posted on another list...

Please help protect pet breeding -- Part 1 -- PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL

Posted by: "Walt" waltah@earthlink.net waltah0

Mon May 14, 2007 4:52 am (PST)

PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL PET LISTS

Animal rightists hate the idea of people having pets and their fondest
dream is to have a list of all pet breeders. Just as the anti-animal
use terror groups have done with executives of companies they want to
run out of business, they only have to make the list: Individual
activists will do the harassment and intimidation.

There may be false bad reports to animal control. People may visit the
breeder's neighbors and say "Did you know you had a PUPPY MILL next
door?" The breeder may get calls and emails saying "I'm glad we have
your address, a few of my friends might want to drop by." Gates may be
left open. Most pet breeders are families and for many, breeding is a
hobby. The result will be fewer and fewer people willing to breed at
home.

A second use of such lists is to back up the AR claim that more laws
are needed to make breeding harder and more expensive. "We have 1000
reports from people who got sick puppies." Of course the 19,000 other
people who got healthy puppies from those breeders didn't bother to
get on the list.

Right now, one of big three animal rights organizations is asking
American pet owners to help them build their target list by filling in
what they call a survey. They say they want to "crack down on puppy
mills" but the ASPCA has NO ENFORCEMENT POWERS. When they ask for
breeder and dealer names and addresses you know this is mainly a
target list.

AMERICA'S PET BREEDERS NEED YOUR HELP. In order to make the ASPCA's
target list useless, we need to fill it with garbage. Go to the link
below and INVENT A FEW PETS. Make up everything else, too, including
your name, and the rest of the information, if you like. Don't get too
creative -- give info that MIGHT be right, so they'll won't be able to
tell which entries are real and which are fakes. DON'T GIVE THEM INFO
ON ANY REAL BREEDER.

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=dogsurvey

The war to defend American animals against the weirdos who think
humans aren't good enough to own pets, that nobody should eat meat,
that zoos are cruel, that research using animals should be illegal
(too bad that this will mean no new drugs ...) will go on for years
and if we are going to win, we're all going to have to get into the
fight at least part time.

PLEASE HELP! YOUR CHILDREN WILL THANK YOU when they buy pets for
their kids, ten or twenty years from now!

PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL PET LISTS!

Walt Hutchens
Timbreblue Whippets

Sabotage -- what a fabulous idea. Perhaps the author of that note would allow us to use his name as breeder when we fill out all of our bogus forms.

I'm not sure that will be a good approach. What about the summary results they might get? "75% of puppies come from private breeders" would lead them to spend more time and money targeting us. Better to find real puppy mills and list them over and over again, with all kinds of problems checked.

Maybe you should spend five minutes reading their position statements (easily found on their website) to see what ASPCA is really about before you go lumping them in with "the weirdos who think humans aren't good enough to own pets, that nobody should eat meat, that zoos are cruel, that research using animals should be illegal." That kind of talk makes YOU look like the reactionary, uninformed weirdo.
ASPCA is a mainstream animal welfare group. They don't care what you eat, and most of thier site is about pets and pet care - they are as PRO-pet as it gets. They are anti-puppy mill, and you should be too.

PA now has their kennel inspections on a public database with your address and everything. Not only can prospective puppy people view your recent inspections, but your "enemies" can too. If you have a bad day and it coincides with your surprise inspection; your dirty laundry (or kennel) is there for the world to see.

Another thing... If the California bill passes only large commercial breeders (Puppy mills) will still be legally allowed to breed. Small time home breeders who can't afford the intact permit fees will fall first. What's the point of running on a puppy if the law says you have to spay it?

You people don't get it. (sorry - I don't mean to offend those that DO get it) - To the extreme animal rights movement ALL breeders are bad. You exploit your dogs by showing them, you force them to breed artificially, and you make them live in crates!

Okay, I "get it" about the animal rights people, but what I don't get is what the last two posts bu Gina have to do with this thread or the ASPCA. As eskimo dad said, the ASPCA is not one of those groups.
Quite frankly, I am really sick of two things. I am sick of the legislators who railroad through ridiculous legislation that would put small reputable hobby breeders out of in the cold. And, I am also sick of the fanciers who run around like Chicken Little crying that the sky is falling about everyone and everything. Do you remember the hysteria about PETA being at some show setting dogs free a couple of months back on this board? When the truth came out that it was an off-hand comment made by some handler who accidentally got the wrong dog out of the crate and jokingly said she was from PETA, a couple of posters continued to ignore the facts and rail about what a threat it was and how we all had to watch our dogs at shows now. There is an element among some of the fanciers who are like the extremists who don't want any gun control at all. I'm sorry, but I don't think average humans need to be able to own an AK-47, even though I think people ought to be able to own guns. And, I think that people ought to be able to breed, but I also don't think everyone ought to be able to breed as much as they want (in excess, well beyond hobby breeding and obviously for the mass market) without restriction. Can't we just try to be sensible and work with legislators? Can't we educate them about who we are, what we do, and try to come up with exemptions for responsible breeders? Can't we be a part of the solution instead of just backing off and crying, "It's not us, we're not responsible, and we're being punished!" As fanciers, don't we care about what happens to poor labradors who have the misfortune of being bred by the wrong people? Rescue is great, but in many places in this country, rescue can't even begin to help the number of homeless labradors. Maybe PA isn't one of those places, but there are high kill shelters in OH, TX, FL, WV, LA, AR, and other places where rescue can't even begin to touch the number of dogs who will suffer in the wrong hands, land in a shelter, and ultimately die. Is there no part of you that wants to do something to prevent more animals like this from coming into the world and meeting such an awful fate? Or is it someone else's problem because you didn't do it? I don't know about anyone else, but I love the breed so much that I don't want to see any labradors suffering, even skinny goofy-looking gangly pet bred poorly bred labs who are clearly not "my" doing. I love the breed so much that I would really like to see something happen to the people who make them, something to deter them from making more and more labs, something to prevent them from coming into this world to suffer. But that's just me, I guess I'm a lab lover.

