Breeder Bashing: A National Pasttime

Breeder-bashing isn't a new concept.  However, with our rights to breed dogs under constant attack from the animal rights terrorists, led by none other than The Humane Society of The United States (which is in no way, shape or form a "real humane society", but rather an extreme animal rights organization), one would think that dog breeders could find some common ground, stick together, and dispense with the superiority complexes.  No such luck.

One would think that since dog breeding is being compared to drug-dealing, that we could learn to play nice.  Visit one of those damnable online "dog forums" sometime and you will see what I mean.  We seem to forget (or do we?), that many members of the pet buying public go to these message boards to 'learn'.  What are we teaching them?  Just for fun visit one of your breed's message boards.  Or better yet, Google your kennel name, or your dogs' names.  You may be shocked at what "fellow breed enthusiasts" have to say.

"I would NEVER do that, and any breeder that DOES is......"

Fill in the blank; "back-yard breeder" (or "BYB"), "puppymill" (a phrase coined by the animal rights terrorists to divide and conquer us...it's working, by the way), or a modification, such as "showmiller".

Simply put, if WE don't like a certain breeder, or said certain breeder does not DO what WE do, or WOULD DO, then they are less than human and should be banished to the deepest pits of hell.  Nothing a dog breeder does is EVER good enough; everyone that owns dogs, or breeds, has their own "ideas" of "what a breeder should do or be".  No topic is off limits, every action --or inaction-- is subject to being bashed by those that need to feel superior by being self-proclaimed experts while hiding behind a computer keyboard.

Newsflash:  such "superior" beings are NOT helping when it comes to winning the war for our rights to breed and even OWN dogs.  My advice, if one needs help improving self-esteem, read one of those self-help books, or see a shrink.

One topic pounced upon by breeder-bashers is "NO one should own more than--insert number here- dogs!"  Really?  Just who are you exactly to dictate to anyone how many dogs a person should have the right to own?  Of course, this same sentiment does not apply to rescues or fosters because they are "doing good", any other poor schmuck that chooses to have 10, 5, 20 dogs are "evil greedy breeders that should be sent to the deepest pits of hell" .

Another topic:  "Anyone who breeds MORE THAN ---fill-in the blank time again---litters per year is a ....."  Interesting.  So, according to the "experts" no one can be a good breeder if they breed 2,3, or whatever-arbitrary-number of litters per year?  As long as the puppies they produce are healthy, are good specimens of their chosen breed (which is subjective to each individual), and they sell them to good homes, what business is it of ours?  Can you say, "NUNYA".

And then there is the ever popular, "if a breeder is testing at such a young age, they must have something to be afraid of!"  Really???  Isn't the entire point of health testing what we produce (and their parents) is to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make sure those animals are as healthy as possible and to make sure that our puppy buyers know what they can/can't expect?  This seems to be a bashing point done by those that don't do ---for example---eye CERFS on young puppies in a breed where CERFing at a young age isn't the "norm". 

We're damned if we do and damned if we don't. 

Remember that saying about glass houses and stones.....

Before all you "breeding experts" run off to educate the public on what a "good" breeder is, don't do the rest of us any favors by preaching what your "beliefs" are as being "my way or it's wrong". 

We dog breeders seem to forget that WE created the anti-breeder sentiment in this country by bashing those that we didn't agree with or by bashing those that did things differently than us.  And look where we are now....the animal rights terrorists and the bunny-hugger followers have taken our "ideas" and are introducing them as legislation faster than a dandelion growing in summertime.  Yes, WE DID THIS TO OURSELVES. 

We created the "breeders are bad" sentiment by expecting all breeders to do as WE DO, or else they are "bad" if they do not.  We have "taught" the public this; we have "created" the monster. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, be careful of throwing those stones; you never know where they will land.  Or how they will come back to  haunt you.

Let's Highjack the HSUS Bus!

If we are to survive, we must hijack the Humane Society of the United States' bus!

What do I mean by that?  Simple.  Have you googled the phrase "puppymill" lately?  How about "finding a good dog breeder", or "spay and neuter"?  The animal rights movement dominates Google; and let me tell you, my friends, if ya' ain't on Google, YOU DON'T EXIST!  Google is where John Q Public (and those uneducated legislators) goes to "get educated" these days.  If all the public reads is the rhetoric put out there by Wayne and company, then guess what?  That's what they will believe and take as the gospel truth.

Yes, My Friends, You Can Help Save Our Animals!

The solution is so, so simple, and the very best part is.......WE CAN DO IT FOR FREE.  Yes, I said "FREE!".  Blogging.  Blogging is FREE and super simple.  If you can type an email, or write a document using Wordpad, or Word, you can blog.

The fact of the matter is that Google (and their little web-crawling robots) love, love, love BLOGS!  Blogs get indexed (listed in Google's massive index of sites) fairly quickly. 

I belong to many legislation-type email lists (Yahoo, Google, etc), and those have a purpose to an extent.  I've learned a great deal and met many wonderful people, but the problem is that those lists are "invisible" to the public.  They can't read what we type; they don't know "what we know", ya' know?!

So the next time you write a really, really great email talking about breeders, or the animal rights movement, or the current state under attack by HSUS--copy and paste that into a blog! (Removing any identifying information, of course; be smart!)

Where? When? HOW?

Probably the two best known platforms for blogs are Google (known as "Blogger" or "Blogspot") and Wordpress.  Both are FREE, but you do have the option of paying and getting some snazzier stuff. 

But for our intent (which is to get the truth into the hands of the public), the free versions work just fine.

You can make your blog posts as long as you want, or as short; you can blog every day, twice a day (if you do this, best to keep it short and simple), once a week....my point is, is that in the time it takes to write or respond to another email on a dead-end email list, you can publish that same great information TO MILLIONS of people searching terms like the ones I described above. 

Don't feel confident, or maybe you're techno-phobic?  Find a trusted friend to set a blog up for you; then simply send them the content you want published.

Imagine All The People.....

Imagine the sheer magnitude our side could reach if we had hundreds of blogs writing about THE TRUTH concerning dog breeders, the dire consequences of early spay/neuter, the myth of "overpopulation", the slimy goings-on within the animal rights movement, etc...

