Monday, June 21, 2010

Forensic Persecution: Latest ASPCA Growth Opportunity


Dogfight DNA Database:


Using "science" to kill dogs and profile dog owners 


The "humane" war against pit bulls and their owners has raged for 30 years or more and continues to kill defenseless dogs belonging to persons who have not yet gone to trial.   It continues to fill the coffers of corporate "humane" killing machines"


Playing to the audience, and their wallets


But you knew all that.  The scourge of pit bulls and their pesky owners dogfighting has to be the most reliable source of revenue ever identified and exploited dangerous and ever-growing crisis ever combated by HSUS, the ASPCA and their various toadies.


But whoring out the field of genetic research in order to more efficiently ruin dog breeders, destroy their families and kill their dogs?


How low can you go? 

The ethics of building a genetic law enforcement database

It seems that for the last 18 months the ASPCA has been collecting DNA samples from dogs seized during "dog-fighting investigations (sic)" and from "suspected (sic) dog-fight venues."

So the pit bull genes in the database are guilty until proven innocent.  Which sounds about right, coming from Agent Orange.

But here's the thing:  The ASPCA is a private corporation with limited law enforcement authority ONLY within the City of New York.   Its employees are not public servants.  Did the ASPCA obtain the consent of the dog owners involved before genetic samples were taken ?  If not, who authorized the sampling?

Did they steal the genetic material?

ASPCA watches CSI Miami, too

Melinda Merck, the ASPCA's forensic head honcho, says that "juries expect forensic science to support the evidence that's presented to them, and animal cruelty cases are no exception. This database breaks new ground in supplying that evidence for dog fighting investigations. . . ."

But Merck is a liar. 

An established genetic relationship between two dogs is evidence of an established genetic relationship between two dogs.  Not dogfighting.

Hint:  Every single American Pit Bull Terrier on the planet has an established genetic relationship with fighting dogs.  Every last one of them.  Every APBT breeder on the planet breeds dogs with a "genetic relationship" with fighting dogs.  Every trainer trains them, and every APBT owner owns them.

Until 50 years ago, or less depending on the state, dogfighting was a legal activity.

Get where I'm going with this?

In the never-ending debate, and faked pedigrees, and loaded litters, and bullshit about "fighting lines" and "game bred" dogs and which dogs go back to which, there is one thing that is certain:  there are plenty of people with happy, healthy pets that share a lot of genetic material with "fighting dogs."

And somebody, somewhere, bred them.

The DNA database is evidence of nothing.  It's a frame up.  A fake.  A money-grubbing farce.  And an insult to the general public's intelligence and sense of justice. 

"Establishing connections" in order to kill dogs

In its press release, Merck and the ASPCA claimed that. . .

"DNA analysis and matching through the database will help law enforcement agencies to identify relationships between dogs, enabling investigators to establish connections between breeders, trainers, and dog-fight operators."



Tim Rickey, who came to the ASPCA from the Humane Society of Missouri (and HSMO is a DNA Database partner) blew right by the ethical issues: 

"This will be an important tool. They can tie animals back to one or more convicted dogfighters and show they're from the same bloodline. It's a solid piece of evidence in a criminal case."


Exactly.  If your dog goes back to fighting dogs, you're going to jail and your dog has to die.  The database  "proves" it.

Its all so simple.  And Tim Rickey should know.  

Keep your eye on the bouncing ball

Rickey is a "graduate" of the National Cruelty Investigations School -- a 5 day program costing  $600 - $650 (10% early bird discount!) -- run under the auspices of the University of Missouri and established in partnership with. . .wait for it. . .

the Humane Society of the United States

Rickey may even have been taught by HSUS "experts."


Under the new partnership, HSUS experts on animal cruelty will teach some of the classes. This partnership is part of The HSUS’ Humane Society University, which provides professional development opportunities

Feeling better yet?

No?

Hopping aboard the Dogfight DNA Gravy Train

It's not just Merck and the ASPCA lining up to kill dogs based on cheek swab results. 

In addition to Missouri Humane, there's the Louisiana SPCA -- the very people that killed Floyd Boudreaux' pit bulls on arrival at the shelter, and tried to brush off the slaughter as "an assumption." 

And the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the University of California at Davis.

They've all partnered up with Merck and the ASPCA.  They all want a piece of that sweet, sweet CSI Humaniac pie. 

U C Davis:  All dressed up and ready to party

Like the ASPCA, LASPCA and HSMO, Davis has its hand out, too.  Its not just the "humane community" that uses dogfighting as a fundraiser.

Persistent concerns from civil rights-minded advocacy groups about racial profiling and genetic privacy?

Calls for "ethically rigorous and practical guidance for investigators and research ethics boards"?  Not a U C Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory problem. 

Davis apparently sees no conflict in genetically profiling dogs which will almost certainly be exterminated as a result, participating in the misuse of genetic research in a pathetic and desperate attempt to convict dog owners of felonies, their joined-at-the-hip partnership with the extremist animal rights ASPCA, and their mission as veterinarians.

When public universities ally themselves with private corporations in order to make money, kill dogs and send people to jail,  I've got a problem with that.

U C Davis' School of Veterinary Medicine has a Dean, and an advisory council.

Could they all be okay with prostituting the University of California at Davis? 

Let's find out.

________________________

June 22 post script:

Blue Dog State is hearing from APBT owners and breeders that previously used U C Davis to screen for genetic illnesses. They fear DNA from their animals was used in the "dogfight" database. 

