WEEKEND VIEW: The following article offers an alternative insight on animal activism - and how, as the author argues - has gone over the top. Thanks to Facebook contributer Amiruddin Mansoor had alerted us in our Malaysian Local Councis and Animal Welfare page. Please let us know what you think about this piece in our COMMENTS section:
In Defense Of Dog Breeders - How Animal Rights Has Twisted Our Language
By John Yates
American Sporting Dog Alliance
You're a dog breeder!!!!!
In today's world, that is a very loaded statement. It's more like an accusation.
"I told the television news reporter that I breed dogs," a friend from
Dallas told me recently. "He looked at me like he thought I was a
harlot."
Dog owners have allowed the animal rights movement to
redefine our language in order to paint everything we do in the worst
possible light.
If we say that we breed dogs, the looks we get ask us if
we own a "puppy mill" or if we are a "backyard breeder."
If we reply
that we are a "hobby breeder," someone immediately asks how we can
consider living creatures a hobby.
Some of us try the word "fancier." We
fool no one. The most pathetic response to the question is when we call
ourselves "responsible breeders."
Responsible to whom? Who defines
"responsible" and "irresponsible?" Some bureaucrat? A politician? Animal
rights cretins who say there is no such thing as a responsible breeder?
Animal rights fanatics would rather kill all animals than see someone
love them.
In fact, that's their plan. If we say we are not breeders, it
makes us "pet hoarders." We are tarred as mentally ill people in need
of psychotherapy.
The entire language about dog ownership has been
hijacked by the rhetoric of the animal rights movement.
The worst part
is that we have allowed it to happen. We are too fearful and wimpy to
stand up for ourselves. We keep searching for inoffensive euphemisms to
describe what we do, so that we don't open ourselves up to attack. By
doing that, however, we have engineered our own demise.
The
animal rights movement will not go away. Its agenda is to destroy our
right to own or raise animals.
Animal rights groups have declared war on
all animal ownership, and they won't stop until they either win or we
finally have the courage to stand up and defeat them.
They have not
taken that kind of power over us. We have given it away. We have
surrendered our beliefs to the enemy.
We apologize for what we do. We
make weak excuses for things like animal shelter euthanasia, accidental
matings, dog fighting and dangerous dogs.
We take at least part of the
responsibility for these problems onto our own shoulders, when in truth
we have no responsibility at all for creating them. None whatsoever!
I am sick and tired of watching dog owners constantly apologize and
grovel, and allowing themselves to be put on the defensive. Enough! It's
time to stop sniveling about who we are and what we do.
Let me
state clearly and for the record: I am a dog breeder. I breed dogs. I
raise puppies. I like it. I'm very proud of it.
If you don't like it,
you are free to take a flying leap. I don't care what you think of me or
what I do. I raise two or three litters of English setter puppies a
year.
I wish I could raise more puppies, but can't figure out how to do
it without driving myself into bankruptcy.
My dogs work for a living,
just like I do. They have to be good at their jobs, just like I do. If
they aren't good at their jobs, I don't keep them and I certainly don't
breed them.
They are hunting dogs, and they have to be able to perform
to a very demanding standard of excellence to be worthy of breeding.
They have to meet the exacting standard of championship-quality
performance in the toughest competition. They are professional athletes.
Most of them don't make the cut.
Those dogs make wonderful hunting
companions or family members. I have never had a dog spayed or neutered,
except for medical reasons, and I don't intend to start now.
If a dog
is good enough for me to keep, it is good enough to breed. Nor have I
ever sold a puppy on a spay/neuter contract.
With performance dogs, it
takes two or three years to know what you have. There is no way that
anyone can know the full potential or worthiness of a young puppy. I
hope every puppy that I sell will become a great one that is worthy of
being bred.
I do not feel bad (and certainly do not feel
guilty) if someone decides to breed a dog from my kennel that I did not
choose to keep for myself when it was a puppy.
It still will be a very
nice dog, and I have worked very hard on my breeding program for 35
years to assure that very high quality genetics will be passed along and
concentrated in any dog that I sell.
On occasion, I have a puppy that
has a serious flaw. I don't sell those puppies, even though they would
make many people very happy.
I give them away free to good homes, and
the definition of a good home is mine because it's my puppy. I own it.
You don't.
My responsibility is to the puppy. It is not to you, and it's
not to some gelatinous glob called "society." I consider myself to be
personally responsible for every puppy I raise, from birth until the day
it dies.
It always has a home in my kennel, if its new owner can't keep
it or no longer wants it. That's a contract written in blood between
the puppy and me. It's a contract written with a handshake with the
puppy's new owner.
I laugh cynically when someone from the
Humane Society of the United States or People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals ask if I am a responsible breeder.
HSUS and PETA are two of
the most vicious, bloodthirsty and dishonest snake pits on Earth.
