I know there are many folks that read my blog that are new to the fight against the Animal Rights lunatic fringe. Hell, when I first started my education into the 'dark side', I didn't know what to think or which side to believe. After reading this post, I hope ya'll will now believe me when I tell you that the Animal Rights believers hate us: US meaning breeders, owners of purebreds, those of us that choose to buy our dogs from a breeder rather than a shelter.Those that choose to support the lunatic fringe Animal Rights movement do not deserve our support. That goes for corporations, small businesses, even authors. One thing that us sane folks can do is send our message loud and clear: If you support or sympathize with the Animal Rights groups, such as PeTA or the HSUS, we will take our business elsewhere. If you choose to allow any Animal Rights group to "endorse" your business or product, there will be consequences: such as taking our business and our hard-earned dollars elsewhere. The following is posted with permission from Sharyn Hutchens. The first is a letter that Sharyn wrote to the author. The last is the response from the author herself, who has obviously drank waayy too much of PeTA's Kool-Aid.
Date: Jan 22, 2009 10:03 PM
Subject: Your book
To: Alana Stevenson, MS, CDBC
Dog and Cat Behavior Specialist, Trainer
Dear Alana,
A friend recommended your book, "The Right Way the First Time," very highly to me. I was on the verge of ordering it when she called me back and said not to -- that there is an endorsement from PETA on the front of it and she was afraid PETA might be receiving money from it.
What does it mean when an organization that kills 97 percent of the animals it "rescues" endorses a book on positive training methods? I live in Virginia and have followed their antics and atrocities for years. Dogs are my life and there was a time when I would have loved to be a supporter -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals? Gosh, that is exactly what I've promoted literally since I could talk! But the more I looked into PETA's philosophy, the more I realized how truly sick this organization is.
Your association with PETA will only do you harm. It has already cost you this sale, the respect of my friend (a professional trainer) and the sales you'd have gotten when she recommended it to all her students. I know it is probably not about money to you, but I'm sure you don't want to be associated with people who admit freely that they do not believe in keeping pets at all and who routinely kill healthy animals who could be placed into new homes.
I don't expect you to change your allegiance to them due to a letter from a stranger, but I do hope you will investigate them further. You can start with the following quotations (all with citations) from their founder and CEO -- the first few are the PETA view about pet ownership. The next couple will give you an insight on just how twisted these people are. I cannot imagine anyone with your obvious intelligence willingly being used by these people.
"In a perfect world, animals would be free to live their lives to the fullest: raising their young, enjoying their native environments, and following their natural instincts. However, domesticated dogs and cats cannot survive "free" in our concrete jungles, so we must take as good care of them as possible. People with the time, money, love, and patience to make a lifetime commitment to an animal can make an enormous difference by adopting from shelters or rescuing animals from a perilous life on the street. But it is also important to stop manufacturing "pets," thereby perpetuating a class of animals forced to rely on humans to survive." PETA pamphlet, Companion Animals: Pets or Prisoners?
"I don't use the word "pet." I think it's speciesist language. I prefer "companion animal." For one thing, we would no longer allow breeding. People could not create different breeds. There would be no pet shops. If people had companion animals in their homes, those animals would have to be refugees from the animal shelters and the streets. You would have a protective relationship with them just as you would with an orphaned child. But as the surplus of cats and dogs (artificially engineered by centuries of forced breeding) declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship enjoyment at a distance." Ingrid Newkirk, PETA vice-president, quoted in The Harper's Forum Book, Jack Hitt, ed., 1989, p.223.
"Pet ownership is an absolutely abysmal situation brought about by human manipulation." Ingrid Newkirk, national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), Just Like Us? Harper's, August 1988, p. 50.
"As John Bryant has written in his book Fettered Kingdoms, they [pets] are like slaves, even if well-kept slaves." PeTA's Statement on Companion Animals.
"The bottom line is that people don't have the right to manipulate or to breed dogs and cats ... If people want toys, they should buy inanimate objects. If they want companionship, they should seek it with their own kind," Ingrid Newkirk, founder, president and former national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), Animals, May/June1993
"Six million people died in concentration camps, but six billion broiler chickens will die this year in slaughterhouses." Ingrid Newkirk, founder, president and former national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, as quoted in Chip Brown, "She's A Portrait of Zealotry in Plastic Shoes," Washington Post, November 13, 1983, p. B10.
