Earthquake in Haiti Equals BIG MONEY Beg Fest for HSUS

The 7.0 magnatude earthquake that has destroyed Haiti and is responsible for the deaths of over 45,000 human lives,  is now turning into a shameless money-making opportunity for the human-hating/animal rights lobbying group, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

In Wayne's latest begging for dollars campaign, he has sunk himself and the H$U$ to a new low...even for them.  And THAT'S saying something. 

History Repeats Itself

Let's turn the hands of time back to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, remember Wayne begging for your hard-earned money to "help the animals"?  Remember the resulting investigation by the LA Attorney General?  (It was only AFTER the heat was on that Wayne grudgingly agreed to turn over some of those millions to go into a new animal shelter.  It's anyone's guess where the rest of those Katrina millions went to. )

Michael Vick and the horrible dog fighting ring----again, we see Wayne shamelessly begging for YOUR hard-earned money to "help care for Vick's dogs" when IN FACT, not Wayne (remember, he doesn't have a hands-on fondness for animals) nor the HSUS had ANY of those poor dogs in their care, custody or control.  Another factoid:  Wayne and company wanted ALL of those dogs KILLED. 

But never let it be said that Wayne isn't afraid to distort the truth, and in most cases FLAT-OUT LIE to part you from your money.

Want to know how much of YOUR MONEY actually went to help animals in 2008?  Less than .04 cents on the dollar!  How much cash did HSUS rake in during 2008?  A whopping 86 MILLION dollars.

The People Must Come First...

Make no mistake, my heart goes out to the poor people of Haiti that are suffering and my prayers are with them and the HUGE humanitarian effort underway. 

But what's on Wayne's mind?  M-O-N-E-Y.   Rather, your money.

Don't fall for it, America.  Don't fall for Wayne and his shameless begging for dollars thinking that the HSUS will actually do what it says and HELP ANIMALS. 

Help all you can, folks, but give to those humanitarian groups that are performing human life saving tasks.  Don't let the smooth-talking wolf-in-sheep's clothing, Wayne Pacelle, part you from your money thinking you will be helping poor animals in Haiti.

As we have seen over and over again, Wayne's words mean nothing:  nothing but double-speak and outright lies, all in the name of greed.  And power. 

Shame on you, Wayne.  You have sunk to a new low...using one of the world's WORST natural disasters to line your coffers and further your agenda of "one generation and out".

By the way, do you get it, Wayne, at how utterly disgusted I am and just how much I despise your organization and what you are about?  (I mean REALLY about...not the bullshit you spoon-feed the public on a daily basis.)

Can you feel the love? 

Enjoy that Gravy Train while you can; it's about to get de-railed.

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 Dog Breeders Were Thrown Under the Bus

The following was written by Carlotta Cooper.  It makes me sick that the fancy still does not "get it" and is willing to form unholy alliances with the HSUS.  Now that a "magic number" has been established into law, the next step will be ANOTHER piece of legislation to LOWER that number.  That IS the HSUS game plan; and the fancy played right into their hands.
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I was asked to provide a little more information about why we lost with the commercial breeder bill in Tennessee. These are my views on the matter.

Losing with this bill is devastating. We have people who have been fighting the legislation who are now trying to decide which dogs to have put to sleep or looking for friends and family to take some of their dogs so they will be under the 20 female dog limit and won't have to be inspected.   We have some people who want to move out of the state.

I think the primary reason we lost was because our dog people were divided. Everything in Tennessee centers around Nashville and that's where the decisions are made. Last year HSUS carried out a raid on a
breeder near Nashville with 700 dogs. They got the Nashville Kennel Club and some other local clubs involved in helping them. Ever since that time there have been some core people in those clubs who were
convinced that fighting "puppy mills" was their primary mission. The new HSUS state director was very smart in getting these kennel club members involved in the raid and making friends with them.

At the same time the Nashville Kennel Club, led by AKC judge Jon Cole, was heading up a new dog federation in Tennessee (Tennessee Federation of Dog Clubs). They had about a dozen member clubs from
around the state and enough money to hire a lobbyist. HSUS convinced them last winter that a bill against "puppy mills" was going to pass and that they would be better off helping to write it. So, the Federation sat down with them, had some input and has supported the bill since that time, with just a few exceptions. That was 12 of the biggest clubs in the state. Very little information was actually given to the members of the clubs. Delegates voted to accept what Jon Cole and the others decided. All meetings were held in the Nashville area.


So, it came down to the Nashville area clubs deciding things for the entire state with very little input from anyone else.


The rest of us -- Responsible Animal Owners of Tennessee (mostly in Memphis and the west) and Tennessee Pet-Law (a lot of people in east Tennessee and across the state) were picking up everyone else opposed to the commercial breeder bill.


HSUS was able to say that they had the blessing of show breeders and others with the bills. They claimed to have stakeholder input which wasn't true -- there were no real commercial breeders involved in writing the bill at all. But they did have the Federation on their side.