Their
moral credibility is a negative number. PETA butchers more than
90-percent of the animals it "rescues" every year, and HSUS supports
programs and policies that result in the needless deaths of hundreds of
thousands of animals every year.
By now, I assume that I have pushed all
of the buttons of the animal rights crazies. I can hear them snort and
see their pincurls flapping in indignation.
It makes my day. Can't you
hear them, too? They are calling me an exploiter of animals. They are
saying that I ruthlessly cull and manipulate the genetics of my dogs.
They saying that I make the exploited poor beasts work for a living and
live up to impossible standards. They will say that I do this to feed
and gratify my own fat ego.
They will say that I sell them for money and
exploit them for personal gain. Then, of course, they will say that I
use them to viciously hunt innocent wild animals.
Terrible, terrible me!
My mother should have a son like this! She was such a nice woman. Well,
I plead guilty to all of the charges. Know what else? I don't feel
guilty, not even a little bit. I do it. I like it. I feel good about it.
Now I will speak in my own defense - as a dog breeder. I happen to love
dogs. I love being around them. I love working with them.
I love
watching a puppy grow up and discover its potential. I love having the
privilege of experiencing a truly great dog in its prime.
I love sharing
supper with my dogs, wrestling with puppies, and sacking out with them
on the couch. I lose sleep when they get sick, and work myself
unmercifully to care for them.
I spend almost all of the money I have on
them, and some money that I don't have. My heart breaks when they grow
old and die. I have a dozen lifetimes worth of beautiful memories.
What
do the animal rights freaks have? They have their ideology. They look in
the mirror and feel smug and self-righteous, as if God has personally
anointed them to protect animals from the likes of me. What they have is
nothing at all. Utter sterility. A world devoid of life and love. They
can keep it.
My life is filled with love and joy and beauty,
and I owe most of it to my dogs. They have helped to keep me sane when
sanity was not a given. They have given me courage on the days when all I
wanted to do was lie down and quit. They have given me strength to
endure on the days when all I wanted to do is run away and hide. I owe
them my life.
The animal rights folks are right. I ruthlessly
cull and manipulate genetics. To make the cut, my breeding dogs have had
to live up to the most exacting possible standards and pass the most
strenuous tests. I am very proud of doing that.
The result is
that the vast majority of people who buy a puppy from me love it. When I
sell a puppy, chances are that it has found a home for the rest of its
life. The puppy will have a great chance of leading a wonderful life.
I
produce puppies that make people happy to own them
and want to keep
them. That's my job as a breeder. I have done this through rigorous
selection.
My puppies today are the result of 35 years of my stubborn
insistence about never breeding a dog that does not have a wonderful
disposition, perfect conformation, great intelligence, exceptional
natural ability, breathtaking style and that mysterious ingredient
called genius.
Every puppy born in my kennel has six or eight or 10
generations of my own dogs in its pedigree. All of those ancestors
possess a high level of each of those desirable traits.
I have raised,
trained, and grown old with every dog listed in several generations of
each puppy's pedigree. Simply put, my puppies today are a lot nicer than
my puppies of 35 years ago.
Today, there is a much higher percentage of
good ones, a much lower percentage of deficient ones, a much higher
average of good qualities, and a much higher percentage of true
greatness emerging from my kennel today.
That's what it means
to be a breeder. Does that feed my ego? Yep. I like having my ego
stroked. Don't you? If you don't, you are in very deep trouble as a
human being.
But I'll tell you what else it does. It makes for
happier dogs. It makes for dogs that lead better lives, find permanent
families and homes, and get to experience love in many forms.
It also
makes for healthier dogs. Generation after generation of perfect
functional conformation means that the dogs are less likely to get
injured, wear out or develop arthritis.
Many generations of selection
for vigor, toughness and good health means that they are able to laugh
at the extremes of climate, weather and terrain.
I also have virtually
eliminated genetic health problems from my strain of dogs.
For
example, hip dysplasia is the most common genetic problem in English
setters, afflicting a reported four-percent of the breed.
In the past 20
years, I have had only two questionable hip x-rays, which both would be
rated "fair" by the Orthopedic Foundation of America (OFA). The last
one was 10 years ago. Yes, I am very proud of being a breeder. I did
that.
I am proud, too, that I am producing dogs that are so
intelligent that it's scary, so loyal that they can be your complete
partner in the field while also possessing the extreme independence
needed to do their job well, so loving that you want them with you every
second of the day, so bold and brazen that nothing bothers them, and
just plain drop-dead gorgeous to boot. They make me smile a lot. I think
I make them smile, too.
But, the animal rights whackos say I
am doing it for the money. They accuse me of exploiting animals for
profit.
Yep. Every chance I get. I am very happy when I am able to sell a
puppy for cold, hard cash. It makes me feel good.
It makes me feel good
ecause it shows me that someone appreciates the work I am doing. It
makes me feel good because I have earned it, and earned it honestly.
