tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354370392024-03-07T19:08:37.101-05:00Blue Dog StateCount dog ownership among your civil rights?
You're living in a Blue Dog State of mind.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-71212414572466428582012-07-24T09:51:00.002-04:002012-07-25T22:19:28.034-04:00Gaming the System: Animal Extremists and the Law<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blogger's note: This quick follow up to "</span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2012/07/cat-killer-vet-drops-dime.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cat Killer Vet Drops a Dime</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">was triggered by receipt of responses from the vet involved</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and a bucket of hate-mail and sundry accusations from persons </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who either can't read or choose not to. But a promise is a promise. [see below]</span></div>
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<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/i-am-the-law.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/i-am-the-law.jpg" width="140" /></span></a><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">"Cruelty to animals"? Or is it?</span></strong></div>
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When it comes down to the legalities--and the jail time--who makes the call? Judges? Juries? or veterinarians in private practice?</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Persons associated with private, not for profit corporations operating in the public sector and doing their damnedest to look just like public servants are nothing new in New York. </span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2011/11/fake-cops-from-spca.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Particularly in the field of animal law.</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the </span><a href="http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Loving-care-interpreted-as-animal-abuse-3658128.php"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">cautionary tale published by the Albany Times-Union of Gerard Sagliocca, his sister</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and the cat is a whole 'nother thing. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm hoping every reader will carefully consider the implications of a case in which a veterinarian in private practice reported her client -- who had not beaten, starved, overdriven, overworked, nor abandoned a pet -- for cruelty to animals after he brought a cat to her clinic. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In published comments, this particular vet stated that she believes her client should go to jail, and eventually elaborated that. . . </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">". . .<em>the failure to provide any care to companion animals until they are too close to death to save them constitutes cruelty in NY State" --Holly Cheever, DVM, in comments published via the Albany Times-Union blog.</em></span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am the Lord thy Veterinarian</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/SpockFascinating012211-thumb-480x360-55827.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/SpockFascinating012211-thumb-480x360-55827.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pretty interesting stuff, isn't it? Fascinating, even. But I'm still not sure I see the logic.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does the above mean that only people who are confident their animals are healthy should dare to take them to a vet, since no one wants to be charged with cruelty to animals?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sooner or later 100% of animals are "too close to death to save." How much "care" and how far in advance would be necessary to avoid prosecution? Who determines that?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If a pet has a heart attack or suffers some other sudden and acute illness or injury and dies without veterinary care, would that be a "cruelty to animals" ?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are the only permissable deaths those involving a vet ? Where does the owner's beliefs and wishes come in ? What about people who don't believe in euthanasia?</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/can-o-worms.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/can-o-worms.gif" width="119" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How the hell are pet owners even supposed to know how sick their pet is, unless they've taken him or her to a vet? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What if the vet is wrong? What if the vet isn't up-to-date on the latest treatments?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">W</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hat if the vet is a lunatic animal rights freak? (Hey, I'm just saying. . .)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The possibilities are endless.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does the State of New York really want to go there?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did the State of New York go there already?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mostly, of course: what happens if pet owners fear their veterinarians?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe we're looking at a recipe for increased pet abandonment and even more needless suffering, for both pets and their owners. And I've got a problem with that.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ask a silly question</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week, I challenged readers to point out to me where, under current New York state law, an animal can be seized and euthanized contrary to his owner's wishes, without a court order, without a hearing, and without any of that other stolid due process-type goodness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Someone quoted AML 371 "The powers of peace officers."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Close, but no cigar. OK, not even that close.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The plain language of</span> <a href="http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSEAF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAWS+&QUERYDATA=$$AGM371$$@TXAGM0371+&LIST=LAW+&BROWSER=EXPLORER+&TOKEN=22930667+&TARGET=VIEW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">AML 371</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> allows officers to "lawfully interfere to prevent the perpetration of any <strong>act of cruelty</strong> upon any animal<strong> in his presence</strong>." Like someone taking a baseball bat to a pony with a cop standing right there to see it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But if peace officers enter a private home without first obtaining a proper warrant signed by a judge -- thereby raising the spectre of an illegal search and seizure -- we could be in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_of_the_poisonous_tree"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">fruit of the poisonous tree</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> territory. All bets are [supposed to be] off if the search is illegal. The evidence gets tossed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Am I the only one still watching Law and Order re-runs ? Sam Waterston would have had a cop's butt in a sling for jeopardizing his case through failure to get a warrant. Think Bill of Rights, the right to be secure in our homes from unreasonable searches, the ACLU, your 9th grade civics class . . . </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Furthermore, "lawfully interfering" is hardly a license to kill. Impounded animals, even when seized legally with a signed warrant, are not automatically forfeited. Those animals belong to their owners. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, does a cat dying at home [as opposed to being euthanized in a vet's clinic, for example] qualify as an "act of cruelty"? Says who? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember, I'm not talking personal preferences and opinions here. I'm talking about law which must be understandable, reasonable and accessible enough for people to comply with, and potential criminal charges that could send someone to jail for a year. And I'm thinking that AML 371 just doesn't work.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What the vet said, and Blue Dog's Choice</span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/featured-brown-swiss-cow.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="214" sda="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/featured-brown-swiss-cow.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As noted at the end of "Cat Killer Vet Drops a Dime" I also received a series of responses from Holly Cheever, the veterinarian who filed a cruelty complaint against Gerard Sagliocca after he left her clinic with a live cat. Cheever's comments presented me with a dilemma not remotely on the order of Styron's novel and the </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ9bht5H2p4"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">movie it inspired</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To paraphrase some of my </span><a href="http://www.tortiball.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">favorite cat people</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, Cheever can always git her own damn blog. But that crude thought was undoubtedly a product of my insensitivity and an </span><a href="http://www.globalanimal.org/2012/04/13/cow-proves-animals-love-think-and-act/71867/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ethical compass which compares unfavorably to a Swiss Brown cow's.</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">How to post Cheever's comments without further muddying murky waters? Hmmmm.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blue Dog's choice was to do this small follow up piece and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/4340376/july-16-docx-16k?da=y">link up Cheever's comments</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> for those interested. And then be sure to get the first licks in, because I'm not pretending to be unbiased and I'm not coy about where my sympathies lie. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each and every time, this blogger comes down in favor of the preservation of civil rights and in support of the rule of law, regardless of the allegations. Every. Freaking. Time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">So, readers, please keep in mind:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSEAF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAWS+&QUERYDATA=$$AGM350$$@TXAGM0350+&LIST=LAW+&BROWSER=EXPLORER+&TOKEN=22930667+&TARGET=VIEW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">AML 350(2)</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: "'Torture" or "cruelty" includes every act, omission, or neglect, whereby unjustifiable physical pain, suffering or death is caused or permitted.' This cat was FIV+ when he was adopted, and Cheever says he had developed cancer. These illnesses were not caused by the Saglioccas. Was the cat in pain? How would they have known? Did the Saglioccas intend for the cat to suffer? If so, why take the cat to a clinic? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every day, in veterinary clinics everywhere, animal owners learn for the first time that their pets are seriously ill and may be suffering. With limitations like "unjustifiable" and "caused or permitted" in the New York statutes, I believe that the meaning and relevance of AML 350(2) to cases like Saglioccas' are, at the very best, highly questionable.</span></li>
<li><a href="http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSEAF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAWS+&QUERYDATA=$$AGM371$$@TXAGM0371+&LIST=LAW+&BROWSER=EXPLORER+&TOKEN=31312932+&TARGET=VIEW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> AML 371</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> does not make law enforcement's job "to follow up on complaints as they see fit." It allows officers to "<u>issue an appearance ticket</u> pursuant to section 150.20 of the criminal procedure law, <u>summon or arrest, and bring before a court or magistrate</u> having jurisdiction, any person offending against any of the provisions of article twenty-six of the agriculture and markets law." Seizing cats and killing them over their owners' objections? I don't see that mentioned. Does anyone else? [Note: the balance of AML 371 regarding "acts of cruelty in an officer's presence" was covered above.]</span></li>
<li><a href="http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSEAF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAWS+&QUERYDATA=$$AGM373$$@TXAGM0373+&LIST=LAW+&BROWSER=EXPLORER+&TOKEN=31312932+&TARGET=VIEW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">AML 373</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: "It was their decision to bring the cat back for me to end his suffering in a humane manner, and #373 gives them the right to do so." Well, I can only hope that isn't what happened, and Cheever doesn't specify which part of AML 373 she is referring to. 373 is a massive section of NYS Agriculture and Markets law allowing many things, including seizure of animals <u>with a warrant</u>, forfeiture and destruction of animals <em>forfeited</em> prior to <em>adjudication of charges</em>. Such permitted destruction would be <u>after </u>arraignment, <u>after</u> a security bond hearing, <u>after</u> the owner fails to pay an amount specified by the court as a security bond and <u>after</u> the court orders the animal forfeited. In short, <u>after</u> all kinds of things that did not happen in this case.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Richard's" team and libel: First of all, I don't know who "Richard" is. As for the veiled threat of a libel suit: telling the truth is by far the best defense against libel allegations.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The truth is best. Period.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-4605967171844222722012-07-08T17:06:00.002-04:002012-07-28T19:39:15.943-04:00Cat Killer Vet Drops a Dime<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Animal Extremist Vet Reports Her Client to the Cops</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Take home message for patient: "I'm not your friend, and I will kill your cat."</span></em><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Think your pet hates the vet <em>now</em>? Just wait.</span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Loving-care-interpreted-as-animal-abuse-3658128.php"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's the sequence of events</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, per the Albany (New York) Times Union: When the FIV positive cat Guilderland resident Gerard Sagliocca and his sister obtained from a rescue stopped eating, they took the cat to the vet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The vet recommended euthanasia. They rejected her recommendation, saying that the much-loved cat gave no indications of distress and had a good quality of life at home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sagliocca and his sister took the cat home to the duplex they share.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The vet called the cops. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cops went to the Sagliocca home, seized the cat and took him back to the vet's office. </span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Judge. Jury. Executioner.</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then the vet killed the cat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just like that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the vet's insistence, Sagliocca was then charged with cruelty to animals. The vet believes Sagliocca belongs in jail, even though the cat lived with his sister and he rarely saw the cat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Albany County, New York, animal cruelty is punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a $1000 fine, plus a mandatory ten years as the target of PETA vigilantes and other nut cases, public scorn, discrimination and humiliation through placement of the offender's home address, photo and other personal information on the county's brand-new online </span><a href="http://aldf.org/article.php?id=1832"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Animal Abuser Registry.</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember: Sagliocca did not injure the cat. The cat had ample access to food, water, and shelter -- along with toys, a loving home and all the other perks of life as a house cat. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sagliocca's "crime" centers around a refusal to kill. Instead, he and his sister wanted to take the cat home.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Criminal intent? I'm thinking not so much.</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like other crimes, the concept of "cruelty to animals" hinges on the presence of malice. The person must have made </span><a href="http://www.mojolaw.com/info/cl045"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a decision to bring about a prohibited consequence</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. In this case, the prohibited consequence would be cruelty to animals. Accidents and bad outcomes caused by ignorance, or despite our best efforts? However disturbing, tragic and difficult to accept they may be, they are not criminal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cat was already FIV positive when he was adopted, and was cared for to the best of their abilities. Sagliocca and his sister brought him to a veterinarian when they suspected there was a problem.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wonder if all those Albany County legislators who voted for that "animal abuser registry" thought the first person listed would be a cat lover whose "crime" revolves around taking a beloved cat to a veterinarian ?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/3400350246_e29baa8a99.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/3400350246_e29baa8a99.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cheever, 2009 Humane Lobby Day at NY State </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Capitol. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Photo by HSUS NY State Director Patrick Kwan.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Wrong on so many levels:</strong> <strong>Holly Cheever, DVM</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately for Sagliocca, the vet he and his sister chose is an well-known animal rights extremist. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A vegan who lives on a "farm sanctuary," in addition to her private veterinary practice in Voorheesville, Holly Cheever is also. . .</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. . .the Chair of the HSUS-satellite Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association's "</span><a href="http://www.hsvma.org/leadership"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leadership Council</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. . .vice president of the </span><a href="http://www.hsvma.org/holly_cheever"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New York State Humane Association</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, an organization responsible for the "education" of hundreds of New York public servants and law enforcement personnel on animal cruelty. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. . .a </span><a href="http://www.banhdc.org/archives/ch-hist-thepol.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">veteran militant</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in the drive to ban carriage horses from the streets of New York City.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. . .an advocate for the summary death of other cats in a hospice with "active </span><a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/angel-gate-hospice-called-hell-hole-for-animals"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">feline AIDS</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. . .the </span><a href="http://www.globalanimal.org/2012/04/13/cow-proves-animals-love-think-and-act/71867/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">author of a treatise</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> attributing moral dilemmas on the order of "Sophie's Choice" to a Swiss Brown cow.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. . . an </span><a href="http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Letter-Officer-who-killed-dog-in-tough-spot-3354095.php"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">apologist for a regrettable instance of an animal control officer</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> forced to shoot a dog menacing livestock on the grounds that, after all, "Siberian huskies are wonderful dogs, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists them as the breed fourth-most responsible for dog-bite fatalities." [and Cheever, I don't have your alleged "30 years of animal cruelty expertise" but I am willing to bet that even if huskies are not the sensitive souls that you believe Swiss Brown cows are, they still know the difference between a goat and a human being.]</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cheever opposes animal ownership, and is an outspoken critic of animal agriculture. </span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whose cat was it, anyway?</span></strong><br />
<br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/WCTS20logo20-20Think20080826160736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="308" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/WCTS20logo20-20Think20080826160736.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How the hell does Cheever get to kill someone's cat over their repeated objections?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who put her in charge ?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Sagliocca pointed out, there is no "mandatory euthanasia" requirement in New York State.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Cheever insists on using "guardianship" language, pets are the responsibility of their owners. Despite the voices in Cheever's head, veterinarians who make unilateral and drastic care decisions for other people's animals are walking on very thin ice. </span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When vets snitch out their patients. . .</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Cheever's haste to kill that cat, she, and the Guilderland cops who acted on her instructions, killed a number of other things, too. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Among the other bodies on the floor:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-- the family's ability to seek a second opinion from another veterinarian</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-- the family's ability to seek palliative treatment for the cat</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-- the family's opportunity to prepare for and accept the cat's demise</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-- the family's right to freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, as well as the right to due process. The cat was seized and killed without consent and without the niceties of a hearing, or a court order. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also worth noting: when Cheever killed the cat, she effectively destroyed the evidence. The family's ability to demonstrate that the cat did not appear to be suffering? Dead at the hands of Dr. Holly Cheever.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">White Coat Syndrome: when pet owners fear the veterinarian</span></strong><br />
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</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mostly, though, Cheever's animal rights activism will kill the faith and trust pet owners have in their vets. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The </span><a href="http://www.avma.org/about_avma/whoweare/oath.asp"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">AVMA's oath</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> emphasizes the key role veterinarians play as members of society, placing their professional <u>duty to society</u> first. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And with good reason.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How many pet owners struggling to care for aging or terminally ill animals will think twice about bringing their pet in for treatment, fearing an accusation of cruelty to animals?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Must they always agree to immediately euthanize their pets, in accordance with vet's timetable ?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How many will hesitate to open their homes to an FIV positive cat? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">How many will decide, ultimately, that -- screw it, who needs the risk -- they really don't need a pet?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><strong>Throw Cheever to the <strike><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">wolves </span></strike></strong></span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">state veterinary licensing board</span> </strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The good news is that Cheever faced a pretty tough audience. In response to scathing criticism on the Times Union's blog, Cheever sounded </span><a href="http://blog.timesunion.com/advocate/sunday-column/3963/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">more than a little defensive</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And what she said is pretty damn scary:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>". . .my views on what constitutes animal cruelty and the veterinarian’s
responsibility and relationship to his/her patients are not unique. I am
well-respected by my alma mater and by my colleagues overall, even those who
may act differently, and am a frequent lecturer to veterinary students from the
east coast to the west since I am considered a mentor and leader in the field
of the veterinarian’s role in animal cruelty. . .<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">.
