I'm glad. It should, because it is. Centuries ago, we domesticated animals - some of whom chose to tag along and become part of the human pack - and for better or worse, those domesticated pets can't survive in the wild anymore. We can't take our pets and put them outside and expect them to find dinner on their own. And it's time the animal loving public understood what's really going on behind these closed doors. Your money does not go to the sympathetic animal who is suffering. It goes to PETA taking out ads and to HSUS flying its CEO around the country to lobby for laws that will eliminate more pets.
Right now in the United States, we do NOT have more adoptable animals than we have homes for them. Shelters routinely import animals from other states and areas of the country to fill the need for adoptable animals. It saddens me - it sickens me - to know that over 80,000 of them met their death at the hands of PETA (in ONE year), who took money from thousands of pet lovers with the promise of caring for those animals - and it didn't even *try* to find them a home. The HSUS took in millions of dollars more - even after the US Department of Justice opened an investigation into where they used their $37 million in donations after Hurricane Katrina. The HSUS does not run a single shelter, does not even buy food for one animal. Their IRS status shows them as not a charity but a lobbying group.
Potential donors from around the world need to open their eyes to the truth. That suffering puppy, that rabbit in pain, is a lexicon to what the animal rights movement once was. They have served a noble purpose in the past, improving specific situations that caused harm and suffering to animals. They have turned their back on this purpose, choosing instead violent protests and threats, and passing laws in communities across the nation to limit our ability to not only choose the type of pet we want, but to choose any pet at all.
Read the fine print, use the internet, save your money or donate it instead to your local no-kill shelter that actually will use it to alleviate the suffering of animals. And for goodness sake, don't believe everything you read - when you see HSUS or PETA supporting a bill, know that you had better pay attention and you probably should oppose it, particularly if you love animals and want to continue to be able to own pets in America.
But in one arena, this desire has gone horribly wrong - and most of the general public isn't even aware it's happened. "Animal rights" has been hijacked by fringe extremists who are careful to hide what they've done. This insidious change has gone far beyond what the donating public has anticipated. The movement was initially responsible for positive change - more humane treatment for all animals, basic treatment for animals in laboratory settings, in factories and in farms as they are prepared for consumption. Multiple groups worked together to focus on these particular issues to effect truly positive change.
However, after acheiving positive and laudable goals, the movement was taken over. Rather than retain focus on true cruelty and humane treatment, a few individuals turned their attention far afield to a new target - ALL animals. This dramatic alteration in purpose - not publicized and actively hidden behind the traditional fund-raising campaigns - remains unknown to much of the public, including those who make donations to their efforts.
The reason for the public's lack of awareness is obvious. The current animal rights activists continue to rely on decades-old direct mailing techniques for massive donations. Certainly the original treatment of animals in labs and factory farms and product testing was, in some cases, abysmal. Even minimal standards of care were ignored and painful and unnecessary procedures conducted. The legitimate animal rights movement changed this, through years of fundraising and public awareness events. But instead of disclosing the triumph of humane standards in labs and factory farms, they must continue to hide behind it to ensure that donations continue.
After their initial acheivements of proper care and welfare and the ending of unneeded experimentation, the movement lacked direction. Of course there would always be a lab or a farm that didn't follow the rules - but by this point, the movement had become a PR and donation gathering juggernaut with millions of dollars and big-name celebrities making endorsements. The decision, made by the very few who had been attracted by the media spotlight and millions to spend, was to expand their target to anyone who used animals in any part of industry - and their definition of industry suddenly took on anyone who used animals.
Most of the public never realized this change in course took place. That's because they were deliberately misled into thinking it hadn't. Direct mailing campaigns remain the lifeblood of these organizations, and not one word or tactic changed to inform the public of the new direction of animal rights. After all, they knew animal lovers would respond to a plea for help that comes wrapped up in photos of rabbits undergoing painful medical tests, or puppies wearing heavy chains in small pens outdoors in a thunderstorm. It's likely that, given the changes we've made in animal treatment, that the animals shown on PETA mailings are either old stock photos of events that no longer take place, or are deliberate setups to encourage the public to continue to give to their "rescue" campaign.
Now I've written here already about PETA's idea of "rescue." With a 97% kill rate of the animals it "rescues" - I'd be happy if the state of Virginia closed their "shelter" immediately. It's nothing more than a death house, the very thing they rail against in other states.
But the real purpose of this topic is education on the funding of these animal rights groups. They continue to solicit donations based on the horrific treatment of animals, without ever disclosing to the public that their money in reality goes to lobbying. The public assumes, incorrectly, that their donation will go to the suffering animal they read about in their solicitation letter. What they don't know is that nearly all of their money - after paying for overhead - goes to things like billboards in Times Square, for putting down thousands of animals a year, and to PETA and HSUS' favorite topic - lobbying for restrictive laws against all pet owners. Yup, they lobby for restrictions against the very people who fill their pockets with donations!
