Surviving The Storm and the Aftermath

In case any of my loyal readers have been wondering where I've been and why I haven't posted, it's been due to a massive and crippling ICE STORM that hit our area (and my entire state) last week. Although the ice and snow have melted, the entire Western KY region is without electricity for the most part and phone service and internet have just recently been restored.  There are approximately 20 electric poles down and / or broken in a 3 mile stretch of the highway that I live on. Downed Power lines and trees made transportation virtually impossible for days after the storm.  If it weren't for the farmers using their tractors and equipment, my road would still be closed. 

At my house, we are fortunate to have a generator to power the fridge and tv.  We don't have running water, so we have to make daily trips to the in-laws who are lucky enough to have a full house generator that will power the well.  We have gas heat and a gas cookstove, so we are warm and not starving! LOL  All of the dogs are fine and loved playing in the snow.  My youngest Rottie decided that her new "job" is sleeping on the couch with me keeping my feet warm. She does it very well!

To give some idea of the magnitude, our state has (for the first time in history) called up EVERY member of the National Guard.  We are in a true state of emergency.  FEMA has arrived and President Obama has declared our state a Federal Disaster.  Members of the National Guard have been going door to door handing out bottled water and food and offering transportation to those that need it.

The banks and post offices have come to a standstill since everything is done electronically these days.  My bank has been open for a few hours per day, cashing payroll checks and allowing customers to get cash from their accounts.  Normal activities are non-existent.  It's amazing the things we take for granted.  Many school districts are closed indefinitely.  Gasoline continues to be hard to come by since many gas stations are still without power and not every one has a generator to run the pumps.

It may be another month (or longer) before our area has power restored and the cleanup will take many, many months.  And winter isn't over yet. The majority of the hardest hit areas are very rural--farm land--and the ground is very wet and muddy making it difficult for the utility crews to get in with their trucks and start repairs.

I have lots of information to sort thru, but I haven't forgotten or given up on the on-going battle for animal owner's rights.  Internet and phone service may still come and go over the next weeks, but I will try to keep the blog current.  Please be patient and keep checking back or subscribe to this blog for updates. 

When You Choose To Dance With The Devil...

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
********************************

It's this simple, when you choose to side with the lunatic fringe Animal Rights groups and believe what they believe, YOU will hear from us.  When someone OPENLY allows an endorsement from a terrorist group on their book, perhaps it's time to find new friends?  Or move to that island far, far away.....

HSUS Agenda: Eliminate Pet Breeding

Nothing says, "Happy New Year" like introducing bad laws. Here we are just 23 days into January and the HSUS led Animal Rights foot-soldiers are introducing BSL (Breed Specific Legislation), MSN (Mandatory Spay/Neuter), and breeder limits/breeder 'permits' type legislation.

First The Good News: MONTANA

Since I always seem to be the bearer of bad news, I thought I would share some VICTORY news for a change! Just a few short weeks after being introduced into the Montana legislature, HB 191 has been rejected by lawmakers. The bill sought to ban 'pit bull type' dogs (Am Staffs, American Pit Bull Terriers, etc) from being bred or bought in the state...Thankfully, lawmakers quickly killed this bill stating that it was an ineffective way to combat dog attacks! Big paws up to those that wrote, called, or faxed their opposition !! There is strength in numbers, folks!

HSUS Agenda: Mandatory Spay/Neuter Law Introduced in FLORIDA

After the death of California's proposed AB 1634 (the bill that wouldn't DIE..and tried to mandate spaying/castrating of every dog 4mos of age and older), the HSUS (the Humane Society of the United States), vowed to take mandatory spay/neuter (MSN) across the United States. MSN has been signed into law in several U.S cities including Los Angeles, West Palm Beach Co, FL, and is being pushed in Chicago, IL.

The HSUS has yet to have MSN signed into state law anywhere, but that doesn't keep the wealthiest Animal Rights group on the face of the planet from trying. Florida's legislative session does not officially begin until March, but the Animal Rights lunatic fringe has introduced House Bill 451, which seeks to Require owners of every dog or cat in Florida to have each animal sterilized within 30 days of the animal reaching four months of age, or within 30 days of the owner receiving the animal.

The American Kennel Club, along with the National Animal Interest Alliance Trust of Florida, have issued alerts on this AR driven piece of legislation. Diane McKinney of The NAIA Trust of Florida has issued the following statement with permission to crosspost:

"Please let people know that NAIA Trust of Florida is working on talking points on this bill as well as several more....an announcement will be coming out as quickly as possible....another FYI, our legislative session in Florida doesn't even START until March 3, 2009! So it's not as though we don't have a "little" bit of time to get this stuff together.....I think we're doing pretty well considering that we JUST found out about this - what YESTERDAY? Let the games begin! "

I cannot stress to Florida residents how important it is to join together and defeat this bill. Our dogs are our property. That includes their reproductive parts. The decision on whether to spay/neuter should be left where it belongs: with the animal's owner and their veterinarian not with the government. There are risks to any surgical procedure, including spaying/neutering, and ESPECIALLY doing so at too early of an age.

