Columns: No Limits, No Kidding!

WHY IMPORT A MILLION MUTTS?

Sure, import dogs of unknown health and behavior when dog pounds are full of vet-checked, temperament-tested American dogs begging to be adopted, not killed!

July 19, 2021

Col. Sam Harper, Dogsport Reconnaissance

It is a question only a psychiatrist can answer. Leave it to my daughter to ask it…

Just this month she told me about a rabid dog that was part of a shipment flown in from Azerbaijan, an obscure predominantly Muslim country bordered by Iran and Russia. I thought she was mistaken so we double-checked the report by the Washington Post.

The country exists but we could not confirm the veracity of the rescue report. Just a few minutes of talking it over with the search engines brought us to believe that the ‘special dogs’ came from a dog pound right here in America.

My daughter thought it was designed to appeal to someone with a with a low esteem problem who would jump at such exotic bragging rights. I raised an eyebrow. (The one she says is a question mark.) She explained that some “animal rescues” are nothing more than retail sales outlets. My “Huh?” brought an enlightening response but I don’t want to go off-target here. The point is -

On average, 55,000 shelter dogs are euthanized every month in America.

Crime Stoppers where the hell are you? At a never-ending all-you-can-eat-and-drink convention? How can a “dog loving” country do that to ‘man’s best friend’? By whose definition is THAT not cruelty to animals?

If those numbers are true, why are we importing dogs from other countries?

As spotter I see an enemy at work, our health, and another one of our values at risk.

WRAL news reports “Health officials are checking to see if other animals in the shipment are infected and are still tracking down the pets' new owners.” By infected, they mean RABID! I think the news blurb was meant to be ‘good news’ but as a professional verifier, I put it right up there with an elephant in a tree. (My daughter said that wasn’t an original saying and found a photo, link below.)

TheDogPress reported that dogs have been imported through means of “rabies vaccination certificates that were later found to be fraudulent.” Who does the deed, the “rescue people” or some unknown person in the country of origin?

We would ask the CDC but they are probably too busy covering up the origin of COVID-19 to be bothered with rabies cases.

So we looked to the American Kennel Club. It reports “The CDC estimates that approximately 1 million dogs are imported into the U.S. annually, of which 100,000 dogs are from countries at high-risk of canine rabies variant virus (CRVV).”

I’ve seldom been confronted with an unsolvable problem but I’m out of my league here. War makes no sense but has gone on since we learned how to stand upright and hold a stick. I wonder if the first humans invented sheep so they could pull the wool over an enemy’s eyes?

My kid looked over my shoulder and said “you’re off topic” and she’s right. I’ll let you guys figure it out from here.

Regarding my corny reference to an elephant up a tree as being impossible. Well, on the internet, nothing is. Here is an elephant in a tree. And I’ve got a helluva deal for you on a rescue dog from Azerbaijan.

estb. 1998 Copyright © TheDogPress.com 2021 https://www.thedogpress.com/Columns/why-import-a-million-mutts-col21H72.asp

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