Friday, November 25, 2011

The Dogs from Spain

(To the tune of "The Rain in Spain" from Lerner and Loewe's "My Fair Lady")

Ready? All together now:

The dogs from Spain come mainly in by plane.


By George she's got it! By George she's got it!

The dogs from Spain come mainly in by plane.

In Hartford, Her-e-ford and Hamp-sheer?

Hoarding hardly ever happens!

How kind of you to let me come!
Now once again, where's it insane?

On the plane, on the plane!


And where's that crazy plane?

From SPAIN. From SPAIN!

The dogs from Spain come mainly in by plane...



"Dozens of dogs rescued who have never been out of their cages! Film at 11!"

Over forty beagles have been "rescued" from a research lab in Spain, and flown to Los Angeles for adoption. The first problem with this scenario is, in order for an operation to be a "rescue", there would have to have been some sort of resistance to the confiscation of the dogs. These dogs were voluntarily handed over by the lab as they were closing down their business. 

The cost of the operation? CBS reported that in excess of $100,000 was spent to relocate these dogs. Wouldn't that money have gone a long way toward helping animals in need right here in the US? The animal shelters in Los Angeles claim to not have enough homes for the animal sourced locally. Aren't there people in Western Europe who would have been glad to adopt these cute beagles, instead of relocating them thousands of miles away?

Naturally, the news painted a gloomy picture about how mistreated the beagles were; how they had never been out of cages, how they were in poor condition. Yet when seen on the news program, the dogs appear to be in fine condition and weight, walking perfectly normally, wagging their tails, happy and friendly. Not exactly the picture of abuse and neglect. 

But yeah, we've got it. We've really got it! Rescues need plenty of cute purebred dogs to satisfy demand from their customers. And the sadder the tale of woe, the bigger the sensationalism and the quicker they move out.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/11/24/40-beagles-rescued-from-testing-lab-in-spain-arrive-at-lax/#comment-225320

http://blog.petrelocation.com/blog/pet-relocation-company-news/beagle-freedom-project-rescuing-41-beagles-from-spain-in-need-of-foster-homes

8 comments:

  1. The worst thing about this may be that they could easily have been placed in Spain - without subjecting them to an intercontinental flight. Spain has their AR activists, too, assuring people that it is not possible for a research lab to treat animals 'humanely'. By definition, lab animals are all abuse victims.

    But the other bonus for 'rescuing' dogs here is very simply that floods of 'abused' dogs needing homes make it ever harder for committed breeders to survive. And I think we can expect all this rescuing to disappear once the breeders have been destroyed. After all, the goal will have been met - people will just have to manage to live without dogs. Those who obtain dogs on the black market (which will surely erupt at that stage) will stick out like sore thumbs, and be easy targets. After all, anyone who would obtain an animal that way would *have* to be an abuser.

    Have you seen this? This is the kind of thing which will be the final nail in our animal loving coffin, if the plan is realized:

    http://tiny.cc/7315d

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am amazed that the individual who writes this blog constantly criticizes the good deeds of others. Some people see a need and choose to act. I guess others choose bitter cynicism and blog about it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Time for Dogs is right on the spot correct!
    I too cannot understand why the dogs didn't find homes in Spain. That is a question that begs to be answered. The points mentioned on this blog are thought provoking and positive in light of all the dogs in need of rescue in the United States. I think what applies here is foreign dogs are taking homes that should go to US dogs. The cost of operations like this is obscene when dogs die here at home from lack of homes.... or are we now unable to meet the demand for dogs, are the shelters already empty?

    ReplyDelete
  4. One might venture to say, "For every dog imported, a dog dies in a shelter."
    Not much of a "good deed" when you consider these imports displace dogs here, and often bring with them unwanted parasites and diseases like RABIES!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Mark -
    To quote your "loving" ARses - importing a shelter dogs KILLS domestic shelter dogs. Maybe - just maybe - we're being lied to - there's no overabundance of dogs in this country, just inept shelter workers who enjoy killing!!!!!!

    Good deed my butt!!!! Those dogs were subjected to long flights - when they SHOULD'VE been placed in Spain, their home country!!!!! GEESH!!!!

    WHEN do we, as Americans, get off the hook paying for everyone else's mistakes????

    ReplyDelete
  6. There is nothing "bitter" about wanting dogs in America to find homes before huge amounts of money are spent shipping dogs here from Spain.. How about this.. these people go to Spain and find homes for the dogs there.appeal to the actual Spanish population surely there are enough Spaniards who would 'adopt' a dog.. let's face it.. these are attempts to RAISE MONEY and have little to do with actually saving dogs and placing them in homes.
    Keep up the good work Time4dogs.. your posts are not only intelligent.. they are true

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Beagle project is just one of many rescues done by this group. Their typical focus is finding homes for animals located here in the U.S., and these Beagles are only a few of the THOUSANDS of domestic dogs they have saved. Many groups, including those in Spain, had a chance to help these dogs, but this group was able to overcome tremendous logistical challenges and get it done.

    Starbreeze: These dogs were thoroughly vetted. They don’t have rabies or parasites.

    Anon 9:00 PM: Americans didn’t “pay for someone else’s mistake.” The rescue organization funded the operation. They didn’t use my or your tax dollars.

    As I said in my original post, these people had an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of these dogs and made it happen. You choose to criticize them, I choose to applaud them.

    As was once said, “A critic is someone who never actually goes to the battle, yet afterwards comes out to shoot the wounded.”

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Mark,
    We should applaud this "rescue" group for importing dogs into the US, when we are using the excuse of "overpopulation" for killing the dogs that already exist in our shelters? That's not just disingenuous, it's downright cruel to kill our shelter dogs while at the same time importing dogs from other countries. Applaud this "rescue" for subjecting these dogs to a long flight, when they could have easily been placed in homes in their own region? Ridiculous!
    The "battle" is a carefully orchestrated one; animal extremists want our shelter dogs killed, so they can wring their hands over an imaginary "pet overpopulation." The wounded are the dogs in shelters here who end up being killed, and the rescue groups who import dogs here are the ones shooting the wounded. Shame on them!
    "Rescues" who import kill shelter dogs' chances. They are the ones who pull the trigger on the wounded.
    There are many documented instances (very recent) of imported dogs bringing in parvo, distemper, parasites and rabies. There is no reason on earth why any "rescue" group should be allowed to import dogs. There oughta be a law against it! We've got plenty to save right here are home.
    You've stated your same position (twice already). C'est tout. Or perhaps I should say, "es todo"....

    ReplyDelete