Imagine....something SO SIMPLE.  Imagine....turning the tide.  FOR FREE!  (not for the $19/month!)  We can save our animals and our relationships with them, but we have got to speak out. 

And we must "speak" where we will be heard:  the internet, or more importantly, "Google".

Jefferson County, Alabama: You are a Puppy Mill If...

You might be a "puppy mill" if...you own more animals than someone else thinks you should.
You might be a "puppy mill" if...you don't adhere to the same standards of care that someone else thinks you should.
And...hold on to your hats, folks, because this next one is new to me!

You might be a "puppy mill" if...you happen to own Jack Russell Terriers AND drive a truck with a camper shell and said animals are VISIBLE in their crates to law enforcement, who just happen to be driving behind you while traveling through the Birmingham, Alabama area.

Let the Criminalization of Transporting Dogs Begin...
Over the weekend a story began circulating on dog related email lists regarding a lady and her daughter on their way to a Jack Russell Terrier Trial in Germantown, Tennessee.  While traveling through Jefferson County, Alabama, the exhibitor was stopped by local law enforcement.

According to the dog owner, the policeman asked her if she knew why she was stopped and she told them, "No I don't".   He said, "I stopped you because I saw you had dogs in your truck".

In an email sent by Lt. Randy Christian, Office of Sheriff, Jefferson County, Alabama, "She was stopped driving a Truck with a Camper Shell. Multiple dogs were visible in rear camper window. This Captain is familiar with people who run "puppy mills" and these were all the same breed and were puppies. The 3 visible in the back window were visible panting."

So, here we have it spelled out for us in black and white:  in Jefferson County, Alabama, if you are driving a truck with a camper shell AND have dogs visible in the back (which were in crates by the way), that is now probable cause for law enforcement to stop you? 

In case some of you need it spelled out, Jefferson County law enforcement has CRIMINALIZED the mere possession of having dogs and puppies in YOUR vehicle.  And unless I missed the memo, there is NO legal definition--in any law, in any state--of "puppy mill". 

There are many, many more obervations about this entire incident, but I will save those for another day.

Victimizing the Victim by Those That SHOULD Know Better...
I guess being in the trenches fighting the animal rights nazis can make you crazy after awhile because that is what seems to have happened to many people whom I NEVER dreamed would victimize this lady. 

Accusations of "it's a hoax", "you're a liar"....I would expect that reaction from the bunny huggers and the animal rights diehards, but not from the very people who are accutely aware of this exact type of harrassment taking place all over the country!

The bottom line is this...what happened to this dog owner is proof positive that the falsely named "Humane Society of the United States" has taken their hatred of dog breeders--and therefore the arbitrary term "puppy mill"--to now criminalize the act of having dogs and puppies in your vehicle too?.  We read about breeders being raided and harrassed at their homes on a weekly basis it seems like; people being criminalized for breeding animals, for crying out loud!  Or for having too many animals!

I can't reiterate this point enough:  this woman was stopped FOR HAVING DOGS IN HER VEHICLE.  Period.  End of story.  Panting dogs my ass.  Just how close was this officer driving behind her anyways? The dogs were in crates, how in the hell could anyone **know** from driving behind the vehicle exactly whether or not ALL the dogs were the same breed--much less if they are puppies or young adults.

Furthermore, it may come as a total shock to some of you, but there are dog events in this country that do not REQUIRE YOU to pre-enter.  How many of you fellow exhibitors take your entry confirmation WITH YOU to the dog show? 

Oh, and for all the AKC dog show snobs that say that folks that choose to participate in UKC, AHBA, or in any other venue (other than AKC) are "puppy mill" people, or "responsible breeders don't participate in those lesser registries events.."    GET OVER YOURSELVES and please don't offer to help in the fight for animal ownership rights...we have enough enemies as it is from the AR side.

Tennessee Sportsman Senator Doug Jackson Sponsors HSUS Anti Breeder Bill

How can a member of the Tennessee Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus (a group that looks out for the interests of hunters) ALIGN themselves with the BIGGEST ANTI HUNTING GROUP in the country???

By signing on as a sponsor of the HSUS driven TN Commercial Breeder Act, that's how.

It seems that Senator Doug Jackson has a conflict of interest going on here.  On the one hand, he is a member of a group of dedicated to "protecting" the interests of hunters against ANTI hunting groups.  While on the other hand, he has signed on as a sponsor of the TN anti breeder bill, pushed by the biggest ANTI hunting group of them all:  The Humane Society of the United States.

Perhaps Senator Jackson doesn't realize that sportsmen and hunters keep and breed dogs?  Perhaps Senator Doug Jackson didn't read the memo on which animal rights group (the Humane Society of the United States) is the BIGGEST ANTI HUNTING LOBBYING GROUP threatening U.S. sportsmen today?
"If we could shut down all sport hunting in a moment, we would." Wayne Pacelle, Senior VP Humane Society of the US (HSUS), formerly of Friends of Animals and Fund for Animals, Associated Press, Dec 30, 1991;   "Only 7% of Americans are hunters. That means there are more of us than there are of them. It is simply a matter of democracy. The majority rules in a democracy. We are going to use the ballot box and the democratic process to stop all hunting in the United States... We will take it species by species until all hunting is stopped in California. Then we will take it state by state." (Full Cry magazine, October 1990)

I think Senator Jackson needs a refresher course on WHO the enemy really is.  Perhaps polite email reminders of his apparent conflict of interest are in order?






As currently amended, the TN Commercial Breeder Act (SB258 HB386) will have a devastating impact on responsible sportsmen and hobby breeders:

"Commercial breeder" means any person who possesses or maintains under their immediate control twenty (20) or more adult female dogs for the purpose of the sale of their offspring as companion animals.

Just how will anyone PROVE to animal control or other inquiring entity, that one DOESN'T intend to sell the female's offspring?  OR that one DOESN'T even intend to breed in the first place?  The answer is:  you can't.

Under this ill written bill, ANYONE that falls under this definition is GUILTY.  It doesn't matter that someone would rather have intact animals vs sterilized ones.  It doesn't matter that someone may have only had ONE litter in the past two years and KEPT the puppies for themselves and not for sale. 