HSUS Agenda Targets Illinois and Colorado

Bills have been introduced in Illinois and Colorado that will negatively impact dog breeders and owners. The Illinois bill (HB 198) is 45 PAGES and would limit the number of dogs they can own and requires licensing for anyone who maintains three or more females (even if they are not bred) "for the purpose of the sale of their offspring." The bill would also mandate unannounced inspections, fingerprinting, and require breeders to pay an unspecified license fee. It is important that ALL fanciers, responsible dog owners, and breeders work together to oppose this burdensome and ineffective legislation. Please visit the American Kennel Club's website for important contact information of Illinois Senators!!!! The AKC also has a sample letter that you can personalize and send!

The Colorado bill ,HB 1172, seeks to dictate to breeders how many UN-altered dogs they may own over the age of 6 mos. More HSUS/Animal Rights driven laws designed to make the breeding/owning of pets more expensive and restrictive. Don't let the HSUS win! Don't drink their poison Kool-Aid and fall for the ruse of trying to eliminate so called "puppymills"...The number of animals one can own is a personal choice and is different for everyone. The Colorado Federation of Dog Clubs is aware of this pending bill and The Responsible Dog Owners of the Western States (RDOWS) has sent a letter to the powers that be in Colorado asking for this lunatic fringe proposed law to be struck down.


THIS MEANS WAR!

The HSUS is waging war on OUR rights to own, breed and keep animals. The bills I have listed above are just a sampling of what we have in store this legislative session. The bickering and bitching and finger-pointing among dog breeders/owners has got to STOP if any of us hope to have a future with our dogs.

When one area of the country is targeted by HSUS backed legislation, we are ALL sitting ducks. Just because you do not see your state listed yet does NOT mean you are in the clear. The legislative sessions are just beginning in many states and soon it will be your turn to fight with whatever draconian law the HSUS has in store for you and your dogs.

Will you be ready? Do you know who your legislators are? Will you stand shoulder to shoulder with fellow dog owners and breeders to preserve the rights for all, including yourself? Or will egos and poison Kool-Aid prevail?

When the AR came for the unlicensed puppy mills,

I remained silent;

I was not an unlicensed puppy mill.

When they confiscated dogs from those who had one too many for their local ordinances,
I remained silent;
I was not over my local limit of dogs.

When they came for the Pit Bulls similar breeds,
I did not speak out;
I was not an owner of a Bully breed.

When they came for the Commercial Breeders,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Commercial Breeder.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out......(Author Unknown)

HSUS Agenda for Animals Officially Targeting the Hobby Breeder

The Humane Society of the United States must be dancing with glee.  With Obama in the White House, Tom Vilsack as the new Secretary of Agriculture, Cass Sunstein to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (this guy is HEAVY AR!),  along with the new head of the EPA, and the recent announcement of the Agriculture Committee members, the HSUS must be thinking the time has finally arrived for them to unleash the next steps of their Animal Rights driven agenda now that key players are in place in our government.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and The Humane Society Legislative Fund (HSLF) have unveiled their 100 Step 'Change' Agenda for Animals.(this link is in .pdf)  Among the highlights(from the HSLF)  :

• The Agriculture Department must improve enforcement at slaughter plants, puppy mills, research laboratories, and wild animal exhibits, and crack down on abusive practices such as animal fighting, horse soring, and puppy imports. It should apply basic humane slaughter protections to poultry so that nine billion birds per year have a merciful death, and finalize its pending rule to prohibit the slaughter of downed cows who are too sick or injured to stand up. The agency should work to stop the export of horses for slaughter in other countries, and should shift the focus of its Wildlife Services program to effective nonlethal methods rather than the use of aerial gunning, cruel traps, and toxic poisons. 

Just what exactly is a puppy mill? There is no legal definition, therefore, it is simply a derogatory term used to turn breeders against one another.  And if you are thinking that the HSUS is only referring to 'commercially licensed USDA breeders' or 'breeders that sell to pet stores', THINK AGAIN.  The HSUS is actually referring to ALL breeders, 'hobby/show/home breeders' included: (from the above mentioned .pdf file):

"5) Puppy mills – require all dog and cat breeders to comply with AWA requirements, including those who sell directly to the public; require daily exercise and socialization for animals in commercial breeding facilities; prohibit non-stop breeding every heat cycle"

There you have it, folks, the TRUE eventual intent of the P.U.P.S bill...the rest of us are now officially targeted.  Did the writer over at the HSLF think that people wouldn't really click on the link to their '100 Step Plan' and see the truth???  That is:  "Require ALL dog and cat breeders to comply with AWA requirements including those who sell directly to the public....."

Of course, dog breeders are not the only intended targets.  The HSUS is coming after the farmers that feed our nation; the scientists that are working to find cures to devastating diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer's Disease; the hunters and trappers and fishermen...everyone and anyone that has any contact with animals is a direct target. 

Don't Drink The Kool-Aid

The thing is this:  while these changes put forth by the HSUS sound reasonable (to some) on paper, the ways in which these changes will be written into legislation are what you have to pay close attention to.  NOTHING the Animal Rights groups put forth is for the 'good of the animals' as they claim; rather, these changes are among many steps to try and end human use/benefit of animals of all types. Read again my post on the Twelve Step Plan To A No Animal Nation , then compare that to the 100 Step Change Agenda.....

Little by little, bit by bit, unless all animal owners stand united against the Animal Rights bullies, we will see life as we know it with animals come to an end.  It is time to realize who the real enemy is and to put aside differences of opinion on how individuals should own/breed/farm/hunt, etc...the Animal Rightists are making their intentions known.  Will you be duped into drinking more of the HSUS Kool-Aid?