Truth about Best Friends???

[Angeleyes]

I was recently given these links in an effort to convince me that the best friends animal network is corrupt. I didn't get through them all yet... but wanted to post them here for your opinions.

The Process Church of the Final Judgment

http://www.thedogpress.com/Columns/Jade/06_BestFriendsHist.Pt.1._10.htm

http://www.thedogpress.com/Columns/Jade/06_BestFriendsHist.Pt.2._11.htm

Though the same person also posted think link Really reliable source, eh? IMO much of this article disgusts me!

CROSSPOSTED FROM

http://www.thedogpress.com/Columns/Jade/06_Backyard.Breeder.Fallacy.Rights_05.asp

The Backyard Breeder Fallacy

by Ms. Jade

I own purebred dogs. Once a year or so I breed a litter from DNA profiled champion stock. For that, I will never apologize as I truly have the best interest of my chosen breed foremost in my mind. Am I an elitist? You betcha! Would I cringe if you went so far as to call me a dog Nazi? No. Serious breeders mate dogs of known background in order to reduce the chances of congenital defects and predict with greater accuracy the positive outcome of a planned litter of puppies. Therefore I probably seem like an unlikely advocate for the guy advertising puppies in the local newspaper. However, I am also a civil libertarian. And I won't apologize for that either.


Proposed, pending and contested legislation around the United States and abroad that is aimed at restricting our property rights by targeting animal reproduction has become rampant at every level of government. Forced spay and neuter, cost prohibitive licenses for unaltered dogs and breeding permits, micro chipping of our animals with their information (and ours) in government data bases, warrant-less inspection of our property, arbitrary limits on the number of animals we can responsibly care for and mandatory husbandry practices are some of the ways in which dog owners are being relieved of their civil rights.


While our agrarian forefathers did not specifically guarantee us the right to own and breed animals, they did guarantee us the right to be treated equally under the law, the right to own property, the right to be free from warrant-less search and seizure of that property, the right to due process and the right to commerce. With no respect for our Constitution, animal rights supporters are working hard to relieve us of these rights by packaging restrictive legislation in a way that is not only palatable to dog owners, even some breeders, but misleadingly leaves them with the impression that they have supported something beneficial. Far too many animal owners and welfare advocates are buying into it in one area or another.


Divide and conquer. By creating stereotypes and labels, like “puppy mill” and “backyard breeder” and attaching a stigma to those labels, the animal rights movement is trying to disgrace the act of breeding animals. And they're doing a great job. The media has been flooded with images of dogs being raised in cages, in filth, in neglect. Sad faces of shelter animals behind prison bars on “death row”. Images intended to produce an emotional response instead of an intellectual one. And don't forget the staggering statistics.


It's not a secret that animal rights mean no more domestic animals. It's in their mission statements. HSUS president Wayne Pacelle brags that “We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock produced through selective breeding. One generation and out. We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are the creations of human selective breeding”. Allow me to translate, no animal breeding means no more animals. Period. And while the general public cannot be sold on such a radical concept, it's been surprisingly easy to sell them on the concept of ever tightening restrictions. Although united in our love of domestic dogs, slick marketing by the enemy has created infighting. Breeders both private and commercial, rescuers, shelter staff, animal control, dog show exhibitors and pet owners are cleverly being turned against one another to forward the animal rights agenda. Each believing that their point of view is the only valid one and everyone else's civil rights no longer matter.

Yes, I too personally find those images disturbing. They are the product of gross human negligence and irresponsibility. I love animals, I have been a shelter volunteer, and I believe in animal welfare but I am also a realist. Things are rarely what they appear on the surface. In order to end the animal surplus and related suffering, I want to get to the actual cause, to prevent the illness instead of treating the symptoms, so to speak.



The demand for a product (puppies, for example) is driven by the consumer. It's a simple case of supply and demand in a free market economy. Don't blame the seller for being an opportunist. It's only human nature flourishing in what is still a mostly democratic society. An uneducated consumer has every right to purchase an inferior product and suffer the consequences. Just as the seller has every right to promote the benefits their product, in order to influence the decisions of the consumer. If breed purists and elitists like me are outraged at breeders who turn a profit by selling what we consider to be an inferior product, then we must only blame ourselves for failing to educate the buyers.