How does one prove these things?  YOU CAN'T.  This anti breeder bill has set the trap for sportsmen and hobby breeders alike.  And with the help of Senator Doug Jackson.  A person who has been entrusted to LOOK OUT for the interests of hunters in the state of Tennessee from ANTI hunting groups like the Humane Society of the United States.

And one more thing, sportsmen and Senator Jackson, this quote sums up the animal rights/anti hunting agenda pretty well:

"The entire animal rights movement in the United States reacted with unfettered glee at the Ban in England ...We view this act of parliament as one of the most important actions in the history of the animal rights movement. This will energise our efforts to stop hunting with hounds." Wayne Pacelle, CEO, Humane Society of the US (HSUS), London Times, December 26, 2004

The last time I checked there are dog breeders that breed hounds....hounds used to HUNT.

Sleeping With The Enemy in Tennessee

The HSUS Kool-Aid has made its way to Tennessee,  as evidenced by the state's ANTI breeder bill that is being supported by several of the AKC all breed dog clubs. ("We just HAVE TO get rid of those terrible "puppy mill" people"...yeah, whatever that means...)

Called the "Commercial Breeder Act", SB258/HB386  seeks to label breeders who "possesses or maintains at least 20 female dogs in order to sell their offspring as companion animals" as commercial breeders.  Once again, a "magic number" is being introduced....a number that can easily be LOWERED at the whim of the HSUS and lawmakers.   What's worse, the bill calls for WARRANTLESS inspections, guidelines for breeders to follow that aren't described in this bill.....AND .....before a license is issued it must be determined that the applicant is of "GOOD MORAL CHARACTER"....

Does any of this sound VAGUELY familiar to anyone???   Does this sound like the other dozens of ANTI breeder bills being pushed around the country??? 

How many "hobby breeders" co-own bitches with other people as well as "possess" bitches at their homes?   Under this bill, the burden of proving you are NOT intending to sell those bitches' offspring falls on your head...and, just how exactly, would a person do that?  The short answer is:  YOU CAN'T.  Think about it.  It's not hard to reach the magical "20" number. ( "But, Mr Animal Control Officer, those 3 bitch puppies over there....I'm holding onto them to see if they will be show quality or not.....and, well, I don't actually own those over there 'cuz they are just here for me to show and train...")


So, what if someone has, say 19...or 18...Guess that pesky detail will have to be changed next year, huh?  When are people going to wake up?  Obviously not soon enough, since the House version of this Anti breeder bill passed yesterday.  The Senate is expected to vote soon.  Rather than stand up and CONFRONT the bully that is the HSUS head-on, the dog fancy has chosen to "protect itself" and throw somebody else under the bus. 

Act now:  Write, call, fax the senators in Tennessee and tell them to OPPOSE SB258....Tennessee already has cruelty/neglect laws on the books, and Commercial Breeders are already licensed and regulated under the USDA.  Placing the "burden of proof" on the accused as this bill is written is unconstitutional as it deprives the breeder of due process under law.

Who, I wonder, will be left to stand up when the HSUS comes for you.....and your breeding program....hmm...

The Power of Language

I am pleased to offer for the first post of the new year an article written by Elizabeth Brinkley, which is copyrighted and will be published in 4 breed magazines over the next few months by Reporter Publications.

Elizabeth has graciously given The Endangered Owner permission to post it here, with all attributions to Elizabeth Brinkley and Reporter Publications.

The Power of Language

What's in a word? A lot of power for good or bad. When did being a breeder become a "bad" thing? When I first got into Shelties, my mentors proudly had a sign out front proclaiming _______ Kennels. They knew they sold (yes I said SOLD - not placed or adopted) quality show dogs and healthy pets. They were proud of their dogs and their hobby. I was so looking forward to the day when I could have a couple of acres out in the country and do the same. Now I feel cheated. I have a sign out front - in very small letters it says my kennel name but ONLY the name not the word "kennel". There's another sign nearby.

It says "Posted - No trespassing" . Guess that's a sign of the times.


Friends tell me they don't have a "kennel". Their dogs are kept in "dog rooms" not kennel rooms. Others say "ALL my dogs are house dogs". When did keeping dogs in a kennel become a bad thing? When did keeping multiple dogs become bad? Several of our founders made a substantial part of their income from the sale of pet puppies. Now people hide their numbers and won't even tell other breeders exactly how many dogs they have. Others say "I only breed for myself". When did it become a hateful thing to breed a pet or two? Or even (horrors - gasp) make a profit from puppy sales? I know I am always proud when I sell a puppy to someone who will show it but that's not because I am ashamed that I may have produced a "pet quality" puppy but because I am proud that my pups are going to a home where they will be active mentally and physically in breed and performance rings. I am proud that someone who shows would want a puppy I produced. I am equally pleased and proud when I place a healthy pet with someone who will cherish and spoil it for a lifetime.

In the last twenty years, there has been a gradual mind change in our country. Part of it is simply that we are becoming a more urban/suburban country and far less rural. People don't grow up on farms working with animals on a daily basis. Pets have become the replacement for children for many upwardly mobile people who spoil them and treat them as "furkids" and "furbabies". I cringe every time I hear those words - especially from a breeder. The pet industry is a multimillion dollar money machine with clothes, and soft crates and designer treats for pampered pooches. Celebrities use them as accessories. And the fact that they are ANIMALS is forgotten. No wonder people raise such a fuss when a dog "bites" someone. An animal did what animals do and most likely somewhere a human made a mistake with that animal either the owner in training it or the person who approached it. When I was a child it was drilled into us - NEVER approach a strange animal. Wonder how many kids get any training in that today? If you want to know the true facts on the "dog bite" epidemic in our country read "Dogs Bite But Balloons and Slippers Are More Dangerous" by Janis Bradley. You are more likely to get hit by lightening or slip and fall in a bathtub than you are to be killed by a dog attack. But people have forgotten they are animals. They think of their dogs as their "fur child" and they feel a sense of betrayal and rejection when they get bitten by their dog or it bites someone else.

