I
CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW
I
CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW
GIVE US FREEDOM FROM IMPORTED DOGS
by Sam Harper
I’ve been busy with my kid and getting a garden in. But they asked me to do something special for this Freedom Edition. I could say a lot about what me and a lot of guys fought for and how we feel about seeing most of those freedoms go right down the drain in the last twenty years. I would like to get on a soapbox about the bad press our soldiers are getting right now because they are fighting to establish freedom in some far off land that most of us still can’t find on a map. What most people here don’t get is that those men and women are also fighting to protect our freedom right here.
It isn’t about oil but it sure as hell is about power and if we don’t flex our muscle and mean it, we will become if not a third-world country, nothing more than a second rate one. It is about holding territory and protecting our interests and our guys are doing their best in spite of the liberal press here at home.
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A reader said “I enjoy this site. It made me curious about stray dogs and imported dog problems that AKC keeps crying about. I found a lot of information when I did a search to see what was really going on with the AKC claims about the problem of “a flood of imported dogs.” Well, by George, I did too but I also made some phone calls. What they heck, the tomatoes are doing fine and I’ve got a little time now.
I talked to some freight handlers who scratched their heads but I told them I was a reporter for an international newspaper. They listened right up. A couple of them said they couldn’t tell pure bred (one said “pedigreed”) from mutts but that they do get cages with dogs from out of the country. Okay, I said to myself, then where are they going?
The answer blew me away. The majority seem to be going to dog pounds. Somebody named Joey sent stuff to BJ and see forwarded me some quotes and links. So get this. It looks like the puppy mills can’t keep up with the demand for pet dogs so the pounds import them so they can sell them to the people lined up at the door. And the real kicker is that families pay just about as much for them at some so-called shelters as they would if they took the time to find a local breeder. The puppy mills must charge more to pet shops in the mall and that must be why it is cheaper for pounds to pay to fly them in from Cuba and other places. That is hard to believe.
But here is the real problem. People in the city can not find a local breeder because they are all in hiding! From what I can gather, it might not be healthy to be visible as a dog breeder. Talk about loss of freedom! You got zoning or ordinance people knocking on your door and in some places, hauling your dog away and killing it if it even look like a bull breed. For a lot of folks, it would
cost them so much to bail the dog out and comply with all the rules and regs
that they have to give it up. The people who need a dog the most, the seniors
and the handicapped are the ones that can least afford to pay off the local
mobsters. And that is what they are. The Mafia used to have a corner on the
protection racket. Boy could they learn from the politicians. And it is all
legal?Where the hell is AKC on this?
Why are they not fighting for our freedom to own a dog? Oh I know they say they are “successfully fighting” anti-dog legislation but I would like somebody to tell me one single dollar or billable lawyer time they have paid for to fight it. I was told that was a question I better not ask but I am asking it!
Why is AKC all wrought up about imported dogs when it seems to me that they are the CAUSE of the dog pounds having to send our money overseas to buy dogs for families in this country? This PAWS thing and giving up our rights to own a dog that is a whole dog instead of a piece of one is pretty hard to take. So I’m asking. I would like somebody to give me some facts and figures but I am not holding my breath. BJ told me I would turn blue while waiting. We will see.
I am not making this problem up. The newspaper in Grafton MA said “At local animal shelters around the country, the dogs up for adoption may be a lot further from home than many people would imagine. With stray animals on the decline in many communities, but interest in adoption still high, a Tufts expert says many shelters are importing stray animals from around the world to meet the demand.”
Do you know what that also means? There are darn few stray dogs. Either that or the folks we see on tv are the only ones who can catch them. We are believing a lie if we think we have to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. Okay so who tells the lie? Animal Rights people. And local money-grubbers who must invent a problem so they can get money to solve it. And The American Kennel Club and all the fanatics who so avidly back PAWS “because we have to help the animals”. Makes me want to fight all over again and for a good cause too. I watch those animal control people at work on Animal Planet and they do a great job saving mistreated animals. Makes me sad and glad all at the same time. But are they out there capturing strays? Hell no. They are doing the demanding work of saving animals from people. What I mean is they are not having to save people from the threat of stray dogs.