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my opinion . . .<span style="background-color: orange;">the failure to provide any care to companion animals until they are too close
to death to save them constitutes cruelty in NY State</span>. "</span></span></em></span></span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So there you have it. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taking a sick pet in for treatment can be a very, very risky proposition in Cheever World. If the animal is too sick to save<u>--in her estimation--</u>she believes that you've committed animal cruelty. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happily, and despite the chest-beating about her credentials and the support of her [fellow extremist] peers, it is Cheever's behavior that runs afoul of the law. It also runs afoul of the guidelines for veterinary professional behavior laid out by the </span><a href="http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/vetmed/vetpg6.htm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New York State Office of the Professions</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. At the very top of the list:</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>"The veterinarian or licensed veterinary technician should not willfully harass, abuse or intimidate a client or patient either physically or verbally."</em> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dropping a dime on the client, much?</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The New York State Board of Regents includes veterinarians who perform "professional services which have not been duly authorized by the patient or client or his or her legal representative" in their <a href="http://www.op.nysed.gov/title8/part29.htm">definition of unprofessional conduct</a>. Sagliocca contends that Cheever asked for $150 to kill this cat.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also unprofessional: "exercising undue influence" and "filing a false report." Hmmmmm.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Vets in private practice are not judges. Nope.</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Setting aside all the self-promotion, Cheever is a vet in private practice who has far exceeded her professional responsibilities. She's not a prosecutor, not an officer of the court. She's not an elected public official. Not a public servant. Not a part of any law enforcement agency. Her opinion on what is and is not "cruel" is not law. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So Cheever's got a lot riding on this one. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's hope she gets her just desserts. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Caring pet owners should be able to take their pets to the veterinarian without worrying about getting snitched out by an animal rights whack-job, having their sick pet seized and killed by strangers, and then, icing on the cake, being prosecuted for animal cruelty.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Times Union reporter called Sagliocca and his sister's problems a "worrisome precedent." He doesn't know the half of it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">________________________</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Blogger's note: July 16, 2012</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Early this morning I received a response from Holly Cheever, or at least a person claiming to be Holly Cheever. Once I figure out how to present the comments without further contributing to the tradition of personal interpretations of New York State law by animal rights extremists, I'll publish them. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-21185970819191015312012-06-11T07:51:00.001-04:002012-06-11T15:26:20.196-04:00Lynching Sylvia: Humane Justice in Upstate New York<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcTTXMgUXR5EANjvPhssKN66HyJeuxYxrG07dnqGUHHarqLXquM5Rw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcTTXMgUXR5EANjvPhssKN66HyJeuxYxrG07dnqGUHHarqLXquM5Rw.jpg" /></a></div>
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Town of Wallkill and Mob Rule</span></strong><br />
<br />
<strong><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Deplorable" conditions and injured dogs? </span></em></strong><br />
<strong><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or is something else going on in Wallkill?</span></em></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dog lovers were rocked by news coverage of 76 Rottweilers living in "deplorable" conditions in rural Orange County, New York.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The all-too-familiar cry of "down with greedy breeders" was quickly raised. The public was exhorted to write to the police department and the town judge and demand that the dog owner be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Donations are being solicited. Online petitions circulated. Facebook pages. Twitterings. Care2 discussions. We all know the drill. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the moment, Rottweiler breeder Sylvia Panetta faces some </span><a href="http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120529/NEWS/120529731"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">150 criminal charges</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> stemming from allegations of cruelty to animals. The chain of events was initiated by an unnamed complainant and continued when various Wallkill town authorities conducted a series of alleged illegal searches of her property. Over a period of 87 days and after multiple searches of her home and property by the Town</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> of Wallkill Police Department and other individuals, all of her 76 Rottweiler dogs were impounded and ultimately removed by volunteers associated with the private, not for profit Mountain Rotti Rescue and/or persons authorized by them.</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blogger's note: Because this is an active criminal prosecution, below I've restricted myself to some matters already on the public record and will not discuss the merits of the charges against Panetta. </span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>So commenters, be aware: defamatory and potentially libelous accusations based solely on newspaper coverage? Or what you heard from someone who knows someone? We're not going there. </em><em>I prefer to wait for a verdict from an impartial judge and jury before I howl for blood. </em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Strained Quality of Justice in Wallkill</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Untitled-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" fba="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Untitled-1.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Under the terms of two documents signed by Wallkill Town Justice Patrick S. Owen (one dated </span><a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/4119017/mail0196-jpg-june-10-2012-1-13-pm-96k?da=y"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">March 6</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and an </span><a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/4113407/mail0132-jpg-june-9-2012-5-46-pm-145k?da=y"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">April 29</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/4113408/mail0133-jpg-june-9-2012-5-46-pm-90k?da=y"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Order</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*) all of Panetta's dogs were impounded and finally removed from her property.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The March 6 Order authorized the taking of personal documents that were not the items of probable cause. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A search warrant cannot authorize taking pictures of the property and it cannot </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">authorize a municipal</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">assistant building inspector to execute the search warrant. It would be contrary to state law.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The April 29 "Search Warrant and Seizure and Impoundment Order" combo? Crazier still.</span></strong><br /><br />The "Search Warrant and Seizure and Impoundment Order" dated April 29, also signed by Judge Patrick Owen, finds reasonable cause to believe that "a search will discover. . .evidence of additional violations."</span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcQwqVliFIMjylo5nONvj_XbGeh7poBC_Xl826-Z-8YKvWc7W5kRvw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a> <a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcQwqVliFIMjylo5nONvj_XbGeh7poBC_Xl826-Z-8YKvWc7W5kRvw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" fba="true" height="149" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcQwqVliFIMjylo5nONvj_XbGeh7poBC_Xl826-Z-8YKvWc7W5kRvw.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Folks, Wallkill is located in the United States. The </span><a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4th Amendment</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> applies, and even in Wallkill search warrants must be specific as to the object to be searched for and the place to be searched. Cops cannot be authorized to willy-nilly poke around the private property</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of persons not convicted of a crime and seize whatever strikes their fancy. They aren't gathering Easter eggs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The warrant/order authorizes a range of private individuals and non-law enforcement personnel, including the Assistant Town of Wallkill Building Inspector, Adult Protective Services, the Town of Wallkill Volunteer Ambulance Corp, an unnamed veterinarian, members of Mountain Rotti Rescue and its agents and members of the [unnamed] "local Humane Society" and others to assist in its execution.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Again, t</span><a href="http://ypdcrime.com/cpl/article690.htm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">his is not consistent with New York State law</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Police officers execute search warrants. Not building inspectors, ambulance drivers and EMS technicians, social workers, veterinarians in private practice and volunteers associated with unnamed local humane societies.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It gets <strike>better</strike> even more bizarre.</span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcTI0trVtnxtzIofx-xWG2J3I7-l5i8NTbtYpHJ9Nu8czb9xRlV68w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcTI0trVtnxtzIofx-xWG2J3I7-l5i8NTbtYpHJ9Nu8czb9xRlV68w.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On June 1 Panetta went to jail for allegedly violating a temporary Order of Protection, also signed by Judge Patrick Owen, granted to unnamed individuals who are not victims of a crime.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New York State law doesn't support this, either. Under NYS Criminal Procedure Law Part 3, Title P, Article 530.13(1) Orders of Protection are granted to specific individuals who are victims of a crime, following a hearing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Panetta's arraignment on the Order of Protection charge was presided over by Judge Patrick Owen's brother,</span><a href="http://www.townofwallkill.com/html/agencies/agencies_courts.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Judge Joseph Owen</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Judge <em>Joseph</em> Owen sent Panetta to jail.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Currently out on bail, she will need to be present for a hearing on the criminal charges of violating the Order of protection scheduled for June 12. This will be her third court appearance on the matter. She still does not have an attorney to represent her, in violation of Panetta's 6th Amendment rights.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Security bond/forfeiture hearing scheduled for June 15</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On June 15, Panetta must answer a petition from the impounding organization now in custody of her dogs. They are asking for $36,000 as an initial down payment for the upkeep of her dogs seized in evidence. If the judge finds in their favor, Panetta will have five days to come up with the money or forfeit her dogs. Pre-trial and pre-verdict. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While innocent under the law, and before being able to do anything in her own defense, she will either need to shell out $36,000 or lose her dogs.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right to counsel ? Still waiting.</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Panetta does not have a lawyer, yet was required to appear at multiple hearings pertaining to criminal matters, was arraigned on criminal charges and sent to jail . . . without being able to consult a lawyer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Her request for an adjournment until she could obtain a lawyer prior to being sent to jail for allegedly violating an Order of Protection was denied by Judge Joseph Owen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">There's plenty more wrong. I picked the things that were quickest to detail. No doubt the legal beagles among my readers will find more.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Copland in the Catskills"</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Worth noting: in 2001 a </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/19/nyregion/seeing-lawless-police-behavior-state-files-civil-rights-complaint-against-small.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">federal civil rights suit</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> was filed against the Town of Walkill by the New York State Attorney General following complaints of systematic police harassment, lawless behavior, abuse of police power and retaliation against critics of the Department.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Under the terms of the consent decree arising from the suit, the town's police department was placed under a federal monitor until 2006.</span><br />
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<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcQeg29lqnfBSexgC5evu54aLbPfaFVijK6nbbGKR1TheIuakfG2Xw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcQeg29lqnfBSexgC5evu54aLbPfaFVijK6nbbGKR1TheIuakfG2Xw.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lynching Sylvia in broad daylight</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What the hell's going on here?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Has the Town of Wallkill and its various departments and employees and agents all lost their minds?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do they believe no one will bother to examine the documents available to the public and question what they have done?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The presumption</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of innocence, right to counsel, due process, freedom for unreasonable search and seizure, equal protection of law . . . do they <strong><em>really</em></strong> think they can dispense with these fundamentals?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And regardless of your opinion of Panetta, is this the society <em>you</em> really want to live in? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or do you live in the hope that the rule of law will prevail, no matter what the allegations are?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">___________________________________</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*two pages: click both "April 29" and "Order" to access each</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-90727877794068072672011-11-19T19:28:00.004-05:002011-11-21T10:56:27.442-05:00Fake Cops from the SPCA<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/103111tully.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/103111tully.jpg" width="222" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This guy? Not a cop. Not a public servant.<br />
He's a self-employed lawyer in police officer drag.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Posse of volunteers will lay down the law in Schenectady</span></strong><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Signed, sealed and delivered. Public accountability? Transparency in government? Not so much.</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/3250561/scan0160-pdf-november-6-2011-12-33-pm-705k?da=y">contract</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> approved by the Schenectady County legislature awarding the private Schenectady County SPCA 50% of any money they can gouge out of dog owners through enforcement of licensing, leash and dangerous dog laws, plus control of the balance of the money and access to vehicles purchased and maintained at taxpayer expense took effect on November 15.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>So where's the fire ?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Under the terms of the contract, the SCSPCA's volunteers--<em>whoever</em> they may be, because the contract doesn't require them to be peace officers--will have no supervision from the County and are specifically exempted from the rules and regulations applicable to County employees as they go about their public law enforcement activities. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apparently, Schenectady County was willing to sign<em> just about anything</em> to get out from under the shaky lawsuit the SPCA brought against them. The </span><a href="http://www.nylj.com/nylawyer/adgifs/decisions/103111spcapleading.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">lawsuit was filed on October 7</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, the so-called "Vicious Dog Law of 2011" was proposed by October 14, and by October 28 the </span><a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/3250561/scan0160-pdf-november-6-2011-12-33-pm-705k?da=y"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">County Attorney was declaring the whole mess a 'win-win'</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and urging county legislators to get on board. By the November 9 meeting of the county legislature, it was a done deal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">What makes me think there is more to this story?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Burning, burning desire to address "vicious" dogs?</strong> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Yeah, right.</span><br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/orchestra-conductor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/orchestra-conductor.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The "vicious dog law" turned out to be a</span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2011/11/extorting-schenectady-new-york-spca.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> sweetheart contract between the SPCA and Schenectady County </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ultimately giving a private corporation control of 100% of monies it generates by the enforcement of state laws. No provisions for audit, and no opportunity for public oversight over the disposition of public monies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Plus freebie vehicles and maintenance, and some other perks--all at taxpayer expense.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On November 11, the head of the SCSPCA Mathew B. Tully (pictured above)</span><a href="http://www.wten.com/story/16018172/schenectady-county-spca-chief-resigns"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> announced that he is resigning</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. In discussing his "proactive" approach to law enforcement, Tully commented that the "end game" in his suit against the County is to </span><a href="http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202523504087&slreturn=1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ensure the viability of the SCSPCA.</span></a> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Schenectady, you was played. Majorly played.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rhinestone cowboys as bounty hunters</span></strong><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/tsol_aphorisms_posters15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/tsol_aphorisms_posters15.jpg" width="256" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I guess I could volunteer for the Schenectady County SPCA and become a <strike>vigilante </strike> uh <strike>hobbyist law enforcer</strike> umm "Schenectady County Contractor", too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why not? I bet I'd look kewl in that navy blue uni and the tool belt and whatnot, too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd probably scare the crap out of dog owners unable to produce a dog license. They'd practically be throwing the cash at me, especially if I were to mention that unlicensed dogs in NYS are subject to immediate impoundment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there are those people whose 10 year-old dogs accidentally escape out the back door for the first time in their lives. Looks like </span><a href="http://blog.timesunion.com/dogs/565-to-get-a-dog-back-in-troy-really/1058/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> there's good money to be made by not-for-profits in loose dogs</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. $565 to bail out a stray dog from a shelter operated by a "not for profit"? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dang. . .</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As long as the private not-for-profit holds a contract from the municipality, looks like they're golden. And the Schenectady County contract says specifically that the County will not supervise the SPCA's activities. Can it get any better?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Freedom of Information? Not in Schenectady.</strong> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Fear_Factor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Fear_Factor.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What happens when the citizens of Schenectady County start to ask questions about how public laws are enforced ? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What records will be available to them? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will they be required to sue a private not-for-profit corporation, which--not for nothing--is staffed by volunteer lawyers, in order to gain access to records which would</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> normally be <a href="http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/foia.html">available to them?</a></span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">End Games: Private and public.</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Schenectady, you've got a crew of volunteers--responsible to no public official--enforcing the law with a "proactive" focus. They take 50% off the top for themselves, and ultimately they have access to 100% of the revenues they generate through their law enforcement activities. Talk about a motive for frivolous prosecutions. . .</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The County is doing its best to distance itself from the consequences and wash its hands of any responsibility.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good luck with that, Schenectady County legislators and public officials. And may you rot in hell.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't think this is going to end well.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not at all.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-23760726554883945872011-11-07T08:30:00.007-05:002011-11-07T09:09:46.638-05:00Extorting Schenectady: New York SPCA Shows True Colors<div style="text-align: right;"><strong><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note: What goes around comes around. </span></strong></div><div style="text-align: right;"><strong><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blue Dog State first wrote about the Schenectady SPCA and its "fergit shelters, we gonna arrest you" mission in a piece called</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: right;"><strong><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></strong><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2008/05/armed-volunteers-w-eapons-mace-and-body.html"><strong><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Armed Volunteers: Weapons, Mace and Body Armor</span></strong></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="color: red;"> back in May, 2008.</span></strong> </span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/sweet_deal.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/sweet_deal.png" /></span></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">New Revenue Scheme for Animal Extremist Innovator</span></strong><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Schenectady SPCA sets itself up for 50% off the top</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. . . thanks to its lawsuit against the Sheriff</span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Private persons associated on a volunteer basis with a private corporation and a clear animal extremist agenda will be independently enforcing dog control laws in Schenectady County -- without having to answer to county officials -- if legislators approve the "<a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/3250561/scan0160-pdf-november-6-2011-12-33-pm-705k?da=y">Vicious Dog Control Law of 2011</a>" on November 9.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">As payment, the private corporation will receive 50% of all fines paid to the county stemming from their enforcement of state dog laws. The remaining 50% of the monies paid by Schenectady dog owners pursuant to the enforcement of public laws will also go to the SCSPCA, in compensation for sheltering impounded animals. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Schenectady SPCA does not operate a shelter and it never has. <br />
<br />
As an added bonus when the contract gets signed, the private SCSPCA gains access to vehicles purchased and maintained at taxpayer expense.<br />
<br />
In exchange for the money, the contract to enforce dog control regulations throughout the county, and the vehicles, the SCSPCA agrees to drop</span><a href="http://www.nylj.com/nylawyer/adgifs/decisions/103111spcapleading.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> the lawsuit it filed against the Schenectady County Sheriff</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">.<br />
<br />
Mathew Tully's SCSPCA initiated the suit in October when the SPCA -- which, again, does not operate a shelter and never has -- seized roughly 40 cats and a dog pursuant to its investigation of animal cruelty allegations. <br />
<br />
The SCSPCA insisted that County Sheriff Dominic Dagostino accept custody and responsibility for the animals pending adjudication of the charges. When that didn't happen--the Sheriff cited financial constraints and lack of facilities--the Schenectady County SPCA sued him.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody></></></></>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/dagostino1prb_t120.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><img border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/dagostino1prb_t120.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
</></></></>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Cty. Sheriff Dagostino</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the meantime, the </span><a href="http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Settlement-apparent-in-cat-rescue-lawsuit-2213416.php"><span style="font-family: Arial;">SPCA killed the impounded dog and about a third of the impounded cats.</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> They had fleas.<br />
<br />
Although the numbers in the various press accounts vary, it appears that some of the remaining survivors of the "rescue" were farmed out to the <strike>illegal pre-adjudication forfeiture gulag </strike>"humane" network of fosters and shelters. Seems at least some sheltering alternatives were available, after all. Surprise, surprise.<br />