My
only regret is that I have not made more money as a breeder. With all of
the sacrifices I have made and the hard work I have done, I should be
rolling in money.
Alas, I am not. It has been years since I actually
have made money on a litter of puppies. Usually, I lose my shirt. For
every puppy I sell, there is another one that I keep to evaluate, and a
couple of other ones that I am keeping for two or three years to
evaluate for their worthiness to breed.
Then there are dogs that are in
competition, and that costs bushels of money, not to mention old dogs
that are retired and have a home here until they die of old age.
Almost a
third of the dogs in my kennel are elderly and retired, and it takes a
lot of money to care for them. It takes money for dog food, supplies,
veterinary bills, kennel licenses, repairs, vehicle use for training and
field trials, advertising, internet, phone bills, and four pairs of
good boots a year.
It takes money. Lots of money. Bundles of money. Oh,
Lord, please help me to sell some more puppies!
Besides, what's
wrong with making money? It is a rather fundamental American value.
Making money is something to be proud of, as long as it's done honestly.
Even animal rights bozos have to eat. Someone has to make money to
stuff veggies down their gullets, and organic veggies are rather pricey.
Most working folks can't afford them.
I also can't help but
notice that most animal rights activists over the age of 30 drive pretty
fancy cars (we are talking about the Beamer set, folks), live in rather
fancy houses and dress very well indeed.
I can't help but notice that
many of the leaders of animal rights groups have pretty cushy gigs, with
high-end six-digit salaries, fancy offices, and all the perks.
I guess
they are saying that it's ok for them to make money by the truckload,
even if making money turns dog breeders into immoral greed bags.
There
is no one in America who exploits dogs for as much money as the paid
leaders of animal rights groups.
Their fat salaries depend on having
animal issues to exploit. If there were no animals for them to exploit,
they would have to get a real job. It's a rather perplexing dual
standard, don't you think?
Well, maybe it's not perplexing
after all. The only thing perplexing about hypocrisy is that so many
people can't see through it.
My next sin is making my dogs work
for a living. The animal rights people try to paint a picture of
whipping dogs beyond endurance, exploiting them, creating misery and
causing unhappiness. The poor, downtrodden, huddled masses.
You know the
tune. Only problem is, my dogs don't agree. They love to work. They
love their jobs. The only time they are sad is when it is not their turn
to work. For my dogs, working is sheer joy and passion! They love every
second of it.
What animal rights groups live for is creating
imaginary victims. Helping victims makes some people feel better about
themselves and, of course, it helps them to part with their money so
that animal rights leaders can live high on the hog. Oops. I mean high
on the carrot. How callous of me. I guess I'm just not a sensitive kind
of guy.
Back to the exploited masses of bird dogs. Try an
experiment sometime.
Read an animal rights essay, and substitute the
word "proletariat" for the word "animal." You will find that animal
rights philosophy actually is pure and straightforward Marxian doctrine.
I guess my dogs are not natural Marxists. They love their jobs. They
are excited about their jobs. Their jobs make them very happy.
Animal
rights people can't seem to grasp that people can feel that way about
their work, too. It's how I feel about the very hard work of being a dog
breeder. It makes me happy.
Another way of putting it is that both my
dogs and my own example provide proof that life is not pointless
drudgery and exploitation. We provide living proof that joy, beauty and
personal fulfillment are possible in life.
I just don't think
of those qualities when I think of the animal rights fanatics I have
known. They seem a rather sad and sorry lot to me. I'll take my dogs'
company any day.
Oh, but the icing on the cake is that I use
these poor exploited creatures to hunt innocent birds. How terrible!
Hunting, of course, is a subject of its own, and I won't attempt to
cover it here. Suffice it to say that opposition to hunting flies in the
face of a few million years of human evolution, the entire balance of
nature everywhere on Earth, and common sense.
I know one thing for
certain. The fact that we have healthy populations of most species of
wild birds and animals today is only because hunters have cared enough
to support strong conservation measures. We have preserved millions of
acres of habitat that is vital to the survival of many species, saved
more millions of acres of wilderness from development, supported the
protection of endangered species everywhere, and put our money where are
mouths are.
Animal rights groupies do nothing but blow hot
air, when they aren't too busy destroying the land and the animals that
live on it to create vast wastelands of industrialized monoculture. I am
proud to be a hunter, too.
It's time for every dog owner and
breeder to stand up proudly and be counted. Each one of you has done far
more to enhance the quality of life of both people and dogs than all of
the animal rights activists put together.
So stand up and
shout it to the rooftops! Stop crawling around on your bellies and
apologizing. Your dogs deserve better from you. You will just have to
get a little tougher if you want to live up to your dogs.
What you are doing is right. It's just that simple.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners, breeders and
professionals who work with breeds of dogs that are used for hunting. We
are a grassroots movement working to protect the rights of dog owners,
and to assure that the traditional relationships between dogs and humans
maintains its rightful place in American society and life.
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