Monday, April 25, 2011

The Three Wise Monkeys


I've been posting dog legislation updates on my facebook page. Most of my 500 plus "friends" do not comment or click "like". The precious few who do are the same crowd who are already aware, savvy and heavily involved in the fight. Just post a cute puppy picture, however, and you'll soon have 40 or 50 people clicking that "like " button.

"I don't understand why more people aren't upset about all the new dog legislation" I began at a family gathering. My sister, who owns three pet dogs, observed, "Well, maybe they are pet owners and think it just won't affect them".


There's always a rationalization for sticking one's head in the sand. That's the easy way out, pretending that you will be unaffected by the current aggressive campaigns by the animal rights groups. But this particular rationalization makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Whenever there is a campaign launched to eliminate the rights of one segment of society, it will always filter down to affect everyone else, eventually.

The result of such apathy is a truly frightening prospect. 

It's open season on animal breeders, and that affects everyone! If the current legislative trend continues, we'll soon live in a world in which animal ownership is so cost-prohibitive and so heavily regulated that 99% of us will not be able to own animals!  Someone looking for a pet puppy might begin to notice when there are no more purebred dogs available five or ten years down the road. Heck, it won't just be purebred puppies who will be unobtainable, but ANY puppies!

Yes, the trends in legislation will affect every single person in our nation! Do you EAT? Costs of agriculture will rise dramatically, meaning FOOD prices will explode.


Closing your eyes won't make these issues disappear. The animal rights groups are welll-funded and highly motivated to advancing their agenda. While your eyes are closed, they will be hard at work chipping away at your animal ownership rights. When the day arrives where you have to pay hundreds of dollars for a "rescued" dog, bred in a third world country expressly for export to the US market, think maybe THEN it might affect you?


But by then, it will be TOO LATE to reverse the tide.

Will people be able to breed or obtain a puppy in the very near future if the present onslaught of anti-dog legislation continues? Most importantly, DO YOU CARE?

If you do care, please speak up! Speak up on comment sections of news articles. Write notes to your legislators. Speak to others about the threats to our rights. Support others who are active. Contact your state dog federation and volunteer your services to help raise awareness. 
Or don't. The choice is yours.

The future is in your hands.  

10 comments:

  1. Consider the very serious and very real effects of APATHY.

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  2. Your twitter link needs to shorten the URL so it auto posts. I had to go to tiny URL to make it happen. Great post!

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  3. I read this again this morning. I'm reminded of the conversation I had with another dog breeder. She was arguing that my concerns about animal seizure were unfounded. I told her that it has happened to others. Her response was, "They deserved for it to happen. They were not doing the right thing for their animals". I told her that 20/20 had done an expose' on it (Cruelty to Owners) and that they had a licensed vet as a camera man that stated on camera that the dogs in the raid were well cared for and the habitat was a good one." Some not only do not wish to believe that it can happen, they are in full fledged denial. What's happening to victimized animal owners is frightening and it should be of concern to every American when any segment of society's rights are trampled for any reason.

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  4. Most of us "real" dog people don't have time to "do" facebook or any social networks. Nor would most of us want to.

    We do fight legislation, all of the above!

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  5. maggie b is correct. I have been fighting dog legislation for 5 yrs and most of my friends don't believe it can happen to them...they believe the trumped up overly exaggerated stories in the media.
    Puppies will always be around because they are being imported legally or illegally from other countries. How healthy they are is another story.
    People don't adopt their dog from a shelter or rescue...they buy it (they have bought into the adoption thought)....they pick out a dog in kennel #, get out their wallet/credit card and they are a dog owner. They are buying a dog that has no known history of temperament, genetics, no parents, no nothing...its just a dog.
    Yes, dog people do have lots of apathy.

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  6. "Real dog people" should find time to utilize social media. It is a wonderful way to help expose what's occuring in our society to dog breeders & others involved in animal agriculture. I tweet articles like this one & I put them on face book. Farmers are learning how to blog and how to use social media in order to get their stories told. It is a useful worthwhile endeavor to tell our story

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  7. Blog, yes...facebook NO! It's like everyone's 15 minutes of fame.........Sorry, just very allergic to this type of thing. People put things on facebook that will haunt them for years to come........this is the "real" world the whole world sees facebook.

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  8. Dog breeders and those involved in animal agriculture have one fundamental problem that is offensive to those who work tirelessly to help animals that are neglected and left in pounds. They hold the speciesist belief, like much of society, that animals are to be used for our own profit, amusement or palate.

    In an evolving world, this belief system will eventually go the way of the slave-owners of a few generations ago who were outraged that anyone would dare suggest that owning slaves was not a natural right.

    Open your heart to compassion and you will see that animals deserve freedom and the basic rights you deny them by deciding how and why they will breed.

    It's morally bankrupt. Open your eyes.

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    Replies
    1. Oh boy, Ingrid NewKook reads my blog! LOL.
      YOU are morally inept and bankrupt. Comparing human slaves to animals?
      Guess what, toots, life is a continual struggle for survival between and among species. The lion has a right to kill the lamb for dinner. That's the natural order. Humans have the right to use for profit, amusement or palate. If you don't like it, find yourself a new universe.

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    2. "They hold the speciesist belief, like much of society, that animals are to be used for our own profit, amusement or palate"--Comedians make their living based on entertaining others- as do movie stars, musicians and artists.
      Being a vegan or vegetarian doesn't mean no impact on animals -- to grow that corn or wheat or barley, we have to plow over lands other animals live on and prevent those animals from eating the food we want from eating it. We don't eat hay, but pastures with cows also support other animals -- who might not live there if we eliminated the cows and grew corn instead. Respect for life doesn't mean they are people or should have the same rights..
      If animals are "equal" then we need to prosecute lions for abuse and murder. We don't let little kids run in the streets during traffic and in fact, usually employ fencing to "cage" them safely in yards. Before humans developed weaponry to prevent it, lions, leopards and even eagles ate us -- as the archaeological record shows (one of the most famous fossils was probably the result of a leopard kill and another that of an eagle). The assertion that somehow the existing laws aren't enough -- no law prevents crime. Laws only provide a penalty if one commits a crime.
      The majority of dogs, if forced to live like wolves, would have much shorter, less pleasant lives. Being "crated" or confined in a yard is a major beneficial trade off for the species -- the wild version only exists because of human intervention to prevent extinction..

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