I didn’t say that very well so you might want to read it again. No, of course it doesn’t make any sense. We don’t need saving from stray dogs any more than we need to import more dogs because good people can not afford to breed good dogs. Think I’m kidding? Well here you go.
Here is that Grafton, Mass. again “At local animal shelters around the country, the dogs up for adoption may be a lot further from home than many people would imagine. With stray animals on the decline in many communities, but interest in adoption still high, a Tufts expert says many shelters are importing stray animals from around the world to meet the demand.”
“Animal shelters in the USA are casting a wide net – from Puerto Rico to as far as Taiwan – to fill kennels,” reported USA Today. “Critics say many shelters have solved the stray problem in their own area – but rather than shut down, they become de facto pet stores. Some charge more than $200 per adoption for imported dogs.”
According to the director of Tufts’ University School of Veterinary Medicine “U.S. shelters may be a victim of their own successes.” I’m not going to comment on that because I found out vets are largely to blame for the spay and neuter laws anyway. Puts a lot of money in their pocket when people are forced to have surgery. Like forcing every auto owner to use a gallon of Pennzoil every 2,000 miles and have the exhaust system replaced too.
“The drive to have dogs spayed and neutered in the USA has cut down on unwanted litters. And adoption campaigns have helped empty dog pounds,” reported USA Today. “But [the Tufts expert says] people who want to adopt dogs increasingly find aged dogs or undesirable breeds like pit bulls at shelters.”
“In the last seven years, one organization in Puerto Rico has shipped more than 14,000 strays to the states for adoption,” “Shipments from other countries also appear to be increasing. Most imports are small to medium-size dogs popular among adopters.”
Well there you go. Americans don’t have the freedom to breed their dog but hey, that is good for the economy. No, not ours, theirs. Puerto Rico and Asian countries, maybe some soldiers will pick up those strays in Afghanistan and Iraq and bring them back to sell here. They would make more than we’re paying them now. Another subject.
And here’s a good one for you, “[Patronek says] not-for-profit shelters may be chartered to insure animal welfare, but they are relatively unregulated,” reported USA Today. “Pet shops, on the other hand, generally operate under more stringent state and local regulations.”
I got it. These so-called shelters can make more because they are not regulated like the retail stores. Their expenses must be much lower, God knows they don’t pretty up the places. No nice shavings and beds for the dogs. Cats kept in bare stainless steel cages. I know, I went to two of them. First thing they did was hit on me for money. It is almost as good a racket as the city and county protection boys except it is “voluntary.”
Shelters get our tax dollars and they get our donations. Then they sell dogs to the people but those who most need a buddy can’t afford to own one, pay the fees, license it, or pay the vet to take care of it.
Yeah, it’s a free country all right. Free for foreign markets, interests, and illegals. Just not free to own and breed pet animals. That is my “freedom article” for the only dog publication that honestly tries to protect our freedom.
S. Harper SamHarper@Bellsouth.net
Sam Harper says he's just an "old Georgia boy" who hunted squirrel and coon in the piney woods and Viet Cong in the swamps. "A sharp eye and good rifle works for either." He misses having a dog but hasn't found the right one because "multi-purpose cur dogs" no longer exist. He sees the sport through his daughter and prefers to leave it that way. About his military background or profession, he says "it's sufficient to make me wish I was born sooner" and refused to elaborate. We left it that way and welcome his columns when he feels "motivated".
Imported Dogs & Freedom People adopt from import-selling "shelters" because they can't find a breeder!
Westminster School The "unsophisticated novice" enjoyed the show but thinks most dog people missed the lesson.
Mail Fraud & Fake Titles People who play the game gain the shame and Sam worries for his daughter.
Harper's Heroes He used to tell her fairy tales, now his dog-show daughter tells them to him.
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