These animal rights groups are now becoming incredibly fringe in their targets. The general public is starting to see how far out there these groups are; however, situations like Michael Vick's cruelty case come along and put them right back in the media spotlight, allowing them to solicit even more money and giving them ammunition for more restrictive pet laws. (The HSUS collected tens of MILLIONS of dollars after the Vick case - even though HSUS did not care for even ONE of Vick's dogs, and has instead begun using that money all across the country to support breed specific bans in towns, counties and states. Think that's what those donors hoped their money would be spent on?)
The original actions of these groups - the genuine support and desire to care for animals humanely made them welcome at all animal based events. However, in recent years, their radical and at times violent behavior, and increasingly bizarre belief system (poisoning animals at cat and dog shows because the animals are "better off dead" than in cages) has made them unwelcome even at pet fairs. Their new policy - to end all breeding of any animal, create a nation of vegans, and eliminate pet ownership - is still only known in the small communities of hobby breeders and farmers. These small communities don't have the money or lobbying power to get the word out to would-be pet owners about where their money is really going.
But perhaps they didn't hide their purpose well enough. Publicly espousing veganism of course demonstrates the desire to end the killing of animals for food. Poisoning show cats and dogs shows their desire to reduce the number of purebreds available for adoption to the public. And of course, killing 97% of the animals they take in (and this number doesn't account for the thousands more that never make it to their "shelter" in Virginia - who are just killed and dumped in dumpsters across the eastern seaboard) perhaps proves that it is PETA's desire not to *have* any animals available for adoption as domestic pets. Because that's their new campaign - no more sentient animals should be "owned" as slave pets.
If that sounds ridiculous to you, I'm glad. It should, because it is. Centuries ago, we domesticated animals - some of whom chose to tag along and become part of the human pack - and for better or worse, those domesticated pets can't survive in the wild anymore. We can't take our pets and put them outside and expect them to find dinner on their own. And it's time the animal loving public understood what's really going on behind these closed doors. Your money does not go to the sympathetic animal who is suffering. It goes to PETA taking out ads and to HSUS flying its CEO around the country to lobby for laws that will eliminate more pets.
Right now in the United States, we do NOT have more adoptable animals than we have homes for them. Shelters routinely import animals from other states and areas of the country to fill the need for adoptable animals. It saddens me - it sickens me - to know that over 80,000 of them met their death at the hands of PETA (in ONE year), who took money from thousands of pet lovers with the promise of caring for those animals - and it didn't even *try* to find them a home. The HSUS took in millions of dollars more - even after the US Department of Justice opened an investigation into where they used their $37 million in donations after Hurricane Katrina. The HSUS does not run a single shelter, does not even buy food for one animal. Their IRS status shows them as not a charity but a lobbying group.
Potential donors from around the world need to open their eyes to the truth. That suffering puppy, that rabbit in pain, is a lexicon to what the animal rights movement once was. They have served a noble purpose in the past, improving specific situations that caused harm and suffering to animals. They have turned their back on this purpose, choosing instead violent protests and threats, and passing laws in communities across the nation to limit our ability to not only choose the type of pet we want, but to choose any pet at all.
Read the fine print, use the internet, save your money or donate it instead to your local no-kill shelter that actually will use it to alleviate the suffering of animals. And for goodness sake, don't believe everything you read - when you see HSUS or PETA supporting a bill, know that you had better pay attention and you probably should oppose it, particularly if you love animals and want to continue to be able to own pets in America.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
PETA's True Colors
Sadly, PETA has revealed (or had revealed, though required by law to produce information at request as a non-profit, I'm sure they don't like to tell about this one) their kill rate at their shelter. Last year, PETA killed 97% of the animals that entered its shelter.
Ninety seven percent. That is a horrifying, unacceptable number by anyone's standards - let alone those who claim to love and protect animals. This is clearly evidence that the organization has no business running a shelter - and who are we kidding, this isn't running a shelter, it's running a euthanasia center. Ironic, isn't it, that they compared the Holocaust to those who oppose them - when it is they who are engaging in unspeakable behavior, killing animals at an unbelieveable rate.
And let's not forget the animals they kill before they ever make it to the shelter. Recall the two employees put on trial in North Carolina for claiming to pick up animals to adopt out of PETA's Virginia shelter - only to euthanize them and dump their bodies in a dumpster behind a grocery store. It certainly begs the question of how many other states they collect and kill animals in.