"To those people who say, `My father is alive because of animal experimentation,' I say `Yeah, well, good for you. This dog died so your father could live.' Sorry, but I am just not behind that kind of trade off." Bill Maher, PETA celebrity spokesman
"Even if animal tests produced a cure [for AIDS], 'we'd be against it.'" --Ingrid Newkirk, national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), as quoted in Fred Barnes, "Politics," Vogue, September 1989, p. 542.
"Until your daddy learns that it's not "fun' to kill, keep your doggies and kitties away from him. He's so hooked on killing defenseless animals that they could be next!'' PETA flyer quoted in
the Asbury Park Press, September 23, 2005
I would like to believe that you became associated with PETA through ignorance of their real motives. You are obviously a talented, educated person and a sincere lover of dogs. But you aren't doing the species any kindness by promoting PETA or allowing them to self-promote through your book.
Wishing you all the best...
Sharyn
And now, the response from the author:
From: Alana Stevenson***********************************************************************
Date: Jan 23, 2009 9:43 AM
Subject: Re: Your book
To: Sharyn Hutchens
Wow, no offense. But *you're* nuts.
I have a MS in bio. I have been vegan for the past 20 years. I volunteer at a shelter and all my animals are rescues. I read the paras. and they are right on. What could you possibly have against them unless 1) you are breeding animals and selling their babies to make a profit and 2) you promote the buying and selling of animals, which is just plain wrong.
There are many "pet" lovers and "dog" lovers yada yada. There aren't many people who give them responsible homes, spay and neuter them etc.
What Ingrid Newkirk believes in is what I believe in...we've have bought and sold and bred animals as slaves, which they are, just look at any dog being yanked around on a choke chain, pinch collar, shock collar or slammed in a cage against their will. We do not respect them. They are here for our purpose. But since there are so many, the animals cannot survive on their own, they need good homes. My cats certainly can't live on the street, nor can dogs. So Ingrid supports rescue and adoption. Peta is against breeding and selling (hence "manufacturing") ...which is basically using them as products for our needs "pets." This is why animals are considered property, because people can buy and sell them in stores and make a profit. The majority of dog and cat owners shouldn't be allowed to have dogs and cats. As many are pretty poor in their behaviors to animals, and those are the good ones. Breeders by the way are the worst and give out some of the worst information.
It's interesting how few people who are involved with animal shelters dislike Peta. It is always the breeders and these people who seem to profess a love for animals, then feel everyone has a right to own one and buy and sell them. That is why animals are property. That is why there are few serious penalties for animal abusers. That is why there is no licensing or really good mandatory national certification credentials for animal behaviorists and trainers. Animals are property.
Somebody professing to love animals and want dogs as pets and then forces dogs to mate, to sell their babies for money, is laughable. But unfortunately too common. If you thought of doing this to a person, people would be outraged.
Lastly, it floors me that anti-peta people, getting a lot of their information from an organization that is pro-hunting, trapping, breeding, meat-eating... will not read information or learn because somebody who they dislike likes my book. So that means if Bin Laden liked my book, yet my Jewish father also liked my book that one negates the other?
I'm sorry but Peta does not nearly kill as many animals as breeders. In addition, I have known Peta from their start as 2 activists with the Silver Spring Monkeys. Peta singlehandedly, by a long shot, has done more for animals in this country...then most of the national organizations combined. And making me read quotes from Peta, that to me, sound great, as if I'd be in horror, is laughable. I've known about Peta and their existence about in the early 80's when they were just beginning.
I've read Animal Liberation by Dr. Singer and Free the Animals by Ingrid Newkirk. In fact, it is because of the Animal Liberation Front and Peta that Dr. Jane Goodall became vegetarian and an advocate and activist for primates as opposed to just studying them. Dr. Jane Goodall is vegan, opposed to animal experimentation and I'd bet you 100% into animal rescue and anti-the buying and selling of animals. Most enlightened, educated people are. Including Dr. Michael Fox, among others.