Ignore the propaganda; dog breeding is not the cause of shelter overpopulation. Animals end up in shelters for a myriad of reasons. Behavior problems that result from a lack of training and proper socialization along with normal breed characteristics that the owner finds unacceptable top the list. Owner death, job transfer/move, landlord/rental restrictions, insurance discrimination, financial trouble and the inability to comply with escalating pet ownership restrictions also contribute to the problem. The system is designed to perpetuate it.

We live in a disposable society. As long as domestic animals are viewed as a short term convenience, instead of a serious long term commitment then change is unlikely. The problem is one of perspective, information and education. Pointing fingers at each other is cowardly and counterproductive.


According to a 2005 article in the HSUS magazine All Animals, 75% of the shelter population is comprised of mongrels. Now I'm no math wizard, but I can extrapolate that only 25% must therefore be purebred animals. If this is true, then random bred dogs are the real cause of shelter overpopulation, not “puppy mills”, breed enthusiasts or “backyard breeders” of purebred dogs. Yet this same HSUS article praises the mongrel as superior because of its' larger gene pool. One that may very well be polluted with unknown genetic defects. They even go so far as to market them as a “designer” product. Sort of a haute couture, one of a kind canine fashion accessory.

Now, it occurs to me that if you truly want to reduce the animal shelter population in a meaningful and dramatic way, than you should advocate for the elimination of the mongrel, through mandatory spay and neuter of random bred dogs with unknown ancestry. (See, I am a dog Nazi!) Most dog breeders know that you must have a firm grasp of the genetic past, in order to improve the genetic future of your line. Many of the minority purebred animals that end up in the local shelter may not have a known origin either, and are therefore not an ethical choice for perpetuation of their breed. The same “hybrid vigor” so highly touted in the mongrel is just as easily achieved by crossing healthy purebreds of known ancestry to create new breeds. Man has done so since the beginning of domesticated dog breeding and whatever we fancy, that breed was created by this process.

The beauty of purebred dogs is that there is something to appeal to almost anyone. I don't have to agree with your choice but I must respect your right to make it. I'm not going to advise that consumers rush out and purchase a Puggle, Labradoodle, or Cockapoo, anymore than I would suggest that everyone should select my preferred breed. (Not everyone deserves one!) Whether these designer hybrids stand the test of time or fade out with other trends is not for me to say. Freedom of choice means the freedom to make the wrong choice, and the freedom to make better choices in the future.


Am I a “backyard breeder”? Well, by technical definition I guess I am. I have also been a front yard breeder, a living room breeder and a cab of my motor home on the way to the dog show breeder. If that makes me a villain, then the animal rights lunatics and the terrorists who support their ideology win. But if you become an independent thinker, then freedom wins. We all win.



__._,_.___

[furbabymom]

I notice on the first link, the "friends find their calling" page does not exist.

I just finished reading everything tonight from "msn workshop"
I will do some research tonight and see what I can come up with

[furbabymom]

this page is also not available

Best Friend's Summiton Dangerous Dogs, re BSL Legislation, Breeder/Breeding 10/06. Summary by Randi Bolton, in a word - scary!!! Details of agenda will scare you too!

found it

http://www.thedogplace.org/Projects/...mit.Bolton.htm

[furbabymom]

I dont necessarily see anything wrong with this...

http://www.thedogpress.com/Columns/J...t.Pt.2._11.htm

What was the Best Friends Dangerous Dogs Summit? I’m glad you asked. Briefly summarized, their position was:
1) Because of breeding, some dogs have a higher percentage of bad than do most breeds.
2) Dog “attacks are by no means all from pit bulls, but by dogs of many breeds who by now have been inbred with aggressive tendencies.
3) “Beloved pets” will “suddenly and inexplicably turn on their people”.
4) The root cause of dangerous dogs is that “certain people” are deliberately breeding aggressive tendencies into dogs.
5) “the rest of us…are victims”

Don’t worry… Best Friends has a “three-point plan”. It includes:

1) Acknowledging “that there are dangerous breeds, and that aggressive tendencies have now been bred into their genes.”
2) “legislation making it ILLEGAL to breed aggression into dogs”
3) Going “after the people who are breeding aggressive dogs, rather than simply the dogs themselves.”
“This summit seeks to build momentum for a national movement…to protect innocent dogs from people” and they’re creating a solution based on their own interpretation of excerpts from radical European breeding restrictions.