It is time in America that we wake up. We have embraced free speech so broadly that in this case, it is to our detriment. We have extremist groups, those who fraternize with terrorists (as PETA does when it supports ALF), who are targeting our children with their outrageous propaganda. When I see PETA claiming that others are abusing or mistreating animals, I want to scream from the hypocrisy. Even kill shelters give their animals a chance to be adopted, give them basic medical treatment, give them a chance at life. Yet PETA, who now posts billboard in Times Square to badmouth animal breeders (so your donation to "help the animals" instead paid for a billboard costing probably upward of $100,000), can't even be bothered to give them a vetting - they don't even make it *to* the shelter for care or adoption.
Spread the information far and wide. Ensure your college age children know the truth about PETA - they are another favorite target of the group, sending mass mailings to dorms with photographs of animals in horrifying, abusive situations. I begin to wonder if, as we have seen in the past, PETA is manipulating those photos to get the most dramatic impact. I certainly wouldn't put it past them - their literature contains so many lies, why shouldn't their photos?
Think back to before the Animal "Rights" movement became big bucks. I'm sure you all knew a dog breeder in your youth - you'd pick the breed, go to the house, which was always spotless, play with a litter of happy, healthy puppies, and select your new pet. Guess what? THAT STILL HAPPENS. But if you take PETA's word for it, every dog born is raised in squalor, filth, and has horrible genetic and infectious diseases. This isn't even close to the truth.
So please - check for yourself and get the word out. PETA KILLS ANIMALS - they admit it themselves, as their kill rate has gone from 80% to 97% in just 3 years. I hope you are as appalled as I am - now exercise YOUR free speech rights to make sure your friends and family aren't taken in by lies. Give your money to the REAL rescues, the local no-kills and the local rescues, even the local breeders who foster and take in animals of their breed to save them from kill shelters. (Yes, you read that right. Breeders quite often reclaim animals from situations that threaten them, at their own cost, because they love their breed and in fact all animals.) Learn the truth - then spread it around.
Ninety seven percent. That is a horrifying, unacceptable number by anyone's standards - let alone those who claim to love and protect animals. This is clearly evidence that the organization has no business running a shelter - and who are we kidding, this isn't running a shelter, it's running a euthanasia center. Ironic, isn't it, that they compared the Holocaust to those who oppose them - when it is they who are engaging in unspeakable behavior, killing animals at an unbelieveable rate.
And let's not forget the animals they kill before they ever make it to the shelter. Recall the two employees put on trial in North Carolina for claiming to pick up animals to adopt out of PETA's Virginia shelter - only to euthanize them and dump their bodies in a dumpster behind a grocery store. It certainly begs the question of how many other states they collect and kill animals in.
It is time in America that we wake up. We have embraced free speech so broadly that in this case, it is to our detriment. We have extremist groups, those who fraternize with terrorists (as PETA does when it supports ALF), who are targeting our children with their outrageous propaganda. When I see PETA claiming that others are abusing or mistreating animals, I want to scream from the hypocrisy. Even kill shelters give their animals a chance to be adopted, give them basic medical treatment, give them a chance at life. Yet PETA, who now posts billboard in Times Square to badmouth animal breeders (so your donation to "help the animals" instead paid for a billboard costing probably upward of $100,000), can't even be bothered to give them a vetting - they don't even make it *to* the shelter for care or adoption.
Spread the information far and wide. Ensure your college age children know the truth about PETA - they are another favorite target of the group, sending mass mailings to dorms with photographs of animals in horrifying, abusive situations. I begin to wonder if, as we have seen in the past, PETA is manipulating those photos to get the most dramatic impact. I certainly wouldn't put it past them - their literature contains so many lies, why shouldn't their photos?
Think back to before the Animal "Rights" movement became big bucks. I'm sure you all knew a dog breeder in your youth - you'd pick the breed, go to the house, which was always spotless, play with a litter of happy, healthy puppies, and select your new pet. Guess what? THAT STILL HAPPENS. But if you take PETA's word for it, every dog born is raised in squalor, filth, and has horrible genetic and infectious diseases. This isn't even close to the truth.
So please - check for yourself and get the word out. PETA KILLS ANIMALS - they admit it themselves, as their kill rate has gone from 80% to 97% in just 3 years. I hope you are as appalled as I am - now exercise YOUR free speech rights to make sure your friends and family aren't taken in by lies. Give your money to the REAL rescues, the local no-kills and the local rescues, even the local breeders who foster and take in animals of their breed to save them from kill shelters. (Yes, you read that right. Breeders quite often reclaim animals from situations that threaten them, at their own cost, because they love their breed and in fact all animals.) Learn the truth - then spread it around.
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