<br />
Blue Dog believes that for all practical purposes those remaining cats might just as well have vanished from the face of the planet. Whether they've since been killed, sold, given away, or simply "lost" in the system, they will not be available as evidential exhibits.</span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/cuibono.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><img border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/cuibono.gif" /></span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Follow the trail of dead cats</strong><br />
<br />
Setting aside the drama and the accusations, what really happened as a result of the Great SCSPCA Cat Seize?<br />
<br />
Many of the animals the SCSPCA impounded (allegedly flea-ridden, but still alive) are now dead. <br />
<br />
Their owner, described in the press as a conscience-stricken "rescuer" who gradually became overwhelmed, awaits her day in court under the forlorn theory that she is innocent of deliberate and calculated cruelty to animals until proven guilty. While 40 or more animals were seized from her home, she was only charged with one count of cruelty. Innocent or not, the animals are history. They will never be returned to her, even if she is cleared of the charges. <br />
<br />
The County appears to be submitting to pressure from a small private corporation with an adrenalin-driven lawyer at the helm. Schenectady County exhibits zero understanding of New York's Agriculture and Markets laws. . .and worse yet, zero concern for the civil rights of its dog and animal owning residents.<br />
<br />
And the SCSPCA ? Tully is a lawyer, as are several of his volunteers, and he uses his law firm as an operations center for the SCSPCA. As a result of filing a lawsuit using in-house legal services, Tully stands to gain an immediate 50% cut on any revenue they can generate by enforcing dangerous dog, leash and dog licensing laws in Schenectady County, plus control of the balance of the public monies collected pursuant to a state law. <br />
<br />
How sick is this picture? <br />
<br />
And who the freak is Mathew Tully, Esq., and his band of 10 or 12 volunteers-soon-to-be-Schenectady dog control contractors?<br />
<br />
<strong>You better sit down, kids</strong><br />
<br />
Currently, Mathew Tully is the. . .</span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/superman-12268.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/superman-12268.gif" width="261" /></span></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.schenectadyspca.org/index.php/about/officers"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Chief Commanding Officer</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> of the SCSPCA,<br />
<br />
the <span id="goog_245558636"></span></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Director of the SCSPCA</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">,</span><a href="http://www.schenectadyspca.org/"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Chief of Department</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> of the SCSPCA,<br />
<br />
the </span><a href="http://bartlett.oag.state.ny.us/Char_Forms/show_details.jsp?id={269A1FF7-9025-4A35-8A18-5B85352C3512}"><span style="font-family: Arial;">President of the SCSPCA</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">,</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BUMD-hB1Qo&noredirect=1"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Chief Humane Law Enforcement Officer</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> of the SCSPCA,<br />
<br />
and the </span><a href="http://www.nylj.com/nylawyer/adgifs/decisions/103111spcapleading.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Chairman of the Board of Directors</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> of the SCSPCA.<br />
<br />
But Tully first hit the radar for many animal owners back in 2002 when, acting as a volunteer, he fraudulently misrepresented himself as an officer of the Columbia-Greene Humane Society and seized 15 dogs from a dog retailer. The dogs were valued at approximately $9000, and were subsequently sold by the CGHS, which retained the proceeds.<br />
<br />
<strong>Mad extortion skillz</strong><br />
<br />
According to </span><a href="http://decisions.courts.state.ny.us/ad3/decisions/2005/96915.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial;">sworn testimony</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> included in court records,<br />
<br />
<em>Tully . . . told [the dog owners] that, unless they immediately signed a document surrendering the 15 puppies on their premises to the Society, he would arrest them upon a misdemeanor charge of violating Agriculture and Markets Law § 357. They allege in their verified complaint that <strong>Tully, who is also an attorney, told them that it would be one or two days before they were arraigned, that he would ask for high bail and that he would "demand that [their five] children be placed by the Department of Social Services until plaintiffs made bail</strong>." Plaintiffs signed the surrender document and were issued an appearance ticket."</em> [emphasis added<em>]</em><br />
<br />
During his <strike>persecution</strike> investigation, Tully made reference to the results of a veterinarian's examination of an allegedly unfit puppy sold by the plaintiffs. Yet the </span><a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/3252505/scan0163-pdf-november-7-2011-8-12-am-394k?da=y"><span style="font-family: Arial;">vet's sworn affidavit</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> reads:<br />
<br />
<em>"I understand that Mr. Tully has given an updated deposition in this case in which he avers that[I found an animal] infected with a contagious disease dangerous to the life and/or health of animals called coccida. . .<strong> I absolutely deny that I ever told Mr. Tully. . . that any of the animals was infected with a contagious disease dangerous to the life and/or health of animals</strong>. . .the puppy was normal in all respects and was clearly not "infected with a contagious disease dangerous to the life and/or health of animals."</em> [emphasis added]<br />
Note: to protect the vet's privacy, I have removed some details from the linked affidavit<br />
<br />
All charges against the dog owners were dropped. <br />
<br />
Hat tip: </span><a href="http://www.gamefowlnews.com/archives/2008/06052008.html"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Game Fowl News</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Law. Order. [Private] Police State.</strong> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/dean-winters-mayhem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><img border="0" height="171" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/dean-winters-mayhem.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial;">Back in 2008, when Tully was busy promoting his newly established, shelterless SPCA, he was clear on his vision for Schenctady County: <br />
<br />
<em><strong>"I guarantee you, there is no point in having an SPCA unless you increase the volume of arrests,” </strong></em></span><a href="http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2008/mar/30/0330_newspca/"><em><strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">Tully said</span></strong></em></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><strong>.'</strong></em><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
Good to know. How about the volume of extortions?<br />
<br />
But the connection between addressing any "vicious" dogs in Schenectady County and setting Tully's private army loose on the public is a little vague. How is kicking back half the revenue from unlicensed dog tickets to a private army going to help? <br />
<br />
State law allows for the immediate impoundment of unlicensed dogs. Is that what folks in Schenectady County are facing? Because the revenue numbers would be impressive.<br />
<br />
What public oversight of law enforcement activities, what transparency in government--and private corporations--can there possibly be when it is handed over to a private corporation? What elected public official acting on behalf of the People of Schenectady County will have any influence at all ? <br />
<br />
The proposed agreement between the SPCA and the County is specific:<br />
<br />
"Except as provided herein, [the Schenectady County SPCA] shall not be subject to any rules and regulations applicable to the employees of the County, and shall fulfill its responsibilities independent of, and without any supervisory control by the County."<br />
<br />
What recourse will people have when they get steamrolled by Tully and the SCSPCA? Who can they complain to, if the County has agreed not to get involved ?<br />
<br />
Dog owners of Schenectady County, you will be on your own.<br />
<br />
<strong>Schoharie County and beyond.</strong></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202523504087&slreturn=1"><span style="font-family: Arial;">According to Tully</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">, the "ultimate end game for [the SCSPCA] is to make sure the SPCA is viable for years to come."<br />
<br />
Also good to know.<br />
<br />
Tully expects to be filing a similar extortionate suit in Schoharie County soon, and envisions his model being replicated across the State of New York. <br />
<br />
From there, who knows?<br />
<br />
<strong>What you can do</strong></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/11-9-11-november-11-2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><img border="0" height="136" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/11-9-11-november-11-2011.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Schenectady County Legislature meets to consider the "Vicious Dog Control Act of 2011" on </span><a href="http://www.schenectadycounty.com/FullStory.aspx?m=805&amid=8433"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Wednesday, November 9 at 7:00 p. m.</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Write, phone, and email the legislators. Tell them you fear life in a police state patrolled by a crew of out-of-control volunteers with no responsibility to any elected official whatsoever. The Schenectady County Chairwoman is Judith Dagostino. Start with her.<br />
<br />
Schenectady County Legislative Offices<br />
620 State Street<br />
6th Floor<br />
Schenectady, NY 12305<br />
Phone: (518) 388-4280<br />
Fax: (518) 388-4591<br />
email: legislature @ schenectadycounty.com<br />
<br />
<strong>Corruption: Tully. Schenectady County. Who else?</strong></span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/whistleblower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><img border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/whistleblower.jpg" /></span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The proposal is illegal. <br />
<br />
Volunteers for private not-for-profits are not public servants.<br />
<br />
The government cannot award special privileges to private corporations.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We do not have private armies in this country.<br />
<br />
Schenectady County cannot simply set an unsupervised posse loose on its citizens and hope for the best. Or the cheapest.<br />
<br />
Something is terribly, terribly wrong here.<br />
<br />
Blow that whistle, ring that bell.<br />
<br />
We cannot let this happen.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-9455919378087089682011-09-26T12:24:00.003-04:002011-09-27T11:02:21.161-04:00Humane Havens for Dog Slaughterers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcTfsqi_ZUso-9ZBTPCWXhOfWStcQ19qCG3DZxNVPOtMibEbucx-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcTfsqi_ZUso-9ZBTPCWXhOfWStcQ19qCG3DZxNVPOtMibEbucx-.jpg" /></a></div><strong><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>Update on previously published article</u></span></strong><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pit Bull Killer Laura Maloney Rakes It In</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">at Humane Society of the United States</span></strong><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Movin' on up in the world of corporate dog-killing</span></em><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pacelle lauds "accomplishments" of exec who cut and ran after Boudreaux' dogs were slaughtered </span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dontcha just love it? As ex Louisiana SPCA CEO Laura Maloney wiggles her way ever upward in the world of industrial animal killing "rescue", the bullshit just gets deeper and deeper. When </span><a href="http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2010/09/laura_maloney_joins_hsus_091410.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">she joined HSUS a year ago</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> as Pacelle's chief of staff, he babbled on . . .</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I’ve worked alongside Laura in Louisiana during the effort to rescue animals following Hurricane Katrina, and in the battle to outlaw cockfighting in the state, and I have seen her excel in all the areas where’s she focused her attentions. We are an enormously complex organization, and I know she’ll help us make it run even better."</span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Better at what, Wayne? Killing animals? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe setting up her employers for liability in civil suits stemming from her "rescue" activities?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cause that's what Laura Maloney excels at. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maloney was in charge when her blood-thirsty employees seized and immediately killed Boudreaux's 57 dogs. She "worked with authorities" to assure they acted on her allegations. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boudreaux hadn't even been arraigned when Maloney's SPCA killed his dogs. No wonder Wayne Pacelle loves her.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But when the case went to court the charges were promptly dropped. That's a problem, Wayne. That's a big problem.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/th_hitchcock_birds.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/th_hitchcock_birds.gif" /></span></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Birds finally come home to roost: </span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lousiana SPCA settles Boudreaux suit </span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has been a long, hard road for Floyd Boudreaux, his family, and the animal lovers that supported him and appreciated his dogs. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The </span><a href="http://theadvocate.com/home/827776-79/dog-deaths-lawsuit-settled.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">undisclosed sum the SPCA will be paying out to Floyd and his family</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">--and man, I hope it is huge--won't bring back the 57 dogs they lost on the evil day of the "humane" raid Maloney orchestrated against them. It can be no compensation for the extermination of a cherished, 100 year-old line of champions. No amount of money can make what that family went through go away.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it serves as a warning to other private societies-for-the-prevention who think their cute little uniforms and cop-car clone vehicles will shield them from liability when they </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strike>fuck up</strike>. . .</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">uh, <strike>indulge in a little mission creep</strike>. . .</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">okay let's cut to the chase and make that. . . <strong>do what they wanted to do all along and freaking slaughter beautiful animals belonging to innocent people. </strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Below is Blue Dog's October, 2009 piece on Maloney and her brilliant career. Let's just hope it finally comes to a screeching halt.</span><br />
____________________________<br />
<br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Gimme20Shelter.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Gimme20Shelter.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 122px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 126px;" /></a> <span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><strong>Exonerated Pit bull breeder Floyd Boudreaux sues Louisiana SPCA</strong></span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong><em>Disgraced SPCA CEO now ASPCA Sr. Vice President</em></strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Floyd Boudreaux made headlines last week with news of his suit against the Lousiana SPCA. The SPCA needlessly, wantonly--and apparently, <em>illegally</em>--slaughtered the Boudreaux dogs as fast as it could after the Boudreaux home was raided during a 2005 dogfighting investigation. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">You'd think that Laura Maloney, Chief Executive Officer at the LA SPCA when it exterminated each and every one of Floyd's 57 dogs within 24 hours of seizing them would be unemployable. At least unemployable within the "humane" network where the lives of animals are supposed to count for something. Right? Societies for the prevention of cruelty aren't supposed to be in a flaming hurry to kill the dogs they just finished "rescuing." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Are they? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Ooops. Blue Dog's bad. . .</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">That's </span><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20091015/NEWS01/910150325/Pit-bull-breeders-sue-SPCA"><span style="font-family: arial;">exactly what Maloney's LA SPCA </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">did on that black day four years ago when Boudreaux' dogs were seized, and killed, by "humane" agents. Boudreaux was </span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2008/10/pit-bull-breeder-floyd-boudreaux.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">quickly acquitted </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">when his case went to trial. But it was too late for his dogs. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Maloney's LA SPCA had already carried out sentence on his dogs. Boudreaux hadn't even been arraigned when the killings began.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Spotlight20Graphic.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Spotlight20Graphic.jpg" style="float: left; height: 129px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 131px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Scurrying to avoid the cold light of day </strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">State trooper Jacob Dickinson, the investigator that testified during the short trial that vindicated the Boudreaux family, said that "he believed the SPCA would house the animals and </span><a href="http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/64332682.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">did not know the dogs would be euthanized</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">But a<em> representative from the SPCA testified that no one person at the nonprofit animal welfare group made the decision to kill the animals but that there was<strong> a general assumption</strong> that the dogs would be euthanized. </em></span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Deny, deny, deny. . .</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Laura Maloney's Louisiana SPCA is asking us to accept that <em><strong>general assumptions</strong></em> killed 57 healthy, happy dogs as soon as they arrived at the "shelter"?</span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/11326016_BG1.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/11326016_BG1.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 149px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Are you <em>kidding</em>? What kind of an explanation is that? And how cold can you get? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">The stress from losing those dogs, particularly the dog belonging to his 10 year-old grandson, caused Floyd to suffer a heart attack five days after the LA SPCA killed his dogs. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Rewarding <strike>major fuck ups</strike> general assumptions</strong> </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/maloneyx-inset-community.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/maloneyx-inset-community.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 130px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">So Maloney, and the LA SPCA, asks the world to believe that LA SPCA personnel just took it upon themselves to kill all those dogs, immediately, no questions asked. All in a day's work. What kind of out-of-control crack house does Maloney claim she was running, anyway ? How arrogant can you get? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>ASPCA shelters Maloney from the storm</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Moving on to the present. . . </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Maloney's feeling no pain. She's got a nice new job at the ASPCA. </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/poster001.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/poster001.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 135px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 95px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> Delicately referring to Maloney's "</span><a href="http://www.aspca.org/pressroom/press-releases/111308.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">national recognition for managing high-profile dog fighting cases</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">" the ASPCA placed Maloney in charge of various business units including Humane Law Enforcement, Veterinary Forensics, Government Affairs/Legislative Initiatives, Field Services and the New York City Anti-Cruelty Center. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Some gig, huh? ASPCA Veterinary Forensics. Dang. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Lights going out in Georgia</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">So, was it Maloney that deployed Melinda Merck, the ASPCA Forensic head honcho now partnered up with </span><a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/dog-fighting-ring-busted-163758.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">Norred and Associates </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">and </span><a href="http://www.hsus.org/acf/news/pressrel/dogfighting_georgia_campaign_011008.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">HSUS </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">? These three private corporations are cutting a swath through the backwoods of Georgia right now -- seizing pit bulls first and asking questions later. </span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2009/08/hsus-and-aspca-filling-pit-bull-burial.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">Way, way later.</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusriadsixpup.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusriadsixpup.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 314px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 350px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Is Merck acting on Maloney's instructions--or maybe just a <em>general assumption--</em>when she seizes puppies from the homes of innocent people? Does anyone at the ASPCA even care? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Waves of "humane change" don't reach every shore </strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">What happens to all those seized dogs, anyway? </span><a href="http://yesbiscuit.blogspot.com/2009/03/hsus-dogfighting-tip-line-busts-in-ga.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">Where <em>are</em> the dogs? </span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Something tells me that news of the great "Las Vegas Humane Sea Change", in which HSUS sort of agreed that dogs seized during fighting investigations don't necessarily need to die, has been slow to trickle down. Plenty of </span><a href="http://animalrights.change.org/blog/view/pit_bulls_seized_from_georgia_dogfighting_operation_killed_this_week"><span style="font-family: arial;">good dogs are dying lonely deaths </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">for no good reason. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">After HSUS, Norred, the ASPCA and the news crews blow town, </span><a href="http://mastiffsj.blogspot.com/2009/08/at-least-three-pit-bulls-euthanized_25.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">the killing begins</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">What responsibility does Merck, Maloney and the ASPCA assume for the fate of those dogs?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">None.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Absolutely none. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>ASPCA doesn't walk the walk</strong></span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/fraud.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/fraud.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 96px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 145px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">The ASPCA cannot employ people like Laura Maloney and look dog owners, particularly pit bull owners, in the eye. It is not possible. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Most especially, the ASPCA cannot put people with a history like Laura Maloney's in charge of Melinda Merck and her travelling pit bull confiscation show. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">"<em>We are their voice</em>" ??? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">What a farce.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-22543672756978525722011-07-26T08:14:00.001-04:002011-07-26T11:36:26.651-04:00Puppyless in Suffolk<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Monopoly-movie-Ridley-Scott.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211px" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Monopoly-movie-Ridley-Scott.jpg" t$="true" width="320px" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Animal </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rights Extremist Tool Jon Cooper's Genius Plan</span></strong></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Suffolk County, New York considers ban on retail sales of dogs</span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Humane puppy-traffickers will be only game in town</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, here's Suffolk County Legislator Jon Cooper's <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1ffij02nE0bH8h14o_FGKOOtxG3xytOjOd3VQnF3DV2Q&pli=1">wicked smart strategy</a><em>:</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>First:</em></strong> Shut down every single legal, licensed, regulated, inspected pet shop selling dogs in Suffolk County.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Second:</strong><em> </em>Replace them with unlicensed, un-inspected, unregulated "rescues" and "shelters" selling dogs obtained in murky circumstances from "puppy mills" located hundreds and even thousands of miles away.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Third:</strong><em> </em>What if every voter and taxpayer in Suffolk County doesn't want a shelter dog? Maybe someone would prefer a registered purebred for some strange reason, or maybe a puppy, and none of the few besieged hobby/residential breeders within a day's drive of their home have one? Maybe they don't want to wait a few years until the hobby breeder has a litter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcRQoz11r3KVO4NX1a0vRXSZRdvkdsZjm8splLnNx2bmRaproBltRg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="138px" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcRQoz11r3KVO4NX1a0vRXSZRdvkdsZjm8splLnNx2bmRaproBltRg.jpg" t$="true" width="320px" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Go with the Marie Antoinette solution. That one really worked for her.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Fourth</strong>:<em> </em>Get the hell out of Dodge.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When frustrated pet lovers inevitably rebel because they can't find a puppy for the kids and turn to illegal, unlicensed, un-inspected, and potentially substandard and abusive sources--like people selling four week-old puppies out of the trunks of cars in supermarket parking lots--it won't be Cooper's problem. He can pretend he never heard of consumer demand.</span><br />
