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Yep, they sure picked the
wrong ride! HSUS probably thought the armored charger would
sure-foot it right to the Lost Dutchman’s gold mine. (Tells you
how little they know about history and horses.) But let's face
it, HSUS doesn’t need to know anything about animals. With
such great marketing skills, it is described as the richest humane animal
rights group in the U.S. Like PETA’s Infiltration of local
government and school systems, success in political and family
subversion is expensive but HSUS can afford it.
The good Senator? We
can only speculate. Only Hillary has a bigger war chest, so he didn't do
it for money. Maybe he read The Black Stallion and thought
he could ride a mythical horse all the way to the White House?
The pale rider in the
picture is AKC. At 60 to 70 million
per year it’s not hurting for money either, no matter what we’re
told. Budgets can look a little strained when organizations
move money from one charitable cause to another in order to keep
the coffers from overflowing. That’s a good thing for AKC
though because that mobile money does a lot of good for dogs
through the AKC Canine Health Foundation and CAR.
To some observers, this
whole battle is a
fairy tale come true. Even throwing out the welcome mat to
the puppy mills failed to generate such outrage and divisiveness
as has the pitter-patter of these cute little PAWS. Referring
to those who believe it will somehow help protect animals, a
noted psychologist said most of them simply don’t understand the
law or they refuse to read it themselves,
subconsciously fearing that they might have to admit it is not
what AKC says it is.
A less tactful but equally astute advisor
said that some people are just so naïve and so into “being nice”
that they would feed a hungry rat! He named some of the
supporters hanging onto the horse’s tail, hoping it will pull
them along to fame and glory. He explained that for them, it
isn’t about money, the attraction is the power and prestige of
being connected with the law-makers and getting invited to the
right parties. My crass friend then chuckled and said they must
not know what’s under every horse’s tail. It only took me
a second to visualize his statement and jot it down as a
classic!
Depending on one's point
of view, there are some good things to come
out of PAWS.
1.) Santorum’s popularity is said to have
seriously fallen in the polls. He has taken note and seems
happy to soak his hot PAWS in cool water.
2.) The tragedy of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita would have left people thinking HSUS
was a hero were it not for the on-site reports showing it to be
less help for the animals than FEMA was for the people.
Had attention not been focused on HSUS and eyes already opened,
those first-hand reports might not have seen the light of day.
3.) My opinion is that the demise of
unquestioning loyalty to AKC is healthy. We accepted puppy
mills into the fold with only a grunt or two. We seldom
questioned staggering profit for a non-profit and giving up
constitutional rights became easy for those seeking to advance.
Integrity was lost a decade ago but suddenly, as voters and as
sports fans, we began to say "enough."
4.) We are asking questions and expecting straight answers. Like the rest of the country waking
up to the billions of excess profit the oil companies are raking
in, we are wondering why we have to pay more for everything AKC
does, even things that used to be free. We bought
recording fees increases even though without "us" there would be
no TV sales. But suddenly, we're no
longer sure it is okay for AKC to sell us and the dogs to the
highest bidder in the vacuum cleaner or kid's toys branding game. As we stand at the
gas pump
and ponder truth, we realize that things are not always what
they seem to be.
For example, here’s a question about to
become news: Why is AKC
supporting a USDA mandate for microchipping? According to one
credible source, it is only about the money. Oh don't be shocked....
The intriguing blog says there are 163 billion unchipped pets and
if we could be made to “identify them in case they get lost”
(yeah right) at an average cost of $35 bucks, it comes to over
five trillion, seven hundred billion bucks. Worth
bending a few corporate and legislative arms for eh?
Especially if you have a connection to the world's biggest
registry, tracker and backer of dogs. Cats. Look
out, you are next to be chipped.
People have starting to ask why AKC is
shooting itself in the foot as regards “show breeders.” The
answer is a whole ‘nother subject but trust me, as long as
people can still buy commercially-bred pets, the microchip
business is a never-ending goldmine, a perpetual market as pets
die or are in fact lost and replaced.
We’ve been sold on the idea that it “helps”
pets. Could I just mention that chips do not help pets owned by
responsible owners who keep them fenced!!!! We should have the
right to choose, weighing risk against benefit. We should not
be forced to buy a product because some looney law sponsored by
the money-men says we have to have it and use it! Our dogs are
microchipped because other than nipping at AKC from time to
time, we are in 100% compliance with rules, regs, policies, even
those not yet written. It was easier than tattooing but either
compulsory I.D. method carries some risk when inserting a
foreign object into our dogs. Our old English Import now
has to have surgery for a migrated chip. One might say we risked our dogs
to protect ourselves from AKC. Am I alone in my guilt?
Okay, so the horse ran away.
Galloped right by some AKC Delegates who looked the other way.
It appears some of the
Senators suddenly got saddle sores and a few claimed they
couldn't ride and went on to other issues. That all sounds good
to me. There was a time when I thought it was hopeless.
But let's not relax just because that horse
has been temporarily hobbled by the dog and cat fancy. There are
other rides out there… We better hope the next mount AKC,
Santorum, and HSUS decide to straddle is one of those plastic
merry-go-round critters because that would be oh! so fitting!
We could all meet ourselves coming back as
we grab for the golden ring.
Barbara J.
Andrews
artwork courtesy Fat Dog Art
inquiries to
fatdogart@charter.net
Be sure to check in at
Project: PAWS Section
for
latest news and progress,
go
there now! Be
prepared because PAWS is predicted to be back in 2008
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