I contacted Jon Cole as soon as I heard that he was working with HSUS on the bill in December to ask him to oppose it. I told him the reasons why he shouldn't be working with HSUS. I told him why he should be protecting breeder rights. I told him we should be fighting breeder licensing, not trying to get it. I told him that
they should have real commercial breeders on their committee if they wanted to have a fair bill. He blew me off. I know that I'm not the only one who contacted him and told him these things.

I think if the Federation had opposed the bills and informed their membership about them so they could help fight them, the bills would have died in committee. We certainly could have used their lobbyist working for us. If they had even fully informed their membership of what they were doing I think the membership would have tried to stop them.

We got ZERO help from AKC. No alerts sent out. No messages posted on their home page. They posted a couple of messages about what was happening in Tennessee -- buried deep in their government relations
section. But they never even sent them to me so I could post them on the Tennessee Pet-Law list or send them to e-mail lists. They frequently posted inaccurate, out-of-date information in their Take Command newsletter, even though I was sending them updates. I wrote Sheila Goffe several times explaining the situation and asking for help. I felt like I was "handled." The AKC basically continued on the same course.


Instead, they(the AKC) stayed in contact with the Tennessee Federation of Dog Clubs and encouraged them to compromise on the bill throughout the process. Most of the time they claimed to be Neutral. For a few weeks I convinced AKC to oppose the bill, but as soon as one or two amendments were made they went back to being Neutral.


NAIA wasn't much help either. They also worked with the Federation and encouraged them to negotiate rather than fight the bill.

Those of us fighting the bills could have done more. We were learning as we went. I wish that we had been able to attend the committee meetings. We were only able to make a presentation at two committee hearings (and our presenter wasn't treated very kindly at one of them). But Tennessee is a looong state and it's hard to convince people to drive 6-7 hours to be there for a two-minute presentation. We couldn't pull together any kind of demonstration to hold at the Capitol either.

It would have been better if we could have lobbied in person. We discovered that our e-mails and faxes were being deleted and thrown out. Only phone calls had any effect at all. Even then, a representative could assure you that he was opposed to the bill and then vote for it. We had staff completely lie to us. When a dozen people called the governor's office and spoke to his assistant to tell them they were opposed to the bill, I called and spoke to the same woman. She told me they hadn't received any calls about the bill.


We looked for assistance from dozens of outside groups that had similar interests but, though some were sympathetic, none were really willing to help.


I'm sure it didn't help that Wayne Pacelle personally went to Nashville to lobby for the bill.


So, those are some of the reasons that we lost. I hope some of this is helpful for others. Again, these have been my impressions from working on the commercial breeder bill since December of last year, before it was fully written. Some people may disagree with me and take offense but this is the truth.


I wanted to add just one more thing about the situation with the Tennessee Federation of Dog Clubs. From what I understand Mr. Cole and a small group made a unilateral decision in late 2008 to work with HSUS to write the commercial breeder bill that was so harsh to breeders. This was all done before the bill was introduced into the legislature. It was done without the knowledge or consent of the other Federation member clubs.

 AFTER the bill was written and introduced Mr. Cole took a vote at the Federation's annual meeting in March to see if the Federation as a whole would support the bill.

There was one dissenting club (bless them) and a few clubs with delegates who were not present, but the Federation voted to support the bill. Later there were clubs within the Federation who voiced their opposition to the bill but they didn't have the votes to turn the Federation around and make them oppose the bill in its entirety.

By that time the damage had been done and they could only respond to each amendment as it was written.


Permission to cross-post this message and my previous message on Why We Lost In Tennessee.

Carlotta Cooper

Dog Owners UNITE: We Must Help Ohio Farmers Beat HSUS at Its Own Game!

I've said it for a long time now:  if we are going to win the war for our rights regarding our animals, it's crucial that we all stick together and that includes farmers and dog people alike.

There is currently a war being waged on the very hands that feed us, yes, YOU! And your dogs.  The target isn't just dog breeders anymore, America's farmers are being threatened by the radical animal rights group, the Humane Society of the United States.

Just as the HSUS knows NOTHING about animal husbandry issues relating to dog breeding, they know LESS about what it takes to care for and raise good healthy food for Americans.  That's why the farmers in Ohio have taken the bull by the horns and are proposing the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board whereby decisions concerning the care and raising of livestock would actually be made by those that KNOW and not by a multi-million dollar animal rights front group, the Humane Society of the United States.

HSUS has waged war on Ohio farmers and now the FARMERS are fighting back.  THEY NEED OUR HELP!  If you are a resident of Ohio, it is CRITICAL that you contact your state Representative AND your state Senator and tell them YOU SUPPORT Ohio's farmers' and the Ohio Farm Bureau and to please VOTE YES on SJR 6 and HJR 6.  The vote is Wednesday, June 24!

Dog owners and breeders, this is a call to ACTION.  How many times have you lamented "What can I do?" "We have to stop HSUS!"....NOW is the chance to STOP the 900lb HSUS gorilla in Ohio.  Even if you are not a resident, please take a moment and write or call the Ohio legislators and tell them that you support farming and that decisions regarding farming and farm animals belong with those that know best:  REAL FARMERS, not the Humane Society of the United States.