I encourage any dog owner, and especially any "pit bull" owner that used Davis for genetic testing, to contact the Dean and his advisors and express your concerns in a frank and uninhibited manner.  Be sure to mention that the DNA in their database appears to have been stolen, placing them in receipt of stolen property.  U C Davis could (and should) be sued.

See link above for contact info, or for phone calls, faxes and snail mail:

Dean Bennie I. Osburn
University of California
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616
Phone:  (530)-752-1360 FAX: (530) 752-2801
Manager: Linda Ybarra



Executive Associate Dean - Academic Programs: John R. Pascoe
Manager: Erin Seay Phone: (530) 752-1324 FAX: (530) 752-2801


Associate Dean - Academic Programs: Jan E. Ilkiw
Manager: Erin Seay Phone: (530) 752-1324 FAX: (530) 752-2801


Associate Dean - Clinical Programs: David Wilson
Manager: Bill Herthel Phone: (530) 752-2992 FAX: (530) 752-9620


Associate Dean - Student Programs: Rance LeFebvre
Manager: Yasmin Williams Phone: (530) 752-1383 FAX: (530) 752-8315


Associate Dean - Research and Graduate Education: Kent C. Lloyd
Manager: Juanita Humphrey Phone: (530) 752-6865 FAX: (530) 752-2801


Assistant Dean - Research Development: Juanita C. Humphrey
Phone: (530) 752-6865 FAX: (530) 752-2801

Associate Dean - Public Programs: Donald J. Klingborg
Manager: Jan McCarthy Phone: (530) 752-6895 FAX: (530) 752-7563


Assistant Dean - Administration: Doreen E. Franke
Manager: Kathleen Spurr Phone: (530) 752-1370 FAX: (530) 752-2801


Assistant Dean - Development: Kelly J. Nimtz
Manager: Willa Weiand Phone: (530) 752-6261 FAX: (530) 754-8774

Be sure to communicate with the referring vet you used, and feel free to post a copy of any correspondance here.



Way to go, Davis. Partnering up with the ASPCA is a wonderful way to encourage confidence in your clients.  Not.

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

In Defense of Animals Crowns Scotlund Haisley

HSUS and Wayne Pacelle's Cowboy Scot 
Now IDA's President Cowboy Scotlund


So get with the program, pet lovers.


No bad deed goes unrewarded.  Not in the mixed up, muddled up, shook up world of animal rights extremism.


Convincing people to rescue and adopt


According to former President and current COB Eliot Katz, In Defense of Animals is all about the need to ". . .convince people to rescue and adopt instead of buying or selling animals, [and] to disavow the language and concept of animal ownership." 


IDA's Katz is unequivocal:  "It is time we demand an end to the misguided and abusive concept of animal ownership. The first step on this long, but just, road would be ending the concept of pet ownership."

And now IDA has Scotlund Haisley as its enforcer-in-chief.


Adrenalin junkies:  playing SWAT or "convincing" the public and "convincing" sick, old dogs?

HumaneWatch.org's summary of the leadership role Scotlund Haisley and HSUS played in the illegal the seizure of 172 dogs belonging to a South Dakota dog breeder paints a vivid picture of what "convincing" entails in Cowboy Scot-speak.

A South Dakota judge ordered the dogs that somehow survived Haisley's "rescue" effort returned to their owner, who is still struggling to regain custody of his dogs and reassemble the pieces of his life.

Before the South Dakota debacle, there was HSUS's muscle-bound raid, led by Haisley, on the shelter Norman Pang operated for six days in Oahu.  

Pang struggled to administer to the needs of animals in a hospice his wife operated before her death, but made the mistake of turning to the "humane" community for assistance. 

Instead of help, Pang and the animals got Scotlund Haisley and his crew, who quickly labeled Pang a "murderer", "hoarder" and "collector." 

All because, following his wife's death, Pang realized he was out of his depth and immediately asked for help. 

Pang brought a civil rights lawsuit against HSUS, its Hawaiian Humane Society toady and others involved in the travesty.

IDA rolls out the welcome mat

In his press released welcome note to Haisley, Katz managed to delicately underscore the testosterone component:   "Scotlund Haisley has been a dynamic force in the animal protection world . . .[and he will] maximize IDA's efforts to become a more powerful voice and force. . . ."

Dynamic forces and powerful voices? 

Or did an organization claiming to exist for the "defense" of animals just hire an unemployed cowboy whose out-of-control and legally questionable behavior made his position at HSUS untenable? 

What kind of word games are these people playing?

It's all about the animals.  [Not.]

Frequently cited, rarely clarified --  and often thoughtlessly uttered -- this statement needs translation.  What it really means is:


The ends justify the means.


We'll do anything we want, and we think we won't be questioned.

We operate in plain view because we are so intoxicated by our own audacity that we think no one will question our authority, our motives, and our agenda. 

We say anything we want, offer any explanation handy.  We own the media.  We own the legislature.

We're above the law. 

It's "all about the animals."  Right?

uh. . .right?

Whole 'nother posse saddling up

and Blue Dog is just loving it.

This stuff with the billboards and newspaper ads and Facebook?  It leaves a mark, and Wayne Pacelle knows it.  HSUS ditched Scotlund Haisley when he became too great a liability.

Let's just hope John Goodwin and Chris Schindler are next.

As for IDA?  They'd better keep  their insurance premiums paid up. 

heh.