I'm vegan, are you? I believe in adoption and spay/neuter, do you? Obviously, not as you believe in breeding and make money from it. I believe that pet shops are disgusting and should be illegal and people shouldn't buy and sell animals, that is why animals are considered property and why anybody can do anything to an animal and essentially get away with it. I think breeders are part of this horrendous pet overpopulation problem and if you have ever been in the killing fields of shelters because of the surplus, you would see people's disdain for breeders (those who are in rescue and advocacy).
Have you actually seen a kill shelter in action my dear? Have you seen animals thrown in gas chambers by the hundreds? Peta has excellent footage of all this stuff, which you are more than welcome to look at, and the people who work there (Peta) have seen a hell of a lot more than you and that is why they believe what they do. They video tape and watch first hand animals skinned alive for their fur.
As far as that goes, I am not affiliated with Peta nor does peta get money from me, though they do buy my book wholesale and sell it, as do other places and I think that is fantastic. The way we treat dogs and cats *is* an animal rights issue.
People who keep their dogs on chokes need to be educated. And I am pro-spay neuter/adoption and pro-rescue/adoption from shelters. I am extremely educated and I find the people who are anti-peta and probreeding, "pet" owning, we need to buy and sell mentality, but profess to love animals, really hypocritical and ignorant or shallow. They are part of the problem, not the solution. And they are no different then anyone else's mentality over the years who want their cake and want to eat it too without thinking of the consequences. I can hunt, it's a free country. It's my kid, I can do what I want. We all have the right to carry guns. We all have the right to breed and sell animals. We all may have the 'right.' But it is *not* right.
I am actually happy you don't want to buy my book. I find the ignorant like to stay ignorant.
Have a Happy Day.
Alana Stevenson, MS, CDBC, CSAMT
Dog Behavior Specialist
Cat Behavior Specialist
Dog Trainer
And I find those that are meat-protein deprived are so far removed from the real world that we live in that perhaps they would be happiest secluded from normal society, since we are nothing but "ignorant animal abusers"...Anybody know an island for sale super cheap?
This one just in: ANOTHER email from the author...
From: Alana Stevenson
Date: Jan 23, 2009 11:39 PM
Subject: your harassing emails
You know, I really wish you would fight amongst yourselves or do something productive and leave me alone. I am tired of these harassment emails from your lists and your forwards. Again, I am not going to not sell my book to Peta. I like a lot of what Peta does, always have and I am happy the organization likes the book.
I do know that I get hate mail from breeders and that all these people profess to getting information from the "Center for Consumer Freedom." CCF is a fraudalent group. All this "controversy" has been going on for years and is not new to me.
Here is information for YOU. http://pcrm.org/news/release080708.html (note from The Endangered Owner: This link is to the PHONY PeTA created group, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which will grant membership to ANYONE, no M.D. required!)
You found my emails insulting?? I am tired of being sent an onslaught of insulting emails over and over again because Peta likes my book, by people who profess to love animals, and I disagree with many of their views.
Have any of you watched animals being slaughtered for food?
Have any of you watched animals being stabbed in the heart by shelters, because animals are bred, and bred, and bred, and bred, and bred, and bred, and bred, because somebody likes the breed and everybody feels they should be entitled to have a pet?
I could send you just as many links from many organizations, that are far more reputable and have done a lot more for animals by miles. I am surprised you feel I have so much power, attacking me relentlessly.
Here are some people who support activism, are you going to attack them? (note: she listed many links to myspace pages, which I have removed.)
Or about watching undercover footage of:
There are many live video clips of animals being tortured and slaughtered and only Peta, and now fortunately HSUS, has done anything to stop it. http://www.petatv.com/
You're upset with my email?? Yet, somehow I am being slammed over and over again by people professing to love animals because peta supports my book?
Why don't you harass Cesar Milan for alpha rolling dogs and jabbing them in the ribs, or the president of the March of Dimes, a corrupt organization that does essentially nothing for humans. Their childhood "spokesperson" who is handicapped is now an animal rights activist, and has been for over 25 years. Jane Goodall, vegan. Michael J. Fox, vegan. I have been involved in advocacy for over 25 years. I don't need to be harassed by people who are promoting forwards from CCF.
And it's just like people promoting CCF who would tell people to stay clear of my book when they've never read it.