The other part of this equation is far more insidious. The animal rights cult has grown and spread and is fast becoming part of our mainstream thinking. With them comes the use of words such as "puppy mill". Every time I hear some breeder pointing at another breeder and calling them a puppy mill I want to smack heads and take numbers. I don't feel a need to go into depth on this issue since Charlotte Clem McGowan has done a fabulous job covering the subject in her recent article. I will simply say that in thirty four years in this breed, I have NEVER gone to visit a so-called "puppy mill" breeder in Shelties that actually turned out to be a "puppy mill". Sometimes they had more dogs than some people approved of and sometimes they didn't "keep" their dogs the way others think they should, but never have they turned out to be "puppy mills" such as the AR groups love to show on TV with the filthy wire cages and sad-eyed dogs wallowing in their own filth. In fact two breeders that someone called a "puppy mill" have ended up being among my best friends.

Jealousy was the reason for those accusations. I have visited horrible breeding situations with rescue but never was it someone who was actually a Sheltie show breeder. Maybe I have just been lucky - or maybe it's not as common a situation as the AR groups would have us believe.

The Humane Society of the United States has just announced to the media that there are 900 puppy mills in the state of Virginia, many of them "unlicensed commercial kennels" and selling puppies through the Internet. You couldn't hide 900 unlicensed puppy mills in the entire state of Virginia. Most likely some of those "unlicensed and selling through Internet" breeders they are referring to are US - show breeders who keep our numbers down so we don't have to be licensed as commercial and have fancy web sites to show off our dogs. The animal rights fanatics consider ANYONE who breeds even ONE litter to be a puppy mill. Their motto is "don't breed while others die" meaning the dogs put down in shelters. You can read Nathan Winograd's excellent new book "Redemption, The Myth of Pet Overpopulation"  for a commonsense approach to this "problem" that the shelters and AR groups are using as a weapon to attack breeders.


Other word changes brought into common usage by the AR groups is that of "rescue" and "adoption" and "placement" and home visits. It has become harder to take in a stray than to adopt a human child. I wonder how many people have gotten turned off by some of the attitudes found in the more radical "rescue" groups and gone away when they would have been an excellent home for an animal but didn't feel like being subjected to an inspection process that requires a life history before they can have a pet. I was refused an "adoption" on a cat a few years ago. The reason - I had intact dogs! What did they think - the dogs are going to breed the cat? Or I am a bad person because I have intact dogs that I show? This goes hand in hand with the move among the AR groups to change the language of the law from animal "owners" to animal "guardians".

I am sure a lawyer could address this in far better detail than I but I do know that the word "guardian" has well established limits and definitions under current law. Do you really want some AR slanted animal control officer able to come into your home at anytime without a warrant and tell you that you can't remove dew claws or write you a ticket because your dogs don't have water bowls in their crates 24/7? That could be our future if we become the "guardians" of our dogs instead of proud owners.

There comes a point where we have to start drawing lines in the sand and refusing to give in to the politically correct language that has infiltrated society from the far out AR groups who really don't seem to like animals
all that much. Mostly they just seem to hate people. To Ingrid Newkirk of PeTA "A rat is a pig is a boy." To me "a dog is a dog is an animal". I am proud to say that I am a breeder of purebred Shetland Sheepdogs. Shakespeare said "that which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet." And dog poop is still just as stinky.

I own dogs who live in a kennel and I am a breeder. And that's my final word.

Elizabeth Brinkley
Legislative Liaison
Three Rivers SSC of Greater Pittsburgh

"GOT 50?"..How To Take Back Our Rights!

The following is an email that I wrote explaining simple things that *we* can do to combat the Animal "Rights" movement and their bunny-hugger foot-soldiers. There are tons more ideas...this is just a primer!

If every one of us that own and/or breed animals, would make a commitment to educating the public -at- large on the dangers of the AR movement, we could drastically turn the tide!
**************


We must take back our rights that are being stripped away one by one. It will take talking to people and explaining the AR agenda. But if every animal owner would commit to a personal pledge to talk to at least 50 people (neighbors, co-workers, family, fellow dog fanciers, auto mechanics, doctors, you get the picture), just 5 minutes out of our day, when the opportunity presents itself, think of what a dent we could make in changing the war on public opinion. Take the "Got 50?" challenge! It will work!

How do we take back our rights? It won't be easy. What we all must do (no matter what breed, no matter if one breeds or not) is work to change the arena of public opinion. There are far more animal owners in this country that take care of their animals than those that abuse/neglect them. We have to change the tide and become the "experts" in the areas of animal welfare/husbandry practices, NOT national special interest lobbying groups. Who knows better how to care for a litter of puppies? Breeders who have their hands-on their animals on a daily basis, or the H$US...

1. Take back "our language": The ARs have successfully over the past few decades determined which words will be used to "describe" this breeder from that breeder, this owner from that one over there. Part of winning the battle will be to take back our language. It's a powerful thing. We have to STOP letting them define who we are. STOP putting the power in their hands.

a. Words like 'puppymill' and 'backyard breeder' are derogatory and are used as part of their divide and conquer strategy to turn breeder against breeder. And it's worked. Keep in mind there is NO LEGAL definition of these terms. They are both subjective and highly devisive as both terms mean different things to everyone. We must stop using these two words. If someone doesn't agree with the way "Suzy Q' breeds or "raises" her dogs, fine. Labels like these are subject to change at any time by the ARs...REMEMBER: there are no "good" breeders in their eyes, so no matter what one does with their breeding program or how they raise their dogs, it will never be good enough.

b. Stop using words like furbaby, pet parent, etc...: While these words conjure up fuzzy-wuzzy feel good feelings, they take away from the fact that animals are indeed, animals. Not human. Animals are our personal property. Period. The ARs have convinced JQP that thinking of animals as property means one doesn't care or love their animals. It also insinuates that someone who uses these terms (vs someone who does not) TRULY cares MORE about their animals...Again, devisive terms.

c. "Guardian": Has a definition in the law already. If we, as owners, are changed to "guardians" under the law, this opens up a whole new can of worms. Namely, our animals won't be our property anymore, since the word "guardian" in legal terms refers to humans and has limits as to what one can and can't do. We seriously DON'T want to go there. We are OWNERS, plain and simple. Using this word won't make someone take better care of their animals as proponets claim. It does, however, put animals one step closer to human status...which is part of their game plan.

d. "Adopt": Again, animals are property. Whenver money exchanges hands for an animal, whether it's from a shelter/rescue or a breeder, it's a sale. This in no way means that I am against rescues or shelters or that I don't realize what great things these folks do, but we have to call a spade a spade. Again, it's a term designed to solicit emotion and cause divisiveness. It doesn't make someone a better owner because of where they obtained their dog. I've known many, many people who have "adopted" that can be just as abusive as people who have "bought" from a breeder. Humans are adopted, dogs are bought/sold.