<br />
<strong>Who will suffer? Who will benefit?</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Want to read the text? </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1ffij02nE0bH8h14o_FGKOOtxG3xytOjOd3VQnF3DV2Q"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be my guest.</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who will suffer</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> under Cooper's latest version of IR 1545-2011 is obvious: dog owners, pet store owners and their employees, pet-related businesses such as groomers, feed stores, trainers, dog walkers, boarding kennels, and vets. And the pets themselves.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But who benefits? That's an interesting question.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/9325924_Hamptons20Magazine20POLO20Issue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/9325924_Hamptons20Magazine20POLO20Issue.jpg" t$="true" /></a><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Humane puppy-trafficking among the glitterati: </span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Best Friends Animal Society's latest, most bestest friend is </span><a href="http://www.arfhamptons.org/site/c.inKMINNjEkG/b.5495835/k.BE80/Home.htm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ARF of the Hamptons</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, a facility unable to find enough local dogs to stay in business, but reports assets and cash on hand in excess of $13 million at year-end 2009. </span><a href="http://network.bestfriends.org/17392/news.aspx"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, some dog rescuers are not exactly cash strapped in Suffolk County's East End</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, where so much of Jon Cooper's support on IR 1545 comes from:</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Every animal the local animal control can’t adopt, ARF takes in. Still, ARF has to import adoptable animals from other parts of the country to keep its shelters from turning into a ghost town. M</span></em><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">any of those animals come from Best Friends’ Pup My Ride, a program that transports dogs from puppy mills in the Midwest to the Northeast. . . </span></em><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[. . .]We’re never able to get enough of those ["puppy mill"] dogs working locally with our municipal pounds or going into New York,” Michele says. “So when Best Friends approached us about taking in all these small breed dogs, we jumped at the chance.</span></em><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once the animals go up for adoption, they go very, very quickly.” </span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>Base</em>d on </span><a href="http://bartlett.ag.ny.gov/Char_Forms/show_details.jsp?id={828A4660-1635-4723-9764-13C955620E53}"><span style="font-family: Arial;">documents submitted</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> to the New York State Charities Bureau, as a 501(c)3, ARF's 22 acre compound located in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wainscott,_New_York"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Wainscott, New York</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> was valued at a little over $5 million in 2009. The real estate holdings are exempted from property taxes.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ARF's almost $7 million in revenue from donations, investments and other sources in 2009? Not taxable.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The almost $93,000 ARF grossed on dog sales in 2009? Not taxable, either.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">All in all, in 2009 -- a freaking tough year for most individuals, businesses and charitable organizations in the United States -- ARF's net worth went from $8,658,848 to $13,336,833.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not bad. Which brings us to another item in Business Management 101:</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Flip that inventory</span></strong><br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/DoYouBelieveInMagic_51554t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200px" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/DoYouBelieveInMagic_51554t.jpg" t$="true" width="200px" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ARF </span><a href="http://www.arfhamptons.org/atf/cf/{32BC39D5-7C56-4A5F-A39F-1E12752183C1}/ARF%20Rescue%20Release%20FINAL.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">describes with great pathos the "puppy mill" dogs it obtains</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> under unspecified circumstances at unknown cost. Whether they were seized from their owners, surrendered, or bought at auction, ARF tells a story of dogs that suffered from lack of proper veterinary care, forced over-breeding, psychological trauma and various physical ailments. They lived crammed into tiny cages, were never walked, were deprived of human contact and didn't know how to play.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Generally speaking and according to ARF, the dogs they bring into the Hamptons are a wreck. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nevertheless, also according to ARF, upon arrival in Wainscott they get a bath and grooming, and promptly undergo surgical sterilization. Soon thereafter, an "amazing transformation" occurs which renders them immediately ready and available for life as a pet in the homes of Suffolk County families. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seems </span><a href="http://www.arfhamptons.org/atf/cf/{32BC39D5-7C56-4A5F-A39F-1E12752183C1}/ARF%20Rescue%20Release%20FINAL.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the whole process--from wreck to amazing transformation--usually takes about two weeks</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Those small breed "puppymill" dogs just fly off the shelf.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nice work if you can get it</span></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a private, not-for-profit corporation, ARF and other Suffolk shelters and rescues are not required to comply with the humane standards of care required of pet stores and non-residential breeders.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New York State does not routinely inspect shelters and rescues as it does pet stores.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New Yorkers who purchase a pet from a shelter or rescue have no recourse under the state's "puppy lemon law" which only covers dogs purchased at pet stores and from other licensed "pet dealers."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then there are all the tax advantages enjoyed by 501(c)3's.</span><br />
<br />
<strong>S<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">eems Cooper's not so pro-choice after all</span></strong><br />
<br />
The l<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">atest version of his proposal makes it absolutely illegal for lawfully operated Suffolk County pet stores to sell dogs under one year of age, unless the dogs come from a shelter or rescue. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shelters and rescues, on the other hand, can continue to sell puppies and dogs without restrictions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By legislating such a huge competitive advantage in the marketplace to one group of competitors, while denying lawful small business owners the ability to make a living, Suffolk County would be participating in dishonest trade practices. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Suffolk residents will find it very difficult to find a puppy in the future. Will possession of a young dog become yet another act of conspicuous consumption among the wealthy? Beamer, summer home, havanas, and a puppy, any kind of puppy, to make the picture complete?</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/ignorant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200px" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/ignorant.jpg" t$="true" width="187px" /></a></div><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cooper's problem with facts</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cooper's proposal is based on the wildest of </span><a href="http://www.box.net/shared/ykqtnz2ci7eexlsuushr"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> internet rumor</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">s and animal extremist propaganda.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He profiled every single Suffolk County pet store owner offering dogs to the public as a profiteer furthering the crime of cruelty to animals. As a pit bull-owning gay man, Cooper must know a little something about negative stereotypes, but he flings them around with abandon. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a public hearing in June, Cooper used the fact that pet store owners often obtain their dogs from kennels located in Missouri to "prove" that their dogs are the product of animal abuse. Although it made national news, he didn't seem to know that Missouri's statutes covering dog breeders are now </span><a href="http://mda.mo.gov/animals/ACFA/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">probably the most stringent in the country.</span></a><br />
<br />
C<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rap, he compared </span><a href="http://www.akc.org/news/index.cfm?article_id=4451"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the American Kennel Club and its members to "puppy millers</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is this all too bizarre, or what? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The hand that feeds Jon Cooper</span></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cooper is a lame duck. After 12 years in the Suffolk County legislature, he is term-limited. He's looking for a new gig. State Senator Carl Marcellino's job</span><a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/breaking/spin-cycle-1.812042/gay-marriage-suffolk-s-cooper-warns-sen-marcellino-of-challenge-1.2957216"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is looking mighty tasty</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, too.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<em>I will spend whatever it takes to defeat you</em>" ? Really? And</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> whose deep pockets are those bucks going to come from?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">What makes me think Cooper's sugar-daddies have no interest in responsible pet ownership?</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.keepsuffolkpetfriendly.com/">Keep Suffolk Pet Friendly.</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-36111366235725919102011-02-26T19:21:00.000-05:002011-02-26T19:21:53.929-05:00Peter Vallone Jr. Hates New York's Dogs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/flimflam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/flimflam.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Eight Million NYC Residents Face a "Humane" Law </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: large;">They Don't Understand</span></strong></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sponsor <strong>Peter Vallone</strong> dodges and weaves</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will the author of NYC 10/2011, possibly the worst written law in the history of the City of New York, please step forward?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cause you got some 'splaining to do, baby.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reality is setting in, and the pet and animal owners of New York City are beginning to realize that -- thanks to a handful of radical animal rights whackjobs and extremists -- normal, everyday practices involving the leashing, collaring and humane restraint of animals are now illegal.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read. The. </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1YSRF3J2kmX8Enu8oArAn7jgfuvGZIcPnBzpSfbP6FJU&pli=1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TEXT.</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">February 2's blog was devoted to NYC's new and absolute prohibition on walking leashed dogs and other animals while using a "choke" or "pinch" collar. If left standing, could the new law be used to harass participants or even shut down purebred dog shows? Only time, the size of the balls on the <strike>animal rights freaks</strike> humane law enforcement personnel interpreting the law, and the city's justice system, will tell.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But one thing is absolutely certain: when the law takes effect in early May, NYC dog walkers using a choke or pinch collar -- popular training accessories and standard equipment for many dogs -- will be breaking the law. I'm guessing 99% of city dog owners have no idea that the city ruled on what sort of dog collar they can use. To be honest, I don't think the City Council members themselves realized they did that.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/elvis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/elvis.jpg" /></span></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Swivel Trubbel: Peter Vallone Jr. haz it</span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is clear that the new law's sponsor </span><a href="http://gothamist.com/2011/02/23/councilman_vallone_responds_to_anti.php"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">doesn't understand</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the law he introduced. In response to the </span><a href="http://dogfederationofnewyork.blogspot.com/2011/02/dog-federation-of-ny-urges-repeal-of.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dog Federation of New York's criticism</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that, among many other flaws and failings, 10/2011 does not allow a family at a picnic to tie their dog's leash to a park bench or picnic table while they eat, Vallone issued the kind of embarrassing, food-spraying splutter most politicians would do anything to avoid.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And he lied. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/anger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/anger.jpg" /></span></a></div><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No one listens to the head of that so called federation, even in animal rights circles, and as usual his reading of the bill is all wrong. Of course a family can tie up a dog at a picnic, just not for more than three hours straight. If he would do that, he probably shouldn't be in the animal rights business in the first place. If he has any problem with the bill, he should talk to the legitimate animal rights groups like the ASPCA who helped draft it.</span></em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh my. My, my, my.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Councilman Vallone is a city councilman, and a former Assistant District Attorney. Surely he knows that when a law says . . .</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Any person who. . .leashes an animal. . .to a stationary object outdoors for a permissible period of time shall provide such animal with adequate food, water and shelter, and shall restrain the animal with a device with having swivels at both ends. . .</em></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/22311dog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="245" l6="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/22311dog.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">it means you better be damn sure you've got "a device with swivels at both ends." </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not a normal leash.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This dog is therefore illegally restrained--regardless of how long she's been there. Five minutes or five hours--it makes no difference.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She's also illegally collared. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I don't see any food, water, or a dog house. That could be a problem for the dog's owner under the new law, too.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Without a caliper, I can't be sure about the thickness of the links of chain on her collar. But since the entire collar is illegal under this <strike>gibberish</strike> new law anyway, it hardly matters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, of course this dog appears to be a "pit bull." Peter Vallone Jr. </span><a href="http://gothamist.com/2006/12/26/another_thing_p.php"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">wants her the hell out of the city anyway</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It doesn't matter that the dog is just fine, chomping on her stick and posing for the camera. Not bothering anyone.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a crime scene.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fake Science Rules in NYC </span></strong><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcTMJRXKorUJeUrPRdTo4Nbxq25e8pr7GzQOdSF0IlW9bU63pXTd4Q.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="112" l6="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcTMJRXKorUJeUrPRdTo4Nbxq25e8pr7GzQOdSF0IlW9bU63pXTd4Q.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vallone and his supporters quote claims floating on the Internet that tethering dogs increases aggression, and cite a single, elderly study in which the finding regarding tethered dogs was a tertiary result. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's it. That's all they've got. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The findings of that one study have never been reproduced. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the other hand, Dr. Katherine Houpt of Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Biomedical Sciences is the country’s leading expert on the issue of tethering. Dr. Houpt, who has studied the issue for years, found that tethering does not increase aggression in dogs. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Legitimate </em>Animal Rights Businesses Chip Away at Animal Ownership</span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peter Vallone Jr. chastised DFNY and referred them to the ASPCA, an extremist organization </span><a href="http://www.aspca.org/about-us/policy-positions/ownership-guardianship.aspx"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">which opposes animal ownership</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. In Vallone-speak the ASPCA is a <em>legitimate</em> animal rights business and it helped draft his law.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/business.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/business.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vallone also </span><a href="http://www.nysun.com/new-york/peta-urges-council-to-restrict-dog-chaining/81397/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">welcomed the support of PeTA</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> on his law. The folks that </span><a href="http://www.animalscam.com/references/peta_rodney1.cfm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">donated money</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to felon, terrorist and convicted arsonist </span><a href="http://activistcash.com/biography.cfm/b/3255-rodney-coronado"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rodney Coronado </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">are legitimately in the animal rights biz, too. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HSUS's New York lobbyist Patrick Kwan ? The animal advocate who </span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2009/06/hsus-is-evil-and-proud-of-it.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">can't tell a hen from a rooster</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">? Also a legitimate animal rightist and supporter of Vallone's law.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not personal. This is business. The animal rights business. The <em>legitimate</em> animal rights business in which any restriction on animal ownership is a "win." Any restriction at all.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vague and arbitrary prohibitions</span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no logic here. No science. All we've got is bombast and attempted career enhancement.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What an embarrassment for the flim-flammed New York City Council. They were used and abused by Peter Vallone Jr., the animal rights extremist flunkey.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a tragedy for NYC's many, many caring dog and animal owners. They have to comply with this mess -- and trust me, if you think the swivel thing is bad, stay tuned.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let Hizzoner </span><a href="http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.bd08ee7c7c1ffec87c4b36d501c789a0/index.jsp?doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fmail%2Fhtml%2Fmayor.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mayor Bloomberg</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> know: repeal 10/2011 in its entirety. The sooner, the better.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-41062494070939298482011-02-02T15:48:00.007-05:002011-02-03T08:49:17.628-05:00Animal Rights Extremists Take Manhattan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Uno.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Uno.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New York City Council Backdoors BSL and Screws Responsible Dog Owners</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">Peter Vallone Jr.'s "humane" triumph in New York City</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heavily restricts humane, responsible containment of dogs</span></strong><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
First Casualties of Humane War Against NYC Dog Owners: </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Uno the Beagle and Madison Square Garden ?</span></em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Makes you wonder how it all came about, doesn't it? </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<strong>Vallone's career as a pit bull hater</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">NYC's premier pit bull hater, shoulder to shoulder with the city's most elite animal rights types ? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's wrong with this picture?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For years, City Councilman Vallone has been an </span><a href="http://gawker.com/news/pit-bulls/councilman-peter-vallone-killjoy-of-the-year-224310.php"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">outspoken "pit bull" hater</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who repeatedly sought to stigmatize pit bull owners as </span><a href="http://www.nysun.com/new-york/pit-bulls-are-weapons-not-pets-lawmaker-seeking/45712/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">gang-banging lowlife criminals</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When his proposal to ban pit bulls from New York City failed, he teamed up with animal rights extremists. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Why not?</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/valentine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/valentine.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Flash forward to 2011</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ASPCA strongly supported Vallone's Int. 425, a proposal to restrict tethering, along with PeTA, HSUS, the Humane Society of New York and others. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Can anybody say "quid pro quo"?</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1YSRF3J2kmX8Enu8oArAn7jgfuvGZIcPnBzpSfbP6FJU"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Int. 425-A</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> united a fear-mongering pit bull hater with the blind ambition of politicians and animal extremists in a perfect storm of anti-animal, anti-animal owner legislation.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More than one way to skin a cat</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following Vallone's pin-headed logic, if he couldn't ban pit bulls outright, he could kick the legs out from under their owners by making their stereotypical nasty practices illegal and drive them out of the city that way.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Except Vallone doesn't know shit about dogs in general, or pit bulls specifically. And he cares even less. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/vallone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/vallone.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A former Manhattan Assistant DA, son of an ex City Council president and mayoral hopeful, would-be Queens Boro President Peter Vallone Jr. is all about Peter Vallone Jr.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Int-425A had nothing to do with the humane treatment of dogs, and everything to do with his career aspirations. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And his humaniac co-conspirators on Int-425A? Heh. Same comments apply.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not just pit bulls: blowback takes out unexpected targets</span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heralded by Gotham's strident animal rights community as a </span><a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/animal-welfare/blog/ny-city-council-creates-new-laws-to-protect-dogs/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"huge success for dog welfare</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">" in reality the new law invents an <strong>artificial</strong> <strong>new class of animal cruelty</strong>: one that has nothing to do with the condition of any particular animal and the care it receives. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The new law prohibits NYC dog owners from humanely and responsibly containing their dogs by proper tethering and creates substantial penalties for those who do, even if their dogs are perfectly well-cared for and healthy. All that matters in NYC is the amount of time elapsed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NYC's new law offers no solutions and zero support for struggling owners who cannot restrain their dogs by other means. Especially in NYC, quality, dog-proof fencing is expensive and very often prohibited by zoning and/or landlord restrictions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dogs previously contained by proper tethering may well wind up in the hands of New York City's Animal Care and Control -- where the chances are pretty good they will sicken and die.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Vallone's proposal wasn't just about tethering. Nope.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/220px-WhileCitySleepsPoster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/220px-WhileCitySleepsPoster.jpg" /></span></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hasty amendments on the down-low</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the very morning of January 18, Int. 425 was heard in committee, it was amended and passed by the NYC Council's Committee on Health.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That same afternoon, the City Council voted to enact the amended version. The ink on the amendments was hardly dry. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apparently the group of know-nothings that put the amendments together consulted each other, and no one else. They made a couple of teensy blunders. . .</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Artificial crimes lead to unwitting perps.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Uno the Westminster Best in Show <strike>Beagle</strike> Pit Bull</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The collar Uno so graciously models above? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ones worn by virtually every dog exhibited at the world's most celebrated dog show, the Westminster Kennel Club show at Madison Square Garden?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/house.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dog show that brings in tourists, exhibitors and camera crews to New York City from across the country and around the world?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, Uno's collar is now illegal in New York City. Uno just became an honorary "pit bull." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I guess his owners are now honorary criminal gangbanging lowlifes. Welcome to the club.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ASPCA "humane law enforcement officers" swarming Westminster?</span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, will spectators at Madison Square Garden be treated to the sight of an ASPCA raid? With something like 2500 entrants at Westminster, virtually all wearing <strike>dogfighting paraphernalia</strike> . . .um <strike>nasty pit bull equipment</strike> . . .uh <strike>show dog collars</strike> no, no make that "<strong>prohibited choke collars</strong>" it would sure make for a great episode on Animal Planet. Imagine the royalties.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/meadowlands-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/meadowlands-1.jpg" /></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Go west, kennel club. Go west. </span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To the Members of the Board of the Westminster Kennel Club: take your show to New Jersey. Please.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <a href="http://www.newmeadowlandsstadium.com/3_private_events.php">Meadowlands </a>would welcome you with open arms. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the parking is way cheaper.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's clear that New York City doesn't want you, doesn't value the millions of dollars you bring to the local economy each year and all the positive publicity you generate.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The City Council considers your practices abusive.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its time to blow that fire trap, and leave the explanations to Peter Vallone Jr. and the ASPCA. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm thinking Mayor Bloomberg, the rest of the City Council -- not to mention the owners of Madison Square Garden and other NYC businesses that will miss Westminster -- are going to be interested in hearing them. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-4121588252032545922010-12-21T20:18:00.006-05:002010-12-27T14:42:17.730-05:00ASPCA Hires Dogfighter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/coal-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" n4="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/coal-1.jpg" width="186" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">while <strong>$50,000 Buys an HSUS Make-over for Michael Vick</strong>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's coming on Christmas, but we're gonna get nothing but </span><a href="http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/moral+turpitude"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">moral turpitude</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from "humane" animal extremist flagships like HSUS and ASPCA.</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ASPCA Proudly Welcomes Confessed Animal Abuser</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terry Mills, diplomatically described as an "animal fighting specialist" in the </span><a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/12/prweb4892944.htm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ASPCA's press release</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, was recently hired by the private, non-profit corporation to "collaborate" with publicly-employed law enforcement personnel and "spearhead" dog and cockfighting investigations conducted at public expense.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/mills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/mills.jpg" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With a mission to supplant the function of public servants who ultimately are responsible to the tax-payers controlling their jobs, Mills' function runs parallel to that of the ASPCA's fraudulent forensic animal "</span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2010/12/aspcas-melinda-merck-checks-in-at.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">expert" and puppy thief</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, Melinda Merck.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mills will be "training" law enforcement personnel, and public funds will cover the cost.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terry Mills had retired after 30 years with the Missouri State Highway Patrol when the ASPCA picked up his contract. According to the ASPCA, Mills' prime qualification was an 18 month stint "as an undercover officer, gaining access to the underground world of organized dog fighting and collecting extensive evidence."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">But let's take a closer look at what Mills<em> really</em> did during his 18 months of "collecting extensive evidence."</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ASPCA blows off felony animal cruelty </span></strong><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Skeletons-in-the-Closet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Skeletons-in-the-Closet.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mills had way, <em>way</em> more than mere "access."</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2010-09-02/news/huge-dogfighting-bust-went-down-only-after-cops-brought-their-pit-bulls-to-the-fight/7/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By his own admission</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, to further his work he acquired 40 American Pit Bull Terrier dogs, and about a dozen puppies. He conditioned them for the purposes of fighting, trained them for the purpose of fighting, and transported them to fight venues. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He deliberately -- and call me crazy, but I believe this was malicious -- fought them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A number of Mills' dogs died as a result of the injuries they sustained in the fights Mills arranged.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mills abandoned the surviving dogs when the investigation concluded.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How "humane."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Funny how the ASPCA didn't mention any of this.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/takesone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/takesone.jpg" /></span></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do the ends justify the means?</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe. If the "ends" are career enhancement and a certain amount of personal glory.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2009 the various personalities involved in "dogfighting for the greater good" --Terry Mills, his partner Jeff Heath, the ASPCA's Tim Rickey, and Kyle Held of the </span><a href="http://www.semissourian.com/story/1582330.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Humane Society of Missouri</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> -- were all named the ASPCA's Law Enforcement Officers of the Year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do I hear a "woo-hoo!" out there? No?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of Mills' prime cohorts in the humane dogfight ring, Tim Rickey, left the Humane Society of Missouri to become the ASPCA's senior director of field investigations and response. He'll join fellow immoral "humane champions" Melinda Merck and</span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2009/04/hsus-on-pit-bulls-better-off-dead.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Chris Schindler</span></a>, <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the bastard who agreed in court testimony that unweaned pit bull puppies are "too dangerous" to live.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Mills just got himself hired by the ASPCA. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These people are in like Flynn -- rolling in the clover.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2009/10/aspcas-safe-haven-for-pit-bull-killers.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Laura Maloney</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, ASPCA alumnus and veteran pit bull killer, already moved on to the HSUS. Greener pastures, dontcha know?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The $50,000 Price-tag for the Redemption of Michael Vick </strong> </span><br />
<strong></strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/brother.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="133" n4="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/brother.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">O, Wayne, where art thou?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vick and his humaniac controllers put down </span><a href="http://humanewatch.org/index.php/site/post/press_release_nyt_ad_slams_hsus_prez/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">$50,000 cash money</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> for the purpose of cleansing Vick's <strike>soul</strike> reputation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Wayne Pacelle and HSUS snatched it up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No questions asked.</span><br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/humanewatch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/humanewatch.jpg" width="220" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pacelle, who lost no time in using Michael Vick's infamy as a factory fundraising tool, all the while </span><a href="http://www.dogpolitics.com/my_weblog/2007/08/hsus-wayne-pace.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">calling for the death of Vick's dogs</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, now claims that Vick would "do a good job" as a pet owner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how come Vick's not feeling the love ? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Outrage on the internet</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/HumaneWatch">Facebook is in flames</a>. People just aren't happy with the thought of Vick-as-responsible-dog-owner. Nope. Not at all. No amount of "social networking management" is gonna make this go away.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Could it be the pet-loving American public won't be manipulated quite as easily as HSUS and its spin doctors thought?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are people finally, <em>finally,</em> sickened by <a href="http://yesbiscuit.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/hsus-rescues-44-dogs-from-al-home-where-are-they-now/">all the killing in the farcical name of the "humane" treatment of animals</a>? Anybody else have a problem with "humane" dogfighting rings? Cause I sure do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will potential donors sidestep that vast sea of holiday-themed "Donate NOW!" bullshit? Will they avoid getting sucked into ethically bankrupt fundraising campaigns?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I sure hope so.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-73930626915556406072010-12-14T09:22:00.006-05:002010-12-14T13:05:37.087-05:00ASPCA's Melinda Merck Checks in at Smackdown Hotel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-right: center;"></div><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Forensic Puppy Thief </span></strong><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusriadsixpup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" n4="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusriadsixpup.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">No Damn Expert </span></strong><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Florida Circuit Judge Kicks Merck to the Curb</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blue Dog State readers will remember the key role Merck played in the shameful <a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2009/08/hsus-and-aspca-filling-pit-bull-burial.html">seizure of Joe Woodall's dogs</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Merck okayed the impoundment of Woodall's healthy, happy dogs for "evaluation on suspicion of dogfighting." </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwol8KjkchC_u1Pl8WWdLbUDL94uGNEWLXVD6SZtHp67gBrM1ExHf8mR9QkTe-S3SmnPT_dYNluI7I9GhWLM24q5071l8uP_ATNJqBMS4OUCIjsTQonNGNKKfmgGeYjGcJKSZB7w/s1600/cowboy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwol8KjkchC_u1Pl8WWdLbUDL94uGNEWLXVD6SZtHp67gBrM1ExHf8mR9QkTe-S3SmnPT_dYNluI7I9GhWLM24q5071l8uP_ATNJqBMS4OUCIjsTQonNGNKKfmgGeYjGcJKSZB7w/s1600/cowboy.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dogs were dumped in a county animal control facility 250 miles from Woodall's home. No "evaluation" was ever conducted. Merck and the rest of the animal extremist private army that raided Joe Woodall never looked back. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It took Joe eight weeks, and more than he could afford in attorney's fees, to secure the return of his dogs. Woodall was never charged with a crime, but his life changed forever.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Cats and "professional", "serial" cat killers</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leveraging her "forensic" credentials as she ascends the animal extremist hierarchy, Merck continues to play a critical role in the seizure of animals on suspicion of heinous crimes and sending unknown quantities of dogs to their deaths based on her "expert" opinion that they were used in dogfighting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>You can fool some of the people all of the time. . .</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Miami-Dade, coverage of the "serial cat killer" responsible for the "surgical evisceration" of 19 pets alternately </span><a href="http://www.justnews.com/news/19714605/detail.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">thrilled and terrorized</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> South Florida residents for months as a young man faced allegations of criminally depraved behavior. The </span><a href="http://blogs.discovery.com/criminal_report/2009/06/florida-cat-serial-killer.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Discovery Channel</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> just couldn't get enough of the story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">18-year-old Tyler Weinman endured house arrest, an electronic monitoring device, court-ordered psychiatric evaluations, and heavy bond requirements. He received death threats, and he faced 158 years in prison if convicted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the country's foremost "forensic animal expert" </span><a href="http://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvetted/2010/dec/animal_csi_gone_wrong"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Merck told authorities</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that in her opinion the dead cats had been cruelly sliced apart with sharp instrument, presenting in a stereotypically deviant way. The ASPCA's other "authority", </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/15/tyler-hayes-weinman-charg_n_215653.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Randall Lockwood, added a little more fuel to the twisted fire, as he explained</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that . . .</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. . .cruelty toward cats, as opposed to other animals, can fulfill a deeper need for control. Cats, unlike dogs, can be more difficult to control. They don't come when they're called and are often more independent (said Dr. Randall Lockwood of The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and author of "Forensic Investigation of Animal Cruelty").</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Things just couldn't have been sicker, according to the ASPCA.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/head.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Except the charges against Tyler Weinman quickly fell to pieces. An expert brought in by the defense to examine the cat remains peeled back the fur on the corpses, and found bite marks. Not scalpel marks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead of a demented cat-hating psycho on the loose, the cats were killed by the usual suspects: animal predators. "Forensic expert" Merck was forced to change her interpretation of the evidence and agree with the defense's witness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Charges against the defendant were quickly dropped.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Judge fed up with imaginary serial cat killers and phantom dog rapists</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only two weeks later, in considering the Armand Pacher dog-sexploitation charges, Judge </span><a href="http://www.kentucky.com/2010/12/01/1548994_veterinarian-under-spotlight-again.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trawick was outspoken</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in his rejection of Merck's expertise:</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"She doesn't have any credibility with me right now," Circuit Judge Daryl Trawick warned a prosecutor during a pretrial hearing. . . If you're going to rely upon her, she's going to have to come to this courtroom and testify. . .I will judge her credibility based upon what I see from the witness stand."</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pacher, a retired business executive in poor health and with no prior criminal record, </span><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/01/1952904/animal-expert-wrong-in-2nd-notorious.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">made an off-colored joke</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> when he brought his Great Dane in to a University of Florida veterinary clinic. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/gear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/gear.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pacher's stupid joke about having sex with his dog triggered (what else?) a forensic investigation by Melinda Merck. His </span><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/01/1952904/animal-expert-wrong-in-2nd-notorious.html#ixzz17vodJG9E"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">attorney described</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> a police raid "in full tactical gear and armed with automatic weapons, ransacking the high-rise condo and seizing "dog leashes, collars, grooming tools, as well as computers, files, photos, documents, videos and virtually everything else that could be physically removed from the defendant's apartment.''</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cops based themselves on Melinda Merck's examination of the dog and her findings of vaginitis, human sperm and other indications of sexual abuse. </span><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/01/1952904/animal-expert-wrong-in-2nd-notorious.html#ixzz180MrVb1k"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Merck provided police with an affidavit</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> supporting the search and the seizure of Pacher's computer and other personal items because "this type of sexually deviant behavior has a definite voyeuristic component.''</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Sounds pretty bad, doesn't it? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Except the cops didn't find any perverted, weird crap in Pacher's home. The only "evidence" against him was Merck's examination of the dog. And guess what?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The four board certified theriologists who reviewed Merck's test results, and the conclusions she drew, disagreed with her. Majorly. Nearly violently.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, Dr. Bruce Elits of Louisiana State University concluded that Merck "<u>made false statements in this report in order to exaggerate the true facts</u>."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hotpotatoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hotpotatoe.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Charges against 65 year-old Armand Pacher were also promptly dropped.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Attention media hounds and ASPCA watchers:</u> Watch for civil law suits from both Pacher and Weinman. The various instigators of the destruction of their lives may not have heard the last of them yet.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peers review the ASPCA's forensic head honcho</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In evaluating Melinda Merck's work on the Pacher case, other experts in animal reproduction were not impressed either:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. G. Reed Holyoak of Oklahoma State University: "It would appear, in the end, there was no sperm where they thought sperm had been and what they thought was sperm was probably something else.''</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Hannah Glanlantino-Homer of the University of Pennsylvania: "I have found nothing in any of these records that supports Dr. Merck's repeated assertions that [Pacher's dog] 'Christie' suffered from sexual abuse by her owner.''</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Miami veterinarian Dr. Ray George Bailey: "[W]ith the total lack of any supporting evidence from the start, making these type of accusations, taking Mr. Pacher's dog away for months, arresting Mr. Pacher, newspaper and Internet articles about his arrest, defamation of his character, not to mention legal expense, is all just wrong.''</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When "animal CSI" goes wrong. . .way wrong</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Patty Khuly, vet and writer of the popular veterinary blog, </span><a href="http://www.laneparkdogs.com/aggregator/sources/4"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PetMd</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. writes:</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a stunning breach of ethics and/or competence, self-styled "animal CSI" expert, Dr. Melinda Merck (of the ASPCA) either misled the courts for the purpose of advancing her personal/professional agenda, or she displayed shocking incompetence in the field she pioneered and through which she rose to prominence.</span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and it just keeps getting better. . .</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/stupid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/stupid.jpg" /></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Merck runs Univ. of Florida's Veterinary Forensic Training Program</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She's "training" more "animal CSI" "experts." </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With a </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/24/melinda-merck-animal-csi-_n_788021.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">$300,000 stake from the ASPCA</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Merck co-founded UF's "Animal CSI" program in 2009.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The whole corrupt idea is that privately-employed individuals should be "training" employees of other private corporations (SPCA's and "humane societies") in the enforcement of laws which govern all of us.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Merck, the employee of a private corporation with no responsibilities other than to the board of directors of that private corporation, influenced the issuance of search warrants and the prosecution of two individuals in Florida for crimes that, apparently, are figments of her own sick (really sick) imagination.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or her blind ambition. Or God complex. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whatever.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Florida Circuit Court Judge Daryl Trawick has her number. Merck is, literally, incredible. I just hope the judges and prosecutors in other cases Merck instigated are paying attention. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-41993316409654611242010-07-12T20:15:00.005-04:002010-08-09T14:50:48.047-04:00Humane Double Standards: NFP's and everybody else<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" rw="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/misdirect.jpg" width="320" /></span></div><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What's IRS tax filing status got to do with animal care and expertise?</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's what I want to know.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">As fallout from the Death of Oreo's Law continues, and pet lovers <a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=35437039&postID=3175529992430840458">spot abundant hypocrisy in responses from a certain Oreo's Law proponent </a>. . .</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Why aren't "animal rescue organizations" clamoring to be inspected for compliance with the minimum standards of care so often required of dastardly "breeders"?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Aren't they supposed to be the shining examples? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Apparently not. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/sealapproval.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/sealapproval.jpg" /></span></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nonprofit Doesn't Mean "Good"</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