If you continue to email me I will simply delete your emails, and yes get annoyed.
I will continue to do what I do, promote my book and the humane treatment of dogs. And it is just like people, claiming they love dogs so much, who would try to block a book so much or tell people to stay clear of it when it is all about their humane treatment and training.
Alana Stevenson, MS, CDBC, CSAMT
********************************
Posts
CCF uses thier own quotes against them and they dont like it lol. CCF posts actaul state documentation and published interviews that PETA being the media whores they claim to be, authorized. CCF did not call the DEA and ask them to investigate PETA for tarfficing a controlled substance across state lines. Maybe we need to get a blue cool aid man so people get the point.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that she cites the PCRM (Physicians for Responsible Medicine) Like HSUS, they have a creative way of counting members--very, very few of whom are physicians, incidentally. Walt and I, who are about as opposed to both those organizations as anyone you're likely to meet, received HONORARY MEMBERSHIPS from HSUS and PCRM last year -- sent out of the blue with the rest of our junk mail. We have the cards to prove it. So -- ahem -- as a member of PCRM and HSUS, I hereby refute everything they have ever said their members stood for. We don't.
ReplyDeleteWoot.
ReplyDeleteShe has an MSc in Biology and spouts all that nonsense? Where is the degree from, I wonder?
I always get a kick out of the 'I am vegan' thing, as if it somehow makes them superior, rather than just living their beliefs, which is rare. It also is funny that they assume anyone who wants to protect pet ownership is not a vegan. But then, they assume a lot...
Animals are dying in shelters for only one reason: people in shelters are killing them.
They all say the same thing, almost to the word. It's nothing but a doom cult.
You shouldn't slam the poor woman- she is obviously suffering from a severe lack of animal based protein in her diet, and is no longer capable of rubbing two brain cells together to form a coherent thought- or sentence!
ReplyDeleteWhy does anyone listen to these people? Are their lives so devoid of purpose that they must grab ahold of this phony cause just to feel that they are part of something? One of the individuals referenced by Ms. Stevens, a Mr. Singer, is an idiot. He claims to be and expert in the field of Bioethics, yet knows nothing about animals, and promotes more ignorance. For instance, did you know that a cow MUST become pregnant every year in order to keep producing milk? Hmmmmmm. Nope. Just the oposite, in fact- they only need to produce one calf in their lifetime, and as long as they continue to be milked, they will keep producing milk til bovine menopause sets in. But Mr. Singer claims that the yearly pregnancies of all the milk cows continue to produce cows that produce ever greater quantities of methane gas that are depleting the ozone. The college students in urban areas that have never even seen a cow in real life don't know that he is telling them non-truths, and have no fram of reference for which to refute his nonsense. So they fall for this crap hook, line, and sinker.
I would also like to point out that Ms. Stevens referenced PETA videos of standing there, video-taping an animal being skinned alive. And BREEDERS are evil? How vile, self-serving, and evil does a human being have to be to stand there and watch something like that, allow something like that to hapen right in front of them, and not try to help the animal?
I ask again- why do people listen to these cruel bastards?
I'm sorry- I seem to have gotten the author's name wrong, I should have written Ms. Stevensen, not Ms. Stevens. She's still and idiot, though, regardless of her name.
ReplyDeletePeople are entitled to their beliefs and opinions as far as I'm concerned.
ReplyDeleteWhat bugs me about the animal liberation crew is the hypocrisy. They pretend to be concerned about animal welfare, they pretend to know the ins and outs of animal husbandry, etc, but their real goal is the elimination of animal ownership. At least this author is open about those beliefs, to her credit.
If the Hsus, Peta and the rest were open with the public I'd have at least some respect for them. I wouldn't agree, of course, and would fight their initiatives but at least the soft-hearted people who love animals would know where their donations are going - to the wrong people.
They like to carp about bitches being bred every heat as well, it's one of their themes.
The thing is, I asked a couple of long-time breeders I know and they said that while you can certainly not do that, it's better from a health standpoint to breed a bitch every heat for a couple of years then get her neutered.
The yap about neutering, promote juvenile neutering, etc. The research to date seems to indicate that there are some serious health risks associated with neutering before maturity.