2. STOP Donating to the H$US and PeTA: Tell your friends, etc, what they are REALLY about. Stop donating to the very groups that will use your hard earned money against all of US! Instead, donate locally to a shelter or rescue, where the money will actually be used FOR the animals: instead of going to fund major lobbying groups. (Friends Don't Let Friends Donate to H$U$ or PeTA)

3. Get To Know Your Local Media: Newspapers, tv, radio....someone with a blog. Make relationships with them and issue press releases when your club or group is doing something good. The media jumps at the chance to cover anything the mighty H$US says...we have to become more public in our activities. They may not be receptive at first, and not everything will get picked up. BUT, persistent, well written press releases about what your group is doing will get attention. Write press releases for every dog show, responsible dog ownership days (my club got GREAT coverage on ours) etc. Write columns for your local paper: training, ownership, housebreaking, LEGIALATIVE ISSUES...my local paper has asked me from time to time to write about Rottweilers, it's great P.R. and it's free! Start your own blog, these get picked up by search engines and are a FREE way to get our message across! (I just started mine this week)

4. Write Letters To the Editor (LTE): With the Holiday Season here, our enemies will be out to solicit funds from our wallets. Write a LTE explaining how these groups DO NOT use their money for your local shelter or to help animals. Explain that the H$US relies on the very confusion that their name invokes to get donations from well-meaning animal lovers across the country. EXPOSE them for what they are, but be FACTUAL. ( There are many sources to get this from, if anyone needs help, I'm always available via private email.) More FREE exposure to our cause!

5. Make Your Club/Group More Public: Many, many average pet owners feel those of us in the fancy are "snobby" and "unapproachable."...Also, the public at large has no clue what purebred dog clubs are about. Take advantage of community-type fairs and set up an information booth explaining the benefits of purebred dogs and their ownership. Become the voice of true "animal welfare", explaining that national special interest groups have no day-to-day interaction with animals, WE DO. Support a charity or cause that the public an easily identify with: raise money for a local search and rescue team, set up a "walk with the dogs" for "x" cause...Name a "dog hero" of the year and publicize it (our club did this as well). There are many more ideas, but you get the picture. As a result, your club/group may get fresh, new members. AND you've created a feeling of "good will" in the community.

There is no "magic pill" to any of this. And there are lots more suggestions.
Remember: The ARs have had decades to brainwash us and we aren't going to change public opinion overnight. But by all of us working together for a common cause (protecting our rights to own and breed), we CAN turn the tide.

The most important thing to remember is this: This is a war of "US" vs "THEM". The "THEM" in this war isn't breeders/owners we don't agree with or don't like, the "THEM" is the Animal Rightists and their foot-soldiers. THEY are the enemy. STOP the fighting amongst ourselves...NOW. Before it's too late for any of us.

"Got 50?"

We're Mad as Hell..(And we're NOT Gonna Take It Anymore!)

I wrote this awhile back. It has been posted on websites and published in breed newsletters/magazines.

Here it is, in my own words, exactly what we are facing as dog owners..blunt, passionate and to the point.


"We're mad as hell and we're not gonna take it anymore!"

Dog lovers everywhere should be shouting this mantra from the rooftops today: as it is a sad day for our society, and our dogs.

Another part of our great country fell today to the propaganda being spouted by the ARs (Animal Rightists)...Palm Beach County, Florida. Just a few days ago, it was the "City of Angels" herself, Los Angeles, CA. And as of this writing, the final vote there will take place on February 8, 2008. "What's the deal?", you ask. Read on.

Mandatory spay/neuter (MSN) laws (laws designed to end "pet overpopulation" by forcing law abiding dog owners to castrate their animals or be a criminal) are being proposed and passed faster than we can keep up with. Sad. Considering that we, the breeders, owners, exhibitors, and pet owners, outnumber the AR fanatics proposing such laws. We all have a voice, a mind...a thinking, reasoning brain! Why is it increasingly so easy for "them" (the Animal Rightists) to have their lies and propaganda swallowed and accepted as the "gospel"? Have we, the American voters, put into office, people so dense that they can't see a constitutional violation when it smacks 'em upside their heads? Is the American public that gullible as well, that we are willing to let our rights to own property be taken away? Sad.

The answer to the first question is fairly easy to answer: the ARs have had since the 1980's to get their act together, spreading the "overpopulation" myth to lawmakers and the gullible, trusting public. "Give us your money! We will save the animals!" They warned us they were here...they spoke of their "true" agenda. An agenda so outlandish that we all laughed at the notion of a "no pet nation", and "animal liberation" for all animals, including DOGS! While going about our daily routines, ignoring the ketchup throwing, loud-mouthed "nuts", at the forefront was PETA (People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals), an extremist group that thrived on media attention to further their "don't wear fur" and "animals aren't food"...blah, blah...They were so "out there" to the majority of JQ Public, that we ignored them, or laughed when a T.V. station showed their latest antics. But the money still rolled in...by the millions. "Just a little more time, and we can put our plan in motion against the unsuspecting, trusting, gullible pet owning public. Step by step", as they smiled their smug little smiles.

Enter into the picture H$U$ (Humane Society of the United States), what a lot of people call "PeTa in a suit and tie", or the "cleaned up for Sunday dinner" version of their counterpart in crime, PeTa. While PeTa was raking in millions from the Hollyweird jet-set, and the public, H$U$ had a more "warm, fuzzy wuzzy All-American" appeal, designed to rake in the BILLIONS from the Average Joe Pet Owner. The plan worked. Two of the most dangerous Animal Right's groups to ever set foot on God's green earth had the money rolling in from ALL facets of American society: from the obscenely weathly, to the middle class dog owner, they were building an empire with which to carry out their ultimate dream: End ALL pet ownership. Again, we laughed at this notion, all the while sending in those donations for those cute little return address labels.