[furbabymom]

this article is no longer available...

Best Friends Animal rescue in Beirut raises questions - Article in The Salt Lake Tribune By Holly Mullen
http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_4468809

[furbabymom]

WRONG...IT IS PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY ARE "TOUGH" IF THEY TRAIN THEIR DOGS TO BE HUMAN AGGRESSIVE

There was a tremendous focus on gang violence and dog fighting by gang members. I pointed out that in Colorado and many other states, that yes, dog fighting by gang members may be a factor, but they also had to look at the cultural issues - in certain cultures, dog fighting is a part of life. Dog fighting is legal in several states and, though I am against dog fighting, until it is banned, there is little that can be done legally. Several people pointed out that it's not the dog-fighting dogs that are biting; it's the family pets that have been improperly (or not) trained and socialized.

[furbabymom]

Ms Jade is a BYB

[furbabymom]

some information, unfortunately sources are not there, but if you join this group and ask, they should be able to provide sources

http://forum.myspace.com/index.cfm?f...BC58F313718059

[furbabymom]

Hurricane Katrina 'star' paralyzed pit bull gets a home

May 30, 2006: 12:00 AM
Dog featured on NBC Today Show, Anderson Cooper 360 at Mardi Gras

Kanab, UT (05/30/2006) - Red the paralyzed pit bull, who captured hearts at Best Friends Animal Society Hurricane Katrina pet rescue center in New Orleans, will have a home of his own.

This valiant dog survived Hurricane Katrina only to be paralyzed in his hindquarters after being hit by a car.

Red meets his adopter, Diane McDermott at 2 p.m. at Longwood Animal Hospital and Pet Resort, 14134 Huffmeister Road in Cypress, near Houston. Red has been fostered at Houston-based Spindletop Refuge since March and undergoing physical therapy at Longwood.

Red had special accommodations at Celebration Station, the staging area for the final phase of Best Friends Animal Society's pet rescue after Hurricane Katrina. He was a huge favorite with volunteers. Then the NBC Today Show and Anderson Cooper 360 were in New Orleans for Mardi Gras and each reported on the rescue efforts; the wheelchair-bound Red dazzled with his personality and ability to chase balls.

Diane said she used to live in New Orleans. Once Hurricane Katrina hit, she had been glued to the TV news. "When they wheeled Red out it did something to my heart. They said the center was closing down the next day and they showed a number at the bottom of the screen to call if you wanted to adopt one of the animals. I called Best Friends and they said he was being fostered by Leah Purcell who has that pit bull rescue, Spindletop Refuge. Leah and I talked and she approved me to adopt Red."

Spindletop Refuge http://www.spindletoppitbullrefuge.org/ is widely regarded as a model pit bull rescue and played a pivotal role in Hurricane Katrina rescue, especially for pit bulls. The Houston-based rescue took in some 400 animals with the majority being pit bulls.

Red's adoption has a touch of destiny. Diane said she knew she could provide a good home for Red. "He's in a wheelchair. I took care of my mother, father and brother when they were each dying of cancer (they died one at a time between October 2004 and July 2005). I took care of them in their wheelchairs and I can take care of Red. I?ve remodeled the front bedroom for him, that is his room and there is a stereo and TV. I've put my bed on the ground so he can sleep with me."

http://www.bestfriends.org/aboutus/m...inapitbull.cfm

[furbabymom]

this site, Pawsitively Pitbull, lists BFAS in their resources, I havnt looked around the site yet

http://www.pawsitivelypitbull.org/resources.html