I agree that shelters should send animals out neutered. I get it. However, that really zeroes in on the main problem with these people.
People who work in sheltering, public or private, get a skewed picture of what is really going on out there. They see a tiny snapshot, then assume the problem is widespread.
For example, say a shelter is in an area where there are a lot of people who breed dogs, lots of them are so-called 'pit bulls'. It's an economically depressed area, the shelter can't keep up with the influx of dogs and pups.
Fine. There's a problem in your small area.
To then assume that this represents what is going on across the county, state or continent is a mistake.
If you are in an area where there are too many handovers, why not form alliances with shelters in other states and provinces that are importing dogs from overseas to keep the place full?
Around here, in southern Ontario, there aren't many dogs in shelters. So maybe the shelter gang could get together and help each other out.
If you don't like meat, don't eat it, if you don't like dogs, don't own one, If you are not impressed by the grace and beauty of riding a horse, ride a bike. If you object to any or all of these things, many thousands of lives have been sacrificed over the years to guarantee you to have these freedoms of choice. If you set out to force your will upon others, coincidently wrecking agriculture and wiping out a 12,000 year relationship between man and his animals, you will be resisted.
ReplyDeleteWe have a starving world to feed, and while our production and distribution system is by no means perfect, its not bad, and the problems can be solved, and not by reverting to pre Industrial Revolution subsistence farming. Of course pre Industrial Revolution subsistence farmers had the advantage of manure as fertilizer, which the brave new Vegan World will not, since there will be no domesticated animals. The only solution to this dilemma is let a billon or so people starve to death. I'd rather stand up and say, "Not on my watch"
OMG That lady has some serious issues. And she wants to call people ignorant? tell me what is any animal lover doing supporting a group that kills 90 % of the animals they take in, uses less than 3% of their annual budget on actually helping any animals, wants all pitbulls dead and admits that they wish domestic dogs and cats never existed. I would also like to point out that if PETA ever did get their way she would be out of a job! Which I guess would be a good thing since its obvious she doesn't know her head from her arse.
ReplyDeleteI am always amazed how anyone who WORKS in the animal industry can actually support PETA. In effect, if PETA ever got what they wanted (total animal liberation) no one in the animal industry would have a job.
ReplyDeleteVets, pet stores, feed stores, farmers, fur traders, slaughterhouse workers, Most restaurant workers, people manufacturing animal products like dog food or leashes and PET TRAINERS would all be out of work!
Are these people really that stupid?
Interesting how they wish to "phase out" companion animals. That sounds cruel and discriminatory in itself! Let's see, (hypothetically) I don't like brunettes so all brunettes must be sterilized so they can be "phased out". BS! I am a pre vet student going into large and feed animal specialty and can't stand extremist organizations like this!
ReplyDeleteI think you all would get more people to listen to you if you weren't so angry, vile and rude. I agree whole heartedly with the author and am appalled at the crap you all are spewing. You can't be a true animal lover and use them to breed over and over again. That isn't what they would choose to do with their lives if given the choice. I could go on but frankly it isn't worth it because you are all very disrespectful and obviously have your minds made up and aren't going to let anyone change your mind. I hope that any animals you may own (blogger and commenters) are living happy, full lives and not living as your personal money making uteruses.
ReplyDeleteThis woman has an MS in Bio.? She was obviously absent the day they studies studied hormones and the reproductive process.
ReplyDelete"Somebody professing to love animals and want dogs as pets and then forces dogs to mate, to sell their babies for money, is laughable."
"Force"? How does a person "force" dogs to mate? In my experience, if the female is on heat it is the devil's own job to prevent her from mating.
When my Chocolate lab bitch was on heat she chewed through a chain link fence, so great was her desire to be bred.
Do the people who accuse breeders of "forcing" their animals to mate, (in the livestock industry we are accused of "raping " our animals) actually understand anything about the rampaging hormones in an a female on heat or in the male that is within two miles of her? I don't think so.
Oh dear CK, how can you REALLY think that animals left to themselves would not choose to breed? A few decades ago we were concerned about allowing dogs to roam freely because they would breed rampantly. They have a very strong natural drive to so so, just like lions, deer, alligators, birds and every other living creature.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have the impression that every breeder keeps animals solely for the the value of what the uterus can produce. That is a very limited viewpoint formed by the videos and pictures PeTA shows the world. They will not show the breeders that build their lives and their homes around their dogs, catering to their happiness and well-being. It would not further PeTA's cause.
The Author of the book embroiled in this debate decalres herself and animal behaviorist and trainer. This is a glaring hypocrisy. But then PeTA types are well known for hypocrisy.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ReplyDeleteContact: Ami Moore, Director of NICE
Detailed Address: www.nicenow.org
Email: info@nicenow.org
Phone: 847-284-7760
NICE Comes Out Against Dog Trainers' Certification as Proposed in New York State Legislature
Chicago, IL – Februrary 5, 2009 – The National Institute for Canine Experts (NICE), which has Ami Moore, the world renowned dog behaviorist from Chicago, among its distinguished members, has come out strongly against the proposal of certification of the dog trainers as stated in the bill proposed by New York District 39’s Assemblyman Jose Peralta. The organization (it can be reached at www.nicenow.org ) is instead working on an alternate trainer certification test which can be fair towards the trainers, while emphasizing the professional aspects.
The bill that has been initiated in the New York state legislature intends to oblige the dog owners to adhere to the new licensing requirements, which may even end up discouraging people from owning the dogs in the longer term. According to Ami Moore, the bill in its present form may have a negative effect on the dog training professionals and the way they do business. She further says that the bill is also unclear regarding the results that may follow if the dog owners are not adhering to the stipulations, which leaves undue amount of discretion at the level of the enforcing authorities. Even otherwise, she says, there has been enough disagreement in the past over who can be called a dog trainer and what constitutes a trained dog.
Dog training has been somewhat unregulated business in which several dog trainers thrive in an equally diverse disciplines under the profession of dog training. Recent times have seen a spurt in the number of dog training institutes, as well as certification authorities and bodies. Ami Moore says that seasoned dog trainers having honed their skills through years of practice and training dogs that must pass rigorous training tests such as French Ring, Obedience Trail Champion and Hunting Dog Test that actually measure a dog trainer's ability to train a dog to an off-leash standard, whereas at other well known certification bodies such as Association of Pet Dog Trainers, the APDT, require minimal hands on dog training hours and a multiple choice test before granting the certificate. Ami Moore says, "Picking a dog trainer is like picking a chef. Do you pick the chef that has been in the kitchen for a short amount of time and has passed a multiple choice test as an indication of his expertise or do you pick the chef that can cook a real meal for you to sit down and eat?"
Ami Moore says that determination of safe behavior of dog is better alternative compared to determining “obedience quotient” of the dog. On the other hand, the proposed New York legislation is impractical and difficult to implement. NICE says that the present legislation doesn't serve the dog loving people of the state neither does it ensure safe behavior of the dogs, while clamping down on the well meaning dog behavior experts of the state.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Ami Moore, The Chicago Dog Coach
Director, NICE
www.dogdoright.com www.chicagodogcoach.com, www.amimoore.com
The Nationtial Institute of Canine Experts
www.nicenow.org
info@nicenow.org
Phone: 847-284-7760
Very informative post. I just wish all authors were so revealing on this topic. I rather think though, she is part of an Animal Rights lunatic mainstream. When I weigh the merits of catagorizing Petatics as "fringe" or "mainstream", I increasingly lean toward "mainstream". It is very difficult to fight for the status quo (though that may seem what we are doing) and easier to fight for a better tomorrow, when the archaic notions of animals being meritous of the rights to life, liberty and property will be finally dispelled.
ReplyDeleteDon't you just love her semantics? Instead of the appropriate word "puppies" or "kittens," she uses the word "babies," a blatant anthropomorphism - PETA would be livid that she should undermine the rights of these animals!
ReplyDeleteWhy is she not standing up for those suffering in Darfur? She has eschewed the rights of human beings for those of pets, so lost in her cause that she has likely forgotten what she is fighting for.
Regarding Cesar Milan, what a hypocrite. While she has the right to disagree with his training techniques, this man has saved hundreds, or even thousands of dogs from euthanasia. What's better? A little physical restraint in order to teach a dog his place in the pack, or euthanizing that pet?