I must mention at this point that NEITHER organization operates an animal shelter, nor assists shelters. The donations sent in for the past several decades has all gone to lobbying, paying lavish salaries to employees, and spouting their "overpopulation" and "abuse" propaganda. H$U$ kept a lower profile than PeTa, making them more acceptable to the average American pet owner. All they had to do was release another video of a "puppymill" raid to the media, showing doggies in cages and deplorable conditions, and the money rolled in again. Throw in a few comments from the local shelter of choice stating how "overcrowded" they are...and BAM! Public sympathy and dough out the ying-yang!

So now we've had several decades of "overpopulation" brainwashing, video upon video of dogs being used as personal ATMs living in filth, along with the gradual addition of "all breeders are evil and greedy, not just the "puppymills" and "backyard breeders""...and eventually someone had to say it: "There oughtta be a law! Some way to STOP it all!"

In strolls the ARs..."We have a solution! Pass a law that mandates castration at 16 weeks of age (since most dogs are capable of being bred at an early age) for ALL dogs!" And the "overpopulation" problem is solved! What???? Someone in the government is FORCING me to have a surgical procedure done on MY dog? What if I don't want to??? What if I can't afford it?? What if I can't afford the astronomically high dollar "intact animal" permit?? Ahhh, then you are deemed a criminal if you do not abide, and, gee, if you can't afford such a procedure, then, well, you'll have to surrender your dog to the shelter!

But wait! Aren't the shelters overcrowded already? What will happen to my dog if I surrender it? If all the dogs are castrated, who will breed the service dogs, and police dogs, and drug dogs and the quality bred purebreds? Why, that's simple! There won't be any! And they begin to see their decades of work of spreading propaganda pay off!.....

When are we going to wake up and take back control of our RIGHTS and our PROPERTY?

When are we going to wake up and join forces and take back what is rightfully ours? Do you wait until the floodwater is lapping at your own door before you begin to try to save your property?

Sadly, that has what has happened to our rights when it comes to our dogs. We have all sat back and watched as cities and states have been taken over by the lies of overpopulation. And now we're ALL drowning in it. Some people simply looked the other way, while others decided that since it wasn't "their city or their state", it wasn't "their problem" and "that law will never pass!" For those who continue to bury their heads in the proverbial sand, can you say , "Lousiville, Ky", "ALB, New Mexico", "The entire STATE OF MAINE!"???? Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, Minnesota, Wisconsin! These laws are a REAL threat to our dogs and our Constitutional Rights!
The time is now. Now is the time to stand up and get mad! Get Proactive! Spend just a measly 5 minutes per week writing, emailing or faxing the powers that be in whatever state is under fire!

Don't wait until it's "your dog", stand up NOW and make your voice heard! Dog owners outnumber the ARs by the hundreds of thousands! Imagine what a difference we could ALL make by taking 5 minutes out of a WEEK to write a letter! Imagine further if we banded together as a single voice and turned the tables on them! Stand up for YOUR dogs, YOUR rights, get active! Donate to groups that are working hard on OUR side, such as the National Animal Interest Alliance (and numerous others)

Shout out:

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"

7 Things You Didn't Know About The HSUS & PETA

Many of you reading this blog may be new to the war in the fight for animal owner rights. The following list of "7 Things You Didn't Know About The HSUS" is available for printing from the Center For Consumer Freedom website. Print it out and use it on your club's/group's next public education table or hand it out at your next meeting. There are still many members of the dog show community that are unaware of the dangers posed by the H$U$. Another good idea is to have a few printed up to keep on hand in your car or at work. You never know when a member of the public will need to become enlightened. Remember, one thing we can all do to help stop the H$U$ is to STOP sending them money!

7 Things You Didn't Know About HSUS

Posted: November 7, 2008

1) The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is a “humane society” in name only, since it doesn’t operate a single pet shelter or pet adoption facility anywhere in the United States. During 2006, HSUS contributed only 4.2 percent of its budget to organizations that operate hands-on dog and cat shelters. In reality, HSUS is a wealthy animal-rights lobbying organization (the largest and richest on earth) that agitates for the same goals as PETA and other radical groups.

2) Beginning on the day of NFL quarterback Michael Vick’s 2007 dogfighting indictment, HSUS raised money online with the false promise that it would “care for the dogs seized in the Michael Vick case.” The New York Times later reported that HSUS wasn’t caring for Vick’s dogs at all. And HSUS president Wayne Pacelle told the Times that his group recommended that government officials “put down” (that is, kill) the dogs rather than adopt them out to suitable homes. HSUS later quietly altered its Internet fundraising pitch.

3) HSUS’s senior management includes a former spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), a criminal group designated as “terrorists” by the FBI. HSUS president Wayne Pacelle hired John “J.P.” Goodwin in 1997, the same year Goodwin described himself as “spokesperson for the ALF” while he fielded media calls in the wake of an ALF arson attack at a California veal processing plant. In 1997, when asked by reporters for a reaction to an ALF arson fire at a farmer’s feed co-op in Utah (which nearly killed a family sleeping on the premises), Goodwin replied, “We’re ecstatic.” That same year, Goodwin was arrested at a UC Davis protest celebrating the 10-year anniversary of an ALF arson at the university that caused $5 million in damage. And in 1998, Goodwin described himself publicly as a “former member of ALF.”

4) According to a 2008 Los Angeles Times investigation, less than 12 percent of money raised for HSUS by California telemarketers actually ends up in HSUS’s bank account. The rest is kept by professional fundraisers. And if you exclude two campaigns run for HSUS by the “Build-a-Bear Workshop” retail chain, which consisted of the sale of surplus stuffed animals (not really “fundraising”), HSUS’s yield number shrinks to just 3 percent. Sadly, this appears typical. In 2004, HSUS ran a telemarketing campaign in Connecticut with fundraisers who promised to return a minimum of zero percent of the proceeds. The campaign raised over $1.4 million. Not only did absolutely none of that money go to HSUS, but the group paid $175,000 for the telemarketing work.

5) Research shows that HSUS’s heavily promoted U.S. “boycott” of Canadian seafood—announced in 2005 as a protest against Canada’s annual seal hunt—is a phony exercise in media manipulation. A 2006 investigation found that 78 percent of the restaurants and seafood distributors described by HSUS as “boycotters” weren’t participating at all. Nearly two-thirds of them told surveyors they were completely unaware HSUS was using their names in connection with an international boycott campaign. Canada’s federal government is on record about this deception, saying: “Some animal rights groups have been misleading the public for years … it’s no surprise at all that the richest of them would mislead the public with a phony seafood boycott.”

6) HSUS raised a reported $34 million in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, supposedly to help reunite lost pets with their owners. But comparatively little of that money was spent for its intended purpose. Louisiana’s Attorney General shuttered his 18-month-long investigation into where most of these millions went, shortly after HSUS announced its plan to contribute $600,000 toward the construction of an animal shelter on the grounds of a state prison. Public disclosures of the disposition of the $34 million in Katrina-related donations add up to less than $7 million.

7) After gathering undercover video footage of improper animal handling at a Chino, CA slaughterhouse during November of 2007, HSUS sat on its video evidence for three months, even refusing to share it with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. HSUS’s Dr. Michael Greger testified before Congress that the San Bernardino County (CA) District Attorney’s office asked the group “to hold on to the information while they completed their investigation.” But the District Attorney’s office quickly denied that account, even declaring that HSUS refused to make its undercover spy available to investigators if the USDA were present at those meetings. Ultimately, HSUS chose to release its video footage at a more politically opportune time, as it prepared to launch a livestock-related ballot campaign in California. Meanwhile, meat from the slaughterhouse continued to flow into the U.S. food supply for months.
URL: http://www.consumerfreedom.com/article_detail.cfm/article/184
Copyright © 1997-2008 Center for Consumer Freedom. Tel: 202-463-7112.


Since I don't want to show "favoritism" toward just one of the human-hater groups, I'm also including the "7 Things You Didn't Know About PETA" below. Again, this is also available for printing from the Center For Consumer Freedom website. (plus LOTS of other great info on the antis!)

7 Things You Didn't Know About PETA

1) According to government documents, PETA employees have killed more than 19,200 dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens since 1998. This behavior continues despite PETA’s moralizing about the “unethical” treatment of animals by farmers, scientists, restaurant owners, circuses, hunters, fishermen, zookeepers, and countless other Americans. PETA puts to death over 90 percent of the animals it accepts from members of the public who expect the group to make a reasonable attempt to find them adoptive homes. PETA holds absolutely no open-adoption shelter hours at its Norfolk, VA headquarters, choosing instead to spend part of its $32 million annual income on a contract with a crematory service to periodically empty hundreds of animal bodies from its large walk-in freezer.

2) PETA president and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk has described her group’s overall goal as “total animal liberation.” This means the complete abolition of meat, milk, cheese, eggs, honey, zoos, aquariums, circuses, wool, leather, fur, silk, hunting, fishing, and pet ownership. In a 2003 profile of Newkirk in The New Yorker, author Michael Specter wrote that Newkirk has had at least one seeing-eye dog taken away from its blind owner. PETA is also against all medical research that requires the use of animals, including research aimed at curing AIDS and cancer.

3) PETA has given tens of thousands of dollars to convicted arsonists and other violent criminals. This includes a 2001 donation of $1,500 to the North American Earth Liberation Front (ELF), an FBI-certified “domestic terrorist” group responsible for dozens of firebombs and death threats. During the 1990s, PETA paid $70,200 to Rodney Coronado, an Animal Liberation Front (ALF) serial arsonist convicted of burning down a Michigan State University research laboratory. In his sentencing memorandum, a federal prosecutor implicated PETA president Ingrid Newkirk in that crime. PETA vegetarian campaign coordinator Bruce Friedrich has also told an animal rights convention that “blowing stuff up and smashing windows” is “a great way to bring about animal liberation,” adding, “Hallelujah to the people who are willing to do it.”

4) PETA activists regularly target children as young as six years old with anti-meat and anti-milk propaganda, even waiting outside their schools to intercept them without notifying their parents. One piece of kid-targeted PETA literature tells small children: “Your Mommy Kills Animals!” PETA brags that its messages reach over 1.2 million minor children, including 30,000 kids between the ages of 6 and 12, all contacted by e-mail without parental supervision. One PETA vice president told the Fox News Channel’s audience: “Our campaigns are always geared towards children, and they always will be.”

5) PETA’s president has said that “even if animal research resulted in a cure for AIDS, we would be against it.” And PETA has repeatedly attacked research foundations like the March of Dimes, the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and the American Cancer Society, solely because they support animal-based research aimed at curing life-threatening diseases and birth defects. And PETA helped to start and manage a quasi-medical front group, the misnamed Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, to attack medical research head-on.

6) PETA has compared Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust to farm animals and Jesus Christ to pigs. PETA’s religious campaigns include a website that claims—despite ample evidence to the contrary—that Jesus Christ was a vegetarian. PETA holds protests at houses of worship, even suing one church that tried to protect its members from Sunday-morning harassment. Its billboards taunt Christians with the message that hogs “died for their sins.” PETA insists, contrary to centuries of rabbinical teaching, that the Jewish ritual of kosher slaughter shouldn’t be allowed. And its infamous “Holocaust on Your Plate” campaign crassly compared the Jewish victims of Nazi genocide to farm animals.

7) PETA frequently looks the other way when its celebrity spokespersons don’t practice what it preaches. As gossip bloggers and Hollywood journalists have noted, Pamela Anderson’s Dodge Viper (auctioned to benefit PETA) had a “luxurious leather interior”; Jenna Jameson was photographed fishing, slurping oysters, and wearing a leather jacket just weeks after launching an anti-leather campaign for PETA; Morrissey got an official “okay” from PETA after eating at a steakhouse; Dita von Teese has written about her love of furs and foie gras; Steve-O built a career out of abusing small animals on film; the officially “anti-fur” Eva Mendes often wears fur anyway; and Charlize Theron’s celebrated October 2007 Vogue cover shoot featured several suede garments. In 2008, “Baby Phat” designer Kimora Lee Simmons became a PETA spokesmodel despite working with fur and leather, after making a $20,000 donation to the animal rights group.
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Why I Started This Blog...

I started this blog to educate the public on the radical Animal Rights Agenda and their goal of total animal liberation. Which led to the title of this blog: The Endangered Owner. You see, if groups such as PeTA and The Humane Society of the United States have their way, the concept of "owning" or "using" animals, in any form, will become extinct. Ownership and breeding of any animal will become a "fad" of the past. We are fast on our way to becoming "guardians" to our animals rather than "owners". The words "owners" and "breeders" have been added to the list of dirty words not fit for civilized conversation.

We, as dog owners and breeders, are under constant fire from Animal Rights groups (ARs). By pushing for legislation such as mandatory spay/neuter (MSN), breed specific legislation (BSL), and breeder permits and the like, our RIGHTS to own, breed, and use animals are being stripped away little by little. With the recent passing of Proposition 2 in California, the ARs are seeing to it that Americans will have to pay through the nose for staples such as eggs and chicken. But, hey, as long as the chickens are happy, that's all that matters, right? To hell with us evil humans!

Using the guise of "animal welfare", The Humane Society of the United States (H$U$) has grown into the wealthiest and most powerful Animal Rights group in the world. Their very name invokes confusion among its many donors. The H$U$ is NOT an animal shelter. The H$U$ does NOT operate shelters around the country. The H$U$ does NOT use it's millions and millions of dollars to help feed animals, nor does it give money to shelters for day to day operations in caring for these animals.

So, what DO they DO with all of that dough??? The H$U$ lobbies. The H$U$ pushes for more and more restrictive laws concerning pets, breeders, and livestock used for food. The H$U$ would like nothing more than to make the United States of America a vegan country: no more animals used in ANY way. NOT for food, NOT for entertainment (circuses, zoos, rodeos), NOT for much needed medical testing for diseases such as AIDS, cancer, Parkinson's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis....NOT even as pets.

Of course, no one in their right mind would donate to such a group if they were up front from the beginning and explained, "Hey, we want everybody to be a vegan and we want ALL animals to live and die free from their human oppressors"...That kind of agenda doesn't appeal to the millions and millions of us that like a good steak and enjoy our pets, does it? That kind of honesty wouldn't generate millions of dollars in donations now, would it? Of course NOT!

So, to be able to rake in the big bucks, the H$U$ continues to allow the public to believe that all of those millions goes to "help the animals", using the very confusion their name invokes to their advantage. The H$U$ is the master of manipulation. They manipulate our emotions, our sense of decency, manipulate our love and need for animals...and manipulate our dollars out of our wallets and into their war chest: all to be used to further their own sick, socialist agenda.

What can we do to STOP THE MADNESS and take back OUR RIGHTS and become the voice of REASON? It's very elementary: STOP GIVING THEM MONEY! STOP GIVING THEM POWER BY USING THEIR LANGUAGE! These are two very basic things EVERYONE can do and MUST do if us sane folk are to take back our animals and our rights to own and breed them.

What do I mean by "stop giving them power by using their language"? The Animal Rightists (ARs) are masters of manipulation. They use words that make us "feel good", especially when it comes to our pets. The following list of words should be removed from our vocabularies immediately, as each time we utter them, we yield more power and control to the enemy:

1. "Guardian": This term has a completely different legal meaning than "owner". "Guardians" do not "own" what they are "overseeing". Dogs are property, therefore, we OWN them. We are responsible for their care and we are responsible for their actions. If the word "guardian" is replaced in current laws, who will make the decisions concerning their care? Who will be financially responsible for any damages they may do? The "idea" behind using this fuzzy wuzzy term is that by labeling us "guardians", it will "make" people be more kind and treat their animals more "humane".

2. "Backyard Breeder": A derogatory term used to describe someone who "doesn't breed the way WE think they should", on a small scale, with a small number of dogs.....Used among the dog showing community to separate "us" from "them"...."good" from "bad"....(the whole divide and conquer thing)

3. "Puppy Mill": This term could fill a website all on it's own. Like it's cousin, the "backyard breeder", a "puppy mill" is reserved for anyone who "doesn't breed the way WE think they should" as well, except it's original intent was to describe the "filthy deplorable conditions of commercial breeders" and for breeders that "have hundreds of dogs and dozens of breeds and breeds every bitch every time they come in heat" (aka, USDA licensed breeders, you know, the ones that sell all of those sick/psychotic puppies to pet shops). Also used among breeders to separate "us" from "them" and "good" from "bad". The H$U$ has used this one to its advantage big time, lobbying for laws in several states (carefully worded, mind you) to "stop the puppy mills"...But what is a "puppy mill"? There is no legal definition. The H$U$ is quickly changing its meaning to cover anyone that sells over the internet, or thru classified ads. How many "show breeders" do you know that have websites? The gap is closing....more on this subject later.

4. "Adopt/Adoption": Another emotionally charged "feel good" term. Since we've already established the fact that dogs are property, any time money is exchanged for goods, that means you "buy" something under the law: whether the animal comes from a shelter, rescue or breeder, you are giving money in exchange for something. "Adopt" is another divide and conquer word. By using mottos such as "save a life, adopt" and "don't breed or buy while shelter animals die", it gives people the feeling of "doing good"...while at the same time saying that "buying from a breeder" is bad. (very clever on the ARs part, divide the rescue/shelter community from the "evil breeders") (Important note: there are great shelters and rescues out there, there are some that are not so great...just like there are great and not so great breeders)

There are others, but these are the "Big 4" in my book. If we are going to win the war for our animals and our rights to own them, the simple act of NOT using their language is a valuable tool. It's way past time to stop the madness. The time to UNITE is NOW. ALL breeders, ALL animal owners and livestock farmers are in danger of losing our constitutional rights to our property (i.e, our animals).

Which side will YOU be on? Remember: The "US" in the war of "us vs them", is "US" means all breeders and animal owners from all walks of life, the "THEM" are the Animal Rights groups.

Will you become one of US? Or will you continue to allow the AR groups to use YOU (and your hard earned dollars) against us?