See my puppy mill thread above. What one person thinks is puppy mill could be a breeder who has enough money to have at least 3 litters a year.

I'm not trying to be chicken little, I was asked to do this. And since it seems that a LOT of people troll this forum - right now it's the best way to let the Lab fancy know what is going on. If people don't want to believe me, they don't have to. I don't know where you live or how many dogs you have, nor do I care.

Lets look at California - They are trying to figure out how the exemptions will work. You have to have registered dogs with an approved registry and be actively showing and training all of them to qualify for an intact permit. And you have to report all of your dog income and be listed as a business. Should the doggie gestapo go through each persons home?
(How do the cat people show they are "training" their cats?) What about people who raise unregistered stock dogs for ranchers, or people who raise litters for a service dog organization?

It's difficult to pass a law that says if a person does or doesn't do this or this - they are a puppy mill. In PA the threshold for a kennel license is 26 dogs on the premises in a 12 month period. So if you own 7 dogs and have 2 litters of 6 puppies - you must get a kennel license and abide by the Dog law. Fine. Should we make the law say that all dogs must have proof of health clearances and have championship points. Wow wouldn't that narrow down the competition in the puppy market!

Hey if it was up to me, in order to breed - All Labs would have to have Optigen testing, Color doppler, Clear CERF'd Eyes, Clear elbows, An OFA number for hips, and a WC! But I don't write laws and as we know you can't legislate ethics. How would you enforce this law anyways?

I'm not *for* puppy mills. I'm only trying to make the point that as long as the collective pure-bred dog fancy is divided on issues - the animal rights people will win. They want a no-birth nation.

I've rescued and placed a few dogs over the years and hope that you do too.

I still don't see what this has to do with the ASPCA.

Gina, I know you're doing a service here by informing us about a lot of important pieces of legislation to watch. There are some wild things happening in a few states. But again, I fail to see what that has to do with this thread.

This thread is about an ASPCA survey. They're trying to get a handle on where dogs come from. Why? Maybe they want to be able to site instances of more dogs who come from puppy mills and pet stores having hereditary defects. Maybe they want to have information for their awareness campaigns. Until you ask them and get an answer about their intentions, why assume they want to push legislation to shut down all breeding??? I don't see the connection. Does the ASPCA even get involved in lobbying for any of that stuff? Honestly, I thought it was just HSUS and PETA. The ASPCA is a little more on the "up and up." Let's not shoot until we see the whites of their eyes, folks.

For the nutty Whippet breeder whose original note was cited at the top, that is one disturbed individual who is probably wearing a tinfoil hat so the martians don't steal his thoughts. Filling out the survey with misinformation is a stupid idea. If anyone is concerned that their puppy buyers will slam them because of a dysplastic dog, if the breeder is truly a good one, they'll have a heck of a lot more happy puppy buyers than unhappy ones, and a heck of a lot more healthy dogs than unhealthy ones. So, I wouldn't be horribly concerned about it. The number of people who will actually SEE that survey is probably pretty small. The number who fill it out will be smaller yet.

The nutty whippet breeder is the moderator of the pet-law list and is an active opponent to fighting animal rights. His suggestion was a bit tongue in cheek, but he is far from nutty.

http://timbreblue.com/

As far as the ASPCA goes they are what we call AR-lite. They are anti-breeder without actually saying so. The don't sound wacko like peta and HSUS but were the driving force behind the recent Regulations proposals in PA. How is making it illegal to exercise your dogs on grass or dirt helping puppy mill dogs... Really?

This is directly from their website:

Action You Can Take Today:

Speak Up. Tell anyone who is looking for a companion animal that shelter pets are best. Most are house trained, have basic obedience skills, are spayed or neutered, have had all the necessary veterinary care, are well behaved, and are dying for someone to love them! Plus, they don’t have the expense of purebred animals. It’s the greatest deal for people and pets. Spread the word!