It doesn't mean <a href="http://www.ohio.com/news/85426872.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"humane."</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It doesn't mean </span><a href="http://www2.guidestar.org/rxa/news/articles/2004/how-ethical-is-your-nonprofit-organization.aspx?articleId=827"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ethical.</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looks like</span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2010/07/05/kerrys-update-july-4th-2010/#more-567"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> it doesn't mean competent</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, either:</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People thought he was so cute and everyone wanted to adopt him. Three of them even tried and returned him the next day. We told people it would take at least two weeks before he stopped trying to bite you, but …still, he came back, all full of himself, and almost…proud that he outlasted another one. Giggle. We couldn’t stand it, it was so funny and so cute and he was such a holy terror.</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">"Giggle." ??? How clueless can you get?</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blue Dog's Modest Proposal</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not long ago, </span><a href="http://yesbiscuit.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/should-all-rescues-be-allowed-to-pull-death-row-shelter-pets/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blue Dog State answered an honest question</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, which later morphed into </span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2010/07/oreos-law-smackdown.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">last week's blog</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> on the merciful death of Oreo's Law and the humane food fight that rapidly ensued.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In response to Yes Biscuit's request for "criteria or guidelines . . .to be sure that rescue is a reasonable place to send the animals" Blue Dog suggested. . .</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">501(c)3 “rescue” organizations should be designated “pet dealers” under NYS law, subject to the same scrutiny, the same inspection for conformity to the same minimum standards of care as other pet dealers operating in the state of New York.</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Support for the suggestion was. . . well . . . mixed. At least in that forum.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some felt that my modest proposal would mean the end to foster homes, but </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe that issue is readily fixable.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/jail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" rw="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/jail.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the other hand, I'm not too big on double standards. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't see why NFP status should provide a shield from inspection and regulation</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As far as I'm concerned, it is either appropriate and necessary to regulate facilities selling animals in volume. . .or it is not.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, let's give it another shot:</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Take the dang Poll!</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note that<strong> Blue Dog's Modest Proposal</strong> assumes the presence of regulations governing commercial kennels or pet dealers which typically exempt smaller "hobby-type" facilities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Also, you may have to hit the lefthand "submit query" in order to vote. The righthand "submit query" leads me to the poll results. Go figure.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<form action="http://poll.pollcode.com/K85" method="post"><table bgcolor="#00ffff" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 150px;"><tbody>
<tr><td colspan="2"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;"><b>Proposed: 501(c)3's should be regulated like pet dealers or commercial kennels.</b></span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="5"><input name="answer" type="radio" /></td><td><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Thumbs up! tax reporting status is meaningless in this context.</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="5"><input name="answer" type="radio" /></td><td><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Thumbs down! NFP's are just different. Hell if I can explain it.</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="5"><input name="answer" type="radio" /></td><td><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Licensing and regulation of facilities selling animals is unnecessary. Period.</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="5"><input name="answer" type="radio" /></td><td><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">License and regulate any person or facility selling any animal under any circumstances.</span></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><br />
<br />
<br />
<center><input type="submit" /> <input name="view" type="submit" /></center></td></tr>
<tr><td align="right" bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan="2"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">pollcode.com <a href="http://pollcode.com/"><span style="color: navy;">free polls</span></a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></form><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What say you all?</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-31755299924308404582010-07-05T18:21:00.014-04:002010-07-06T12:32:19.423-04:00Oreo's Law Smackdown<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/foodfight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" rw="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/foodfight.jpg" width="275" /></a></div><em><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winograd vs. ASPCA vs. Best Friends vs. Pets Alive vs. Animal Law Coalition vs. Mayor's Alliance vs. . . . </span></strong></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tantrums! Deceit! Megalomania!</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the needs of the People of the State of New York? Did anybody even ask?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oreo's Law goes down in flames in Albany</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In mid-June, despite a</span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2010/06/10/oreos-law-will-die-without-your-calls-and-letters-we-need-your-help/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> last ditch effort</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> by Oreo's Law proponents </span><a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-16635-SF-Animal-Shelters-Examiner~y2010m5d15-Crunch-time-for-Oreos-Law"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">across the country</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to push the bill forward, the New York State Assembly Committee on Agriculture wasted little time in moving to table the controversial proposal. Oreo's Law makes the transfer of shelter dogs or cats scheduled for euthanasia to <em><strong>any</strong></em> 501(c)3 that wants them mandatory and a matter of state law.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tabling a young proposal is not unusual in New York, where successful bills typically spend six years in committee, under discussion and being refined, before passing into law. New York isn't California. It's not Utah, either.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oreo's Law (</span><a href="http://www.assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&bn=A09449%09%09&Summary=Y&Memo=Y&Text=Y"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A9449/S6412</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) was first introduced in the state legislature in January, 2010. It was amended four times in five weeks. Legislators might have wanted the ink to dry, maybe consult with their actual constituents, before making a decision. I dunno. It's just a thought.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vengeance is Mine</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/doasIsay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/doasIsay.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oreo's Law died in committee. The shit storm commenced the day before, with </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pets Alive's co-Executive Director, Matt DeAngelis</span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2010/06/14/466/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> leading the charge</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let’s show [New York legislators] that in the end the PEOPLE of New York decide the POLICIES of New York, not some power hungry elitists with our money spilling out of their pockets.</span></em><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I, Matt DeAngelis, promise that should [Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair] Mr. Magee table this bill I will personally pour my own personal time, energy and money into ensuring he is defeated this November, WHEN HE IS UP FOR RE-ELECTION.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, brother. So, it's okay for DeAngelis to pour <em>his</em> money into New York politics, but not for his opponents to do likewise? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/carpetbag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/carpetbag.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pets Alive's co-executive director says he speaks for the "PEOPLE of New York" . . .but </span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2010/06/29/best-friends-welcome-to-new-york/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he lives in Connecticut</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. DeAngelis doesn't want to live in New York, and legislators please note, he thinks the New York government is "insane." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2010/07/05/kerrys-update-july-4th-2010/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pets Alive is forming a Political Action Committee</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, which of course is a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_action_committee"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">tool for influencing legislation and legislators</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> based in large part on financial contributions, but Matt has a problem with "power hungry elitists" spending<em> their</em> money in a similar way?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is all so <em>confusing.</em> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">DeAngelis took a <a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2010/06/29/best-friends-welcome-to-new-york/">swing at Best Friends Animal Society</a>, too. On June 29 the Connecticut resident blogged:</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Best Friends never really understood New York and New Yorkers. This ain’t some rinky dink little town in Utah. If you want our money you need to actually get off the fence and take a stand. We’re tough and we’re smart. You don’t get a pass because you’re Best Friends, and you can’t spin your way out of your mistakes. We bent over backwards on Oreo’s Law to meet demands we thought were frankly, ridiculous. And then you reneged on your promise to support Oreo’s Law and went silent. You’re getting called on it now. If you want to keep spinning instead of doing the right thing and admitting your mistake and supporting the right side of this, you do so at your own peril. You might want to save the civility card for Best Friends Europe.</span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But </span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2010/07/03/freedom-and-liberty/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">four days later</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, Best Friends was Pets Alive's best friend in the whole wide world:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Thank you to Best Friends Animal Society for being our best friends. . .</em></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/history.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/history.jpg" /></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winograd: "<strike>God</strike> History <strike>will absolve</strike> is on our side"</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It wasn't only Pets Alive and Matt DeAngelis venting their rage on the internet. All kinds of dirty laundry is still swinging in the breeze.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Soon after the bill was introduced in Albany, Nathan Winograd of the No Kill Advocacy Center in Oakland, California was deeply involved in negotiating its terms with the ASPCA and using Best Friends Animal Society of Utah as an intermediary. In </span><a href="http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/2044813/winograd-sayresoffer-121k?da=y"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">his January letter to the Ed Sayres</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, Winograd makes a number of offers in an effort to garner their support for his proposal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The ASPCA and Sayres apparently rejected them all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the bill was tabled in the state legislature, in a </span><a href="http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?page_id=166"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">scathing and likely defamatory series of blogs</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Winograd calls Sayres . . .</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a bad, small-minded and hard-hearted individual. . . .[who] has defended killing and killers throughout the nation, providing them political cover which allows them to remain in their positions and kill even more. . . . . Time and time again, [Sayres] has misappropriated donor funds given to save animals to promote their killing instead. . . .</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Best Friends Animal Society didn't fair much better. </span><a href="http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=3627"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winograd blogs that</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. . .</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Best Friends not only took an indefensible position of neutrality on Oreo’s Law, abandoning the rescue groups and animals who made them who they are, but also tried to get Animal Ark and Animal Wise Radio to withdraw their support for this lifesaving legislation . . . .Their contradictory responses have been a bitter disappointment. . .No self reflection. No thoughtfulness. No truth. All politics. . . .[Best Friends] lashed out, lied to cover their behinds, and in doing so, proved me right.</span></em><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/kellner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/kellner.jpg" /></span></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Micah Kellner: Whose elected official is he, anyway?</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the June 20 interview Oreo's Law sponsor Assemblyman Kellner did with </span><a href="http://www.animalwiseradio.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">AnimalWise Radio</span></a> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(interview begins at 1:09 mark</span>)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, Kellner tells the tale of how his colleagues in the NYS legislature failed to "stand up for animals."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He describes how Nathan Winograd helped him draft the proposal, and how Deborah Bresch--the ASPCA's Albany lobbyist--lied to him about whether the ASPCA was secretly working to rally opposition. Kellner and the show's host discuss how Best Friends (of Utah) "aggressively" lobbied Animal Wise (of Minnesota) to withdraw their support.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kellner lists Oreo's Law's biggest supporters as: the No Kill Advocacy Center (of California), Taimie Bryant (the </span><a href="http://www.law.ucla.edu/home/index.asp?page=439"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UCLA animal rights law professor</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who wrote California's Hayden law), and "rescues from across the country."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">No mention of his Manhattan constituency, by the way.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/revenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/revenge.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kellner then goes on to explain that it isn't all bad news: he was able to block the ASPCA's access to funding from increased intact/neutered license fee differentials anticipated in NY City.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Worth noting</strong>: Maddies Fund contributed </span><a href="http://www.animalalliancenyc.org/supportus/maddies.htm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">$24.4 million</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> over the last five years to fund low cost spay-neuter efforts in NYC. The ASPCA apparently claims to perform an additional 30,000 surgeries there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like radio host Mike Fry comments, how much more money do they need? There are fewer than 30,000 licensed dogs in the City of New York, and with a neutering rate of roughly 80% among "responsible" dog owners, how much money does Kellner imagine an increased surcharge will raise?</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The future of "No Kill": Special interests, PAC's and more backroom wheeling and dealing?</span></strong><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/meatgrinder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/meatgrinder.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enacting a law, any law, isn't a pretty process. But this is not normal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pets Alive's Matt DeAngelis feels the need to shut up those who dare voice concerns with a weird mix of defensiveness, bravado and </span><a href="http://yesbiscuit.wordpress.com/2010/06/29/best-friends-animal-society-and-oreos-law/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ego-centric, testosterone-infused internet posts</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">:</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been following your defense of the ASPCA and Best Friends all over the place. </span></em><br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/carnegie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/carnegie.jpg" /></span></a><br />
<div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You are dangerous in that you are giving people half the facts, and are totally missing the point. . . .And we are going to get Oreo’s Law passed without the ASPCA and with or without Best Friends. The only thing that seems to be in the way are well-meaning but sadly misinformed people like you. . . .Before you even ASK me about my credentials, go through the Pets Alive website. I’d put my credentials up against anyone else in this fight.</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, my. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nathan Winograd made a terrible blunder in pushing Oreo's Law as hard as he did, and using Pets Alive to do it. And </span><a href="http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=3627"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">stuff like this</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: </span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read Dr. Martin Luther King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Think of the animals being killed when you do rather than African Americans being denied civil rights.</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not helpful at all. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes, boys, ya just gotta step away from the computer.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gone, baby. Gone.</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm a pit bull owner. There is nothing I want more than for "pit bulls" and other healthy, happy dogs to survive their shelter experiences. I agree that shelter management, not their customers and definitely not the dogs themselves, is responsible for the slaughter.</span><br />
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<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/carnival-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/carnival-1.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But what we are witnessing is not democracy in action. It's a freaking carnival ride. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No one made a fact-based case for Oreo's Law. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">No one knows what it would do, although the <a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2009/11/pets-alive-animal-sanctuary-or-animal.html">evidence is clear</a> that 501(c)3 status doesn't have anything to do with the proper care and management of animals.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead, Oreo's Law proponents are trying to cram it down the throats of 19 million New Yorkers based on emotion and a single incident involving one, very troubled dog.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My faith in Winograd's judgment--and maybe his sanity--is gone. This isn't animal advocacy. It's ego and obstinacy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is this where "no kill" is headed?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">- - - - -</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Comments</strong>: <em>Something is going on with Blogger, and some comments are not posting. They are not lost, and hopefully the dancing chimpanzees will fix the problem any minute now. Until that happens, missing comments will be posted here--within the blog text itself.</em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-27509478175875813832010-06-21T19:32:00.009-04:002010-06-23T01:16:19.301-04:00Forensic Persecution: Latest ASPCA Growth Opportunity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEH51T18fjJA3-JsldiEujgLLCYk6IGCLr-ocYCRyqk9lMB8AoDYnTdp6YNZ3G1LMSjGJR2pWNG5fVAIKS5NDTpoAqdQGw22j7o9MYCm2xvkeYMbvVtLYXN2af4NtH_WYgievwPw/s1600/daddy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEH51T18fjJA3-JsldiEujgLLCYk6IGCLr-ocYCRyqk9lMB8AoDYnTdp6YNZ3G1LMSjGJR2pWNG5fVAIKS5NDTpoAqdQGw22j7o9MYCm2xvkeYMbvVtLYXN2af4NtH_WYgievwPw/s320/daddy1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dogfight DNA Database:</span></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Using "science" to kill dogs and profile dog owners </span></em></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The "humane" war against pit bulls and their owners has raged for 30 years or more and continues to </span><a href="http://kezi.com/news/local/175451"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">kill defenseless dogs</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> belonging to </span><a href="http://www.heraldonline.com/2010/03/04/1994338/11-pit-bulls-from-dog-fighting.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">persons who have not yet gone to trial</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. It </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">continues to fill the coffers of </span><a href="http://yesbiscuit.blogspot.com/2009/03/hsus-record-on-dogfighting-bust-puppies.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">corporate "humane" killing machines</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/thatwasthenthisisnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="133" qu="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/thatwasthenthisisnow.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Playing to the audience, and their wallets</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But you knew all that. The scourge of <strike>pit bulls and their pesky owners</strike> dogfighting has to be the most <strike>reliable source of revenue ever identified and exploited</strike> dangerous and ever-growing crisis ever combated by HSUS, the ASPCA and their various toadies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But whoring out the field of genetic research in order to more efficiently ruin dog breeders, destroy their families and kill their dogs?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How low can you go? </span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ethics of building a genetic law enforcement database</span></strong><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/th_dna.jpg?t=1277142454" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/th_dna.jpg?t=1277142454" /></span></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seems that for the last 18 months </span><a href="http://www.aspca.org/pressroom/press-releases/061510.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the ASPCA has been collecting DNA</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> samples from dogs seized during "dog-fighting <em>investigations</em> (sic)" and from "<em>suspected</em> (sic) dog-fight venues." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the pit bull genes in the database are guilty until proven innocent. Which sounds about right, coming from Agent Orange.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">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?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Did they steal the genetic material?</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/th_hsusriadsixpup.jpg?t=1277145304" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/th_hsusriadsixpup.jpg?t=1277145304" /></span></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ASPCA watches CSI Miami, too</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">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 <strong>evidence</strong> for dog fighting investigations. . . ."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Merck is a liar. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An established genetic relationship between two dogs is evidence of an established genetic relationship between two dogs. Not dogfighting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">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.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Until 50 years ago, or less depending on the state, dogfighting was a legal activity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Get where I'm going with this?</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/th_petey.jpg?t=1277161715" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/th_petey.jpg?t=1277161715" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">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."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And somebody, somewhere, bred them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The DNA database is <strong>evidence</strong> 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. </span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Establishing connections" in order to kill dogs</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In its press release, Merck and the ASPCA claimed that. . .</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"DNA analysis and matching through the database will help law enforcement agencies to <strong>identify relationships between dogs</strong>, enabling investigators to <strong>establish connections between breeders, trainers, and dog-fight operators</strong>."</span><br />
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<a href="http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/06/dogfighting_dna_database.php"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tim Rickey</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, who came to the ASPCA from the Humane Society of Missouri (and </span><a href="http://www.aspca.org/pressroom/press-releases/010410-1.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HSMO is a DNA Database partner</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) blew right by the ethical issues: </span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"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." </span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Exactly. If your dog goes back to fighting dogs, you're going to jail and your dog has to die. The database "proves" it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its all so simple. And Tim Rickey should know. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/th_bounce.jpg?t=1277146872" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/th_bounce.jpg?t=1277146872" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Keep your eye on the bouncing ball</strong> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rickey is a "graduate" of the </span><a href="http://leti.missouri.edu/Cruelty%20PDF%20Files/Information%20Brochure.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">National Cruelty Investigations School</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> -- 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. . .</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the </span><a href="http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/hsus_trains_animal_control_and_law_enforcement_officers_to_investigate_animal_cruelty_cases.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Humane Society of the United States</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rickey may even have been taught by </span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2009/08/hsus-and-aspca-filling-pit-bull-burial.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HSUS "experts</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>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</em> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feeling better yet?</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxeTZY1f2sOmRvIki455v4IxkRGXo9L2dKbYyOd6981kKkAmJ8Khp9RdB_WuF-Gz8y68x_rRuCzHkidfRm5Imx6rCVRF-p0eDem56Prty6Fa-F2A7BVqubwHu5PvHHkHc8oAOzw/s1600/gravy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxeTZY1f2sOmRvIki455v4IxkRGXo9L2dKbYyOd6981kKkAmJ8Khp9RdB_WuF-Gz8y68x_rRuCzHkidfRm5Imx6rCVRF-p0eDem56Prty6Fa-F2A7BVqubwHu5PvHHkHc8oAOzw/s320/gravy.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No?</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hopping aboard the Dogfight DNA Gravy Train</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not just Merck and the ASPCA lining up to kill dogs based on cheek swab results. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to <strong>Missouri Humane,</strong> there's the <strong>Louisiana SPCA</strong> -- the very people that </span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2009/10/aspcas-safe-haven-for-pit-bull-killers.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">killed Floyd Boudreaux' pit bulls on arrival</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> at the shelter, and tried to brush off the slaughter as "an assumption." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the </span><a href="http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/forensics/CANINECODIS.php"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Veterinary Genetics Laboratory</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> at the <strong>University of California at Davis</strong>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They've all partnered up with Merck and the ASPCA. They all want a piece of that sweet,<em> sweet</em> CSI Humaniac pie. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/th_pimp-1.jpg?t=1277148860" /></span></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">U C Davis: All dressed up and ready to party</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like the ASPCA, LASPCA and HSMO, </span><a href="http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/forensics/CANINECODIS.php"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Davis has its hand out</span></a>, <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">too. Its not just the "humane community" that uses dogfighting as a fundraiser.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Persistent concerns from civil rights-minded advocacy groups about </span><a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/07/racial_profiling.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">racial profiling and genetic privacy</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">?</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080325083407.htm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Calls for</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> "ethically rigorous and practical guidance for investigators and research ethics boards"? Not a U C Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory problem. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">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 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterinarian's_Oath">mission as veterinarians</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">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.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">U C Davis' School of Veterinary Medicine has a </span><a href="http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/executive/staff.cfm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dean</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and an </span><a href="http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/executive/council.cfm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">advisory council</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Could they <em>all </em>be okay with prostituting the University of California at Davis? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's find out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">________________________</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">June 22 post script:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">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. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">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. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">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.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See link above for contact info, or for phone calls, faxes and snail mail:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dean Bennie I. Osburn</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">University of California</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One Shields Avenue</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Davis, CA 95616</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Phone: (530)-752-1360</span> FAX: (530) 752-2801<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Manager: Linda Ybarra </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Executive Associate Dean - Academic Programs: John R. Pascoe</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Manager: Erin Seay Phone: (530) 752-1324 FAX: (530) 752-2801</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Associate Dean - Academic Programs: Jan E. Ilkiw</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Manager: Erin Seay Phone: (530) 752-1324 FAX: (530) 752-2801</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Associate Dean - Clinical Programs: David Wilson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Manager: Bill Herthel Phone: (530) 752-2992 FAX: (530) 752-9620</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Associate Dean - Student Programs: Rance LeFebvre</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Manager: Yasmin Williams Phone: (530) 752-1383 FAX: (530) 752-8315</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Associate Dean - Research and Graduate Education: Kent C. Lloyd</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Manager: Juanita Humphrey Phone: (530) 752-6865 FAX: (530) 752-2801</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Assistant Dean - Research Development: Juanita C. Humphrey</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Phone: (530) 752-6865 FAX: (530) 752-2801</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Associate Dean - Public Programs: Donald J. Klingborg</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Manager: Jan McCarthy Phone: (530) 752-6895 FAX: (530) 752-7563</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Assistant Dean - Administration: Doreen E. Franke</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Manager: Kathleen Spurr Phone: (530) 752-1370 FAX: (530) 752-2801</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Assistant Dean - Development: Kelly J. Nimtz</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Manager: Willa Weiand Phone: (530) 752-6261 FAX: (530) 754-8774</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be sure to communicate with the referring vet you used, and feel free to post a copy of any correspondance here.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Way to go, Davis. Partnering up with the ASPCA is a wonderful way to encourage confidence in your clients. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-6509485795765961412010-06-08T07:54:00.004-04:002010-06-08T08:04:48.776-04:00In Defense of Animals Crowns Scotlund Haisley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/shaisley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/shaisley.jpg" /></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">HSUS and Wayne Pacelle's Cowboy Scot </span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now IDA's <em>President </em>Cowboy Scotlund</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So get with the program, pet lovers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No bad deed goes unrewarded. Not in the mixed up, muddled up, shook up world of animal rights extremism.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Convincing</em> people to rescue and adopt</span></strong><br />
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</span><br />
<a href="http://www.naiaonline.org/articles/archives/animalrightsquote.htm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 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." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">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."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And now IDA has Scotlund Haisley as its enforcer-in-chief.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adrenalin junkies: <strike>playing SWAT</strike> or "convincing" the public and "convincing" sick, old dogs?</span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://humanewatch.org/index.php/site/post/when_hsus_comes_a_knockin/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HumaneWatch.org's</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 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.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A South Dakota </span><a href="http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=99724"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">judge ordered</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 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.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Pang1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="226" qu="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Pang1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before the South Dakota debacle, there was </span><a href="http://humanewatch.org/index.php/site/post/federal_lawsuit_says_aloha_to_hsus/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HSUS's muscle-bound raid</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, led by Haisley, on the shelter Norman Pang operated for <em>six days</em> in Oahu. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">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. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead of help, Pang and the animals got Scotlund Haisley and his crew, who quickly labeled Pang a "murderer", "hoarder" and "collector." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All because, following his wife's death, Pang realized he was out of his depth and immediately asked for help. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pang brought a </span><a href="http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11121142"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">civil rights lawsuit</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> against HSUS, its Hawaiian Humane Society toady and others involved in the travesty.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">IDA rolls out the welcome mat</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In his </span><a href="http://newsblaze.com/story/20100606184854zzzz.nb/topstory.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">press released welcome note</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 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. . . ."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dynamic forces and powerful voices? </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/mommasbag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/mommasbag.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">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? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What kind of word games are these people playing?</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's all about the animals. [Not.]</span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://www.adoptapet.com/adoption_rescue/79257.htmlhttp://www.adoptapet.com/adoption_rescue/79257.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Frequently</strong></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> </strong></span><a href="http://www.allfortheanimals.org/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>cited</strong></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>, </strong></span><a href="http://www.itsallabouttheanimals.com/about-me.php"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>rarely clarified</strong></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> -- and often thoughtlessly uttered -- this statement needs translation. What it really means is:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/babel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/babel.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ends justify the means.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We'll do anything we want, and we think we won't be questioned.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">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. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We say anything we want, offer any explanation handy. We own the media. We own the legislature.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We're above the law. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's "all about the animals." Right?</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/TimesSquare1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" qu="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/TimesSquare1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">uh. . .right?</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whole 'nother posse saddling up</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and Blue Dog is just loving it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://humanewatch.org/index.php/site/post/humanewatch_in_times_square/">This stuff with the billboards and newspaper ads and Facebook? It leaves a mark</a>, and Wayne Pacelle knows it. HSUS ditched Scotlund Haisley when he became too great a liability.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Let's just hope <a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2009/02/hsus-kills-puppies.html">John Goodwin and Chris Schindler</a> are next.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for IDA? They'd better keep their insurance premiums paid up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">heh.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-21872367008773553732010-04-20T08:16:00.005-04:002010-04-20T14:16:43.980-04:00Souring "No Kill" in New York<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih76Y2z8enkIn85-IPJQWgIry4EO2I7m7w_4oiZgz3UtukTILfwS5vXAUHYuSVB0LBPojre9CYMZ9HZxQUUadcbzyHl5Z9-GUDWj7u5K98oUncOa3louoGHiWqdQHwK9Gyx06bEQ/s1600-h/oreo.jpg"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431458502530412482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih76Y2z8enkIn85-IPJQWgIry4EO2I7m7w_4oiZgz3UtukTILfwS5vXAUHYuSVB0LBPojre9CYMZ9HZxQUUadcbzyHl5Z9-GUDWj7u5K98oUncOa3louoGHiWqdQHwK9Gyx06bEQ/s200/oreo.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 120px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 125px;" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> <strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Animal Extremist Flagship Scrambles for Cover. . .</span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. . .as Nathan Winograd puts the screws to the ASPCA, the NYS Legislature mulls "Oreo's Law" and Pets Alive <em>still</em> hasn't filed mandatory tax forms with the NYS Charities Bureau.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The curtain is about to go up on The Clash of the Titans, Act II. So make yourself some popcorn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And grab a box of tissues, if you're not okay with a lot of political posturing at the expense of defenseless animals used as pawns in the this "humane" brinksmanship extravaganza.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Barbarians at Ed Sayres' gate: animal extremists protest at ASPCA</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><object height="475" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3RuK4bgbYd8&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3RuK4bgbYd8&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are not days of wine and roses at E. 92nd Street, and it </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgDNbXeWEFA"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">just</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-16635-SF-Animal-Shelters-Examiner~y2010m4d5-ASPCA-chiefs-tenure-marked-by-unconscionable-policies"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">gets</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=3272"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">worse</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> for Agent Orange -- the "voice of the voiceless" -- as things spiral downward.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, at the state capital. . .</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ASPCA's not the only one hearing voices</span></strong><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/6D9DD-litmus-test.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/6D9DD-litmus-test.jpg" wt="true" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Invoking the name of a dog <strike>tormented by a criminal then rescued</strike> tormented by a criminal, exploited for her fund-raising potential, and finally killed by the ASPCA, agents for the "humane" treatment of animals are administering their own litmus test in Albany: </span><a href="http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&bn=S06412%09%09&Summary=Y&Text=Y#jump_to_Text"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Oreo's Law"</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> -- </span><a href="http://www.yesonoreoslaw.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> or </span><a href="http://animals.change.org/blog/view/why_oreos_law_is_a_bad_idea"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Against</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The proposal makes the transfer of shelter animals scheduled for euthanasia to another shelter or rescue that wants them <em>mandatory and a matter of state law</em>. Amended four times since it was first introduced in January, "Oreo's Law" appears to be slowly strangling in its own red-tape, procedural requirements and specifications.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why would non-profits operating lawfully in the State of New York invite government involvement in what was their private, lawful business, anyway?</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oreo's unintended consequences</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are a few questions for New York's elected public officials:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What if the "NONPROFIT, AS DEFINED IN SECTION 501(C)(3) OF THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE ANIMAL RESCUE OR ADOPTION ORGANIZATION" is </span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2010/03/22/kerrys-update-march-22/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">fiscally irresponsible</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and has no competence whatsoever with dogs like Oreo, that -- for whatever reason and with an unknown capacity for improvement -- keep trying to bite people?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What connection is there between an organization's tax reporting status and its ability to manage problematic dogs?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Doesn't the mandate of elected officials include protecting the safety and welfare of the People of the State of New York from the blunders of outfits like Pets Alive?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What mechanism exists to protect the welfare of animals in the custody of those "adoption organizations"? They are exempted from humane standards of care requirements made of similar facilities with a differing tax-filing status, and are </span><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3068497&page=1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">not routinely inspected</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> by the State of New York. Dogs with temperament issues could spend a lifetime sequestered at a private "adoption organization." Who's going to check on them?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will all of those tax-exempt "adoption organizations" stand up to public scrutiny?</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pets Alive: Still crazy. After all these years. </span></strong><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Gran_Zeus_by_el_grimlock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Gran_Zeus_by_el_grimlock.jpg" wt="true" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pets Alive of Middletown, New York, occasionally known as "Best Friends, East Coast Division", doesn't seem to notice subtle warnings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As of April 15, 2010, the </span><a href="http://www.petsalive.com/oreo.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">self-styled "hero"</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> of the campaign to pass Oreo's Law remains a scoff-law private corporation risking its tax-exempt status by failing to submit IRS Form 990's to the New York State Charities Bureau, as required by state law. The Charities Bureau hasn't heard from Pets Alive since 2003.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2007, Pets Alive also needed to file for exemption from 2008 property taxes. Neither its founder, nor any member of the Pets Alive Board of Directors, fulfilled the requirement. Pets Alive was billed $46,000 for 2008 taxes and w</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hen they failed to pay, the county moved to foreclose.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last month Pets Alive <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_894038463">narrowly </a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100325/NEWS/3250322/-1/NEWS">escaped disaster</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> when the county executive took up their cause. Would </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ed Diana -- the elected public official that Pets Alive says "</span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2010/03/22/kerrys-update-march-22/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">has our back</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">" -- intervene on behalf of the rest of the people in Orange County, New York if they didn't make timely submissions to the tax assessor's office, too?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It isn't clear how the Town of Wallkill and the Pine Bush School District, short-changed when revenue from Pets Alive taxes failed to materialize, will manage without the income they expected. Does Diana have $23 thou for the Pine Bush School District? Cause </span><a href="http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100402/NEWS/100409969/-1/NEWS"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">they're looking for the funds</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Business as usual at Pets Alive</span></strong><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/cheese_with_whine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/cheese_with_whine.jpg" wt="true" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to its on-going failure to comply with state law, Pets Alive also continues to sell "cranky" dogs to </span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2010/04/14/some-days/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"self-centered, arrogant, egotistical and yes, stupid people"</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who later return the dog, ask for their money back, involve their lawyer when Pets Alive refuses to issue a refund, and complain to the Better Business Bureau.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The </span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2009/12/15/kerrys-update-december-15th/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">beg-a-thons continue</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rationalizations for importing more and more animals from all over the country, and Puerto Rico, increasingly sound like a page from a hoarder's diary. Days away from last month's near-miss with foreclosure, Pets Alive was </span><a href="http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100317/NEWS/3170334"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">busy bringing in more animals</span></a>:<br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But they refuse to stop rescuing animals — [co-Executive Director] DeAngelis was in West Virginia over the weekend, rescuing more than 80 dogs and cats. </span></em><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"We just can't stop on the possibility that we might close," [co-Executive Director] Clair says.</span></em><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Road to No Kill ?</span></strong> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This isn't working for me. Not at all. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth -- and I'm a person who really wants to believe in "no kill." Or very, very low kill.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The pissing contests and political correctness assessments involving the ASPCA and the state legislature are bad enough. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/NeilYoungeverybodyknowsthisisnowher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/NeilYoungeverybodyknowsthisisnowher.jpg" wt="true" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But legislation that would further empower a dysfunctional group like Pets Alive, and mandate placement of vulnerable and possibly dangerous animals to their care? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm not buying it, and I don't think the people of New York should be compelled to buy it, either. This <em>is</em> no where. </span><br />
<div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-1993807024287724842010-04-05T17:08:00.009-04:002010-04-06T00:44:05.500-04:00ASPCA Flim-Flams the Feds<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/250px-Colbert-truthiness.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 250px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 176px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/250px-Colbert-truthiness.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">
<strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Publicly-ish Accountable Law Enforcement </span></strong></span>
<span style="font-family:arial;"><p><em>Privately employed, self-described "humane authorities" training civil servants and law enforcement personnel on the Fed's nickle.</em>
<strong>Nation, </strong><strong>perception is <em>everything</em>.</strong>
</p>You just gotta love <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthiness"><span style="font-family:arial;">Stephen Colbert</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">: </span><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>It used to be, everyone was entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. But that's not the case anymore. Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything. It's certainty.</em>
<strong>The perception of authority</strong></span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/575925.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 125px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/575925.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">
The ASPCA goes to great lengths to </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/575925.jpg"></a><span style="font-family:arial;">mimic public servants answerable to tax-payers and voters -- truthiness! gotta have it! -- but in reality ASPCA employees are private contractors responsible to a privately-controlled corporation which is effectively shielded from public scrutiny.
The </span><a href="http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/foia.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Freedom of Information Act </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">doesn't apply to the ASPCA. They mostly don't have to tell us shit if they don't feel like it.
ASPCA's privately employed personnel are responsible to its own privately-elected board of directors. Not "We, the People".
<strong>U. S. Department of Justice underwrites ASPCA jive</strong>
</span><a href="http://www.aspcapro.org/animal-cruelty-training.php"><span style="font-family:arial;">ASPCAPro.org </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">(an ASPCA offshoot that has "gathered information and knowledge <strong>from our experts,</strong> along with profiles, sample materials, and inspiration from proven programs in the field, for you to share and use") recently announced a free, online training program for law enforcement personnel on "dogfighting detection."</span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusriadsixpup.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 350px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusriadsixpup.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> The program is financed by the U. S. Department of Justice.
Knowledge from their experts, huh? "Experts" like Melinda Merck? </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Is the DOJ okay with the ASPCA's scorched earth policy for "pit bull" owners in Georgia?
Working hand in hand with Norred and Associates -- the private, for profit, security-firm-turned-humaniac-tool that boasted of </span><a href="http://www.helpstopdogfighting.com/?p=249"><span style="font-family:arial;">initiating 19 raids</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> leading to the <strike>deaths</strike> rescues of "fighting dogs" in Georgia in 2009 alone -- the ASPCA has been instrumental in violating the civil rights of dog and animal owners.
Just as a reminder, here's a shot of the Merck tucking one of </span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2009/08/hsus-and-aspca-filling-pit-bull-burial.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Joe Woodall's puppies </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">under her arm and walking off with him. She dumped the pup in a dog pound 250 miles away, along with the rest of Joe's dogs. Merck never looked back.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Some "expert" she is. Woodall was never arrested, never charged with any crime. . .despite Merck's "expert" opinions. How many dogs have died due to ASPCA "expertise" ?</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Privatized law enforcement: hunky-dory with the DOJ?</strong>
The </span><a href="http://www.adbadog.com/p_pdetails.asp?fpid=522"><span style="font-family:arial;">American Dog Breeders Association </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">is calling for an investigation into interference in law enforcement functions by private corporations, including the ASPCA, in Georgia:
</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>The Governor or Attorney General of the State of Georgia should implement an immediate and thorough investigation into the undue and corrupt influence of these private corporations in law enforcement training and procedures.
The citizens of Georgia cannot continue to be victimized by privately employed individuals operating in the public sector with the assistance and blind support of law enforcement and prosecutors throughout the state.
Fair and lawful enforcement of Georgia statutes is the responsibility and exclusive domain of our public servants.
</em>
I think the ADBA is right, and I hope the citizens of Georgia get their investigation.
<strong>Your tax dollars at work: ASPCA training for civil servants </strong>
Looking at the </span><a href="http://cpsj.uis.edu/news.aspx?menu=Past"><span style="font-family:arial;">list of resources </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">provided -- and there is plenty to choose from -- I have to wonder just what kind of crappola persons trained by Agent Orange are likely to receive. Planted in the ASPCA-dominated resource material are any number of truthy fake facts, like: </p></span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Tethered dogs and dogs not surgically sterilized are </span><a href="http://cpsj.uis.edu/ASPCA/aspcaBSL0707final.pdf"><span style="font-family:arial;">more likely to be "aggressive</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">." </span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Castration leads to a "</span><a href="http://cpsj.uis.edu/ASPCA/DAWGInfo2007.pdf"><span style="font-family:arial;">longer, healthier" life for pets</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">"Many" "puppymills" thrive because </span><a href="http://cpsj.uis.edu/ASPCA/ASPCANDAAMarch2006.pdf"><span style="font-family:arial;">the operators are animal torturers</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Private persons who take in large numbers of animals are "hoarders", and </span><a href="http://cpsj.uis.edu/ASPCA/ASPCANDAAMarch2006.pdf"><span style="font-family:arial;">keep the animals in deplorable and squalid conditions.</span></a></li><p><span style="font-family:arial;">And there's more. Lots more.
</span><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Fake cops doing fake jobs</span></strong></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">In the radical animal rights movement, each of the four main players has its own area of dominance. Sure, there's some overlap in activities, but there are no real policy differences between PeTA, Best Friends, HSUS and the ASPCA.
</span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/ARlabor-1.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/ARlabor-1.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><span style="font-family:arial;">An extremist idea -- for example "doggy gonads just have to go" is first dramatized by PeTA.</span>
<p><span style="font-family:arial;">Legislation to eliminate objectionable dog testicles and etc. is then lobbied by HSUS. . .</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">and resulting anti-testicle laws are subsequently enforced by the ASPCA's private army. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Finally, Best Friends steps in to make us feel better about the whole thing. We are promised that in compensation for genetic oblivion, the sterile dogs will get to live out their days in permanent seclusion in the middle of a desert.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Some shit, huh? </span></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Perception-based government </span></strong></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Transparency-ness and public-ish accountability.</span></p><span style="font-family:arial;">Anybody else got a problem with the DOJ handing over hard-earned dollars so that the ASPCA can mess with the minds of local sheriff's department employees? Who authorized the DOJ to bankroll an animal rights indoctrination program?</span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">Dude. Who stole my country?</span>
</span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-27424694305088599172010-01-01T13:06:00.007-05:002010-01-04T09:30:23.555-05:00Wayne Pacelle's 2009 Nightmares<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2q1qhByeKvVhuWwVEhknLG0TAx4GhKnyFNv-dRAj11iVnnikOylOTdp_mdbh7S1FwtnGhH9k0WSJBHrF93sjgPkTVpuFtfRVs3oj9KKPOEfT1WA-10Iy7ro4ixRQs3jrT9vDTPw/s1600-h/BackhoeA.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 128px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421797318001098402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2q1qhByeKvVhuWwVEhknLG0TAx4GhKnyFNv-dRAj11iVnnikOylOTdp_mdbh7S1FwtnGhH9k0WSJBHrF93sjgPkTVpuFtfRVs3oj9KKPOEfT1WA-10Iy7ro4ixRQs3jrT9vDTPw/s200/BackhoeA.jpg" /></a>
<span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>Blunders Wayne Pacelle Wanted to Bury</strong></span></span>
<strong><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></strong>
<span style="font-family:arial;"><em>Not everything went according to plan in 2009</em>
<strong>Showered in Shit in Louisville</strong>
<strong></strong>
The resignation of Metro Louisville Animal Control Director Gilles Meloche became effective on December 31. Back in the day, Meloche was HSUS's fave candidate for the job. He'll soon blow town with his tail tucked between his legs, in a firestorm of charges involving </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/broken-umbrella.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 135px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/broken-umbrella.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">
</span><a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-3747-Louisville-City-Hall-Examiner~y2009m11d3-Louisvilles-dogcatcher-horrors--Just-when-you-thought-it-couldnt-get-any-worse"><span style="font-family:arial;">animal abuse,</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><a href="http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:g00UdaLThXUJ:www.courier-journal.com/article/20091027/PETS/910270349+gilles+meloche+resigns+sexual+harassment&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us"><span style="font-family:arial;">sexual harassment</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">, </span><a href="http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=11393901"><span style="font-family:arial;">financial irregularities</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> and </span><a href="http://springston.blogspot.com/2009/10/gilles-meloche-resigns.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">demands for his prosecution</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">. Parts of the animal control ordinance Meloche used like a weapon against Louisville citizens and their pets were </span><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/21749661/Louisville-Decision"><span style="font-family:arial;">struck down by a federal court </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">judge earlier this year, and the decision may serve as a model for reform in other jurisdictions as pet owners </span><a href="http://nysbar.com/blogs/animalaw/2009/11/collision_course_civil_rights.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">compare the provisions of the discredited Louisville ordinance with their own</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">.
In a </span><a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd43cv4k_0dw4c29hq"><span style="font-family:arial;">sworn deposition</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">, HSUS's man in Louisville reminded the world of what HSUS stands for: negative profiling, the encouragement of discriminatory practices and the steady harvest of low-hanging fruit -- like pets belonging to the poor:
On "poor people" and dog license compliance, Meloche stated under oath: <em>They just don't license, period.</em>
On "poor people" and access to veterinary care: <em>First, we know one thing, they barely go to veterinary clinics.</em>
On "poor people" and cruelty to animals: <em>Most of the cruelty that I've seen --that we see are from, of course, poor neighborhood, and it's dynamic.</em>
</span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/ducky_CandyHeart_BeMine2_md.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 130px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 112px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/ducky_CandyHeart_BeMine2_md.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">
But, hey, HSUS's Kentucky State Director </span><a href="http://www.hsus.org/about_us/offices_and_affiliates/regional_offices/meet-our-directors/meet_pamela_rogers.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Pam Rogers</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> thinks Gilles Meloche is "</span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2008/01/hsus-toadies-feelin-pain-in-louisville.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">easy to work with</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">" and HSUS </span><a href="http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:MIbu7CdZpJUJ:www.lovedoesnotdiscriminate.com/files/Louisvillemulti-topicfinalletter.doc+hsus+louisville+ordinance&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us"><span style="font-family:arial;">helped</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> Metro Louisville write the ordinance that empowered him.
I hear there are enough claims pending from Louisville pet owners who suffered irreparable harm under Meloche's tenure to sue Louisville back into the Stone Age. </span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">
</span><span style="font-family:arial;">Will Wayne Pacelle assume responsibility for that train wreck of an ordinance, and that freak of an animal control director?
<strong>Nursing Puppies "Too Dangerous" to Live </strong></span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/NCpupfromBR.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 276px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/NCpupfromBR.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">
In February of this year, animal lovers were shocked and then sickened as HSUS employees John Goodwin, Chris Schindler and Amanda Arrington insisted that 127 dogs seized in North Carolina pursuant to dogfight charges--including 60 puppies, some so young they were still nursing--had to die.</span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">
</span><span style="font-family:arial;">HSUS personnel cynically testified that the dogs were "too dangerous" to live and claimed that it would cost $190,000 each to rehabilitate them. The authorities listened to HSUS. None of the dogs was evaluated for potential placement. </span><a href="http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/feb/17/judge-orders-that-pit-bulls-be-destroyed/"><span style="font-family:arial;">They were all killed</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">
</span><span style="font-family:arial;">Setting aside the gut-wrenching, heartless leadership role HSUS played in forcing the slaughter of innocent animals, the public relations blowback suffered by HSUS and its crew of Dog Fight Czars was instantaneous and unrelenting. No-Kill advocate Nathan Winograd called the massacre "T</span><a href="http://www.thenokillnation.com/?p=437"><span style="font-family:arial;">he Death of Hope</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">." </span>
<p><span style="font-family:arial;">HSUS critics were so implacable that two months later HSUS was forced into orchestrating an "emergency summit" (and whitewash opportunity) for what it called "pit bull stakeholders" in Las Vegas. Pacelle announced a revised and enlightened position on pit bulls. . .and </span><a href="http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=991"><span style="font-family:arial;">immediately got caught pushing a breed specific policy in Indianapolis</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">. </span></p><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/mickey_mouse_trap-12694.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 126px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 118px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/mickey_mouse_trap-12694.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> Animal lovers--and bloggers--</span><a href="http://yesbiscuit.blogspot.com/2009/03/hsus-dogfighting-tip-line-busts-in-ga.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">aren't fooled so easily. Not any more</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">. When the HSUS donation machine attempted to usurp the story of "Faye" -- </span><a href="http://animalagalliance.org/images/ag_insert/20091214_Dishonest.pdf"><span style="font-family:arial;">attempting to foist HSUS off </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">as the benefactor of a pit bull injured by dogfighting and begging for cash from a trusting public -- </span><a href="http://mastiffsj.blogspot.com/2009/12/betrayal-deceit-at-humane-society-of.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">outrage quickly followed</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">. </span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">
</span><span style="font-family:arial;">It's getting harder and harder to find a pit bull owner that thinks HSUS is friend. Pit bulls are the coalmine canaries in HSUS's extremist war against pets and the people who love them. HSUS's blunders and flailings this year made it clearer than ever.</span>
<span style="font-family:Arial;"></span>
<span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>John Goodwin: Animal Theft Under Color of Law</strong>
</span>
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusraid-one2.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 250px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusraid-one2.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Documentation of HSUS's Dogfight Czar himself seizing friendly, happy dogs from the homes of innocent people broke in 2009. </span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">
</span><span style="font-family:arial;">John Goodwin was caught on videotape, partnered up with private security firm Norred and Associates, the ASPCA, and local authorities, and raiding a home. Videos of the seizure of beautiful, healthy dogs from </span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2009/08/hsus-and-aspca-filling-pit-bull-burial.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Joe Woodall in Gilmer County, Georgia </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">remain up on You Tube for all to see. </span>
<span style="font-family:arial;"></span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">What do you call it when privately employed individuals working for a not-for-profit corporation instigate a raid of some one's property, seize well-cared for dogs, dump them in a dog pound 250 miles away. . . and then walk away? </span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">
</span><span style="font-family:arial;">Woodall was never arrested, never charged with a crime. HSUS just showed up and took his dogs.</span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">
It cost Joe more than he could afford in lawyer's bills and eight weeks of sleepless nights before he got his dogs back, and they were a mess when they finally returned to him.</span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">
</span><span style="font-family:arial;">So, what's the word for that? I'm thinking "theft" hardly does the sequence of events justice. </span>
<span style="font-family:Arial;"></span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">Quick note for the many people who have asked: More than a year since the raid, Joe reports that "Weeman" -- the puppy that came home with down pasterns after eight weeks on the dog pound's cement floