ADOA NEWS - Time for a Westmuttster dog show

ADOA NEWS

The ADOA Give Me A Break Article!
Time for a Westmuttster dog show
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - PETA

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - PETA

March 07, 2008


By Alisa Mullins

The dog world´s biggest shindig, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, recently descended on New York City with much fanfare and flying fur. Parts of the show are broadcast live on TV, with the camera spending almost as much time panning to celebrity dog fanciers in the audience as it spends on the dogs. Commentators breathlessly call the action as if something exciting were happening instead of just primped dogs running in circles around Madison Square Garden accompanied by handlers in sensible shoes.

Westminster and other dog shows are simply overblown beauty pageants—nothing more, nothing less. So what if a dog wins. What does it mean? That she was having a really great hair day? How silly is that?

As trivial as dog shows are, they have repercussions that are dead serious. They create a culture of celebrity that has no business in the canine world. We can only guess how many families gathered around their TV sets will decide that they absolutely have to have a dog exactly like the one named Best in Show. How many will rush out to buy a puppy from a pet shop or breeder without stopping to think about how much time, money and effort puppies require? How many will then dump said puppy at the animal shelter six months later when that puppy cuteness has worn off but that puppy energy is still going full speed?

It is estimated that 6 to 8 million animals are abandoned at shelters every year and roughly half are euthanized. Most of these animals are young, healthy and friendly (and approximately a third of them are purebreds). There is nothing "wrong" with mixed-breed shelter dogs. They are not "inferior" to the dogs you see prancing around the ring at Westminster—in fact, studies show that mixed breeds are often healthier and even smarter than purebreds. They simply lack Westminster´s marketing muscle.



The Westminster Kennel Club, the American Kennel Club (AKC) and the various other kennel clubs are as culpable in the deaths of shelter dogs as if they had administered the lethal injections themselves. Not only do they promote and breed purebred dogs—taking away homes from shelter animals with every litter they bring into the world—they also actively fight efforts to combat the overpopulation crisis with spay/neuter legislation. The AKC even brags on its Web site about the role it played in tabling a groundbreaking California bill that would have required most animals statewide to be spayed or neutered (breeders could have paid a modest fee to be exempted) and that had the potential to save 500,000 animals from being abandoned and consequently euthanized every year.

Westminster may seem like good, clean family fun, but in reality, its message is that dogs are status symbols to be dressed up and shown off. But dogs are more than just a pretty face—they are our companions, our best friends. Imagine if, instead of fawning over dogs lucky enough to have a really good hairdresser and important-sounding "papers," we started appreciating dogs for who they are—or who they could be if let out of that shelter cage long enough to strut their stuff. What if Westminster were renamed Westmuttster, and instead of promoting inbred show dogs with complicated hairdos and amputated tails and ears, it showcased homeless dogs up for adoption at local animal shelters? Now that would be something worth setting the Tivo for.

Alisa Mullins is the proud guardian of a former shelter mutt and a senior writer for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.HelpingAnimals.com.


http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/54551


KENTUCKY – URGENT ACTION REQUIRED



PLEASE CROSSPOST THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. WE NEED AS MANY CALLS AND FAXES
AS POSSIBLE. THANKS MUCH. DONNA HERZIG.

I RECEIVED A CALL THIS MORNING FROM WAYNE CAUDHILL, PRESIDENT OF THE KENTUCKY HOUNDSMEN AND OUR STRONG EYES AND EARS IN FRANKFORT. HB 518 INTRODUCED RECENTLY THROUGH THE HSUS PAM ROGERS, AND ASSIGNED TO THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, IS POTENTIALLY GOING TO MOVE. I WILL SEND WAYNE'S
WRITE-UP WHEN HE RETURNS FROM FRANKFORT BUT IN SUM THE BILL ATTEMPTS TO REGULATE HOBBY BREEDERS THROUGH LICENSES AND CONSTRAINTS. THEY CALL IT "PET SHOPS" BUT THOSE INCLUDE EVERYONE. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ALREADY
REGULATES COMMERCIAL BREEDERS. THIS IS A BILL THAT WILL ELIMINATE ALL BREEDING FOR SPORT OR PERFORMANCE OR FOR POLICE, THERAPY, OR RESCUE WORK. HSUS HAS TARGETED KENTUCKY AND WE NEED TO LET THE LEGISLATURE KNOW WHAT THE WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING ACTUALLY STANDS FOR. THERE IS NO MONEY IN THE
BUDGET TO ADMINISTER SUCH A DRACONIAN LAW AND OUR LEGISLATURE HAS ACTUALLY RECOGNIZED BY STATUTE OUR PERSONAL PROPERTY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS THAT WE HAVE IN BREEDING ANIMALS KRS 437.415. IN ADDITION, THE BILL RAISED
THE PUNISHMENT FOR CRUELTY TO A CLASS D FELONY- AS STRONG AS THE PUNISHMENT FOR SEXUALLY ABUSING A CHILD. THE HSUS HAS INCLUDED THESE CLASS D FELONY PROVISIONS AND THEN HAS USED THEM TO CALL EVERYTHING CRUELTY AND TO EXTEND
THIS TO HORSES, CATTLE, CHICKENS, ETC.

PLEASE SEND A FAX TO THE FAX LINE 502-564-6543; CALL THE HOTLINE AT
1-800-372-7181; AND IF A KENTUCKY RESIDENT GO TO www.lrc.ky.gov AND FIND YOUR REPRESSENTATIVE AND SENATOR AND SEND THEM AN E-MAIL AND VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL. IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT WE JAM THEIR LINES AND E-MAIL BOXES SO SENT THIS ALONG TO ALL OF YOUR LISTS.

THANKS MUCH.

DONNA HERZIG
VP Louisville Kennel Club

NOTE: OUT OF STATE calls and faxes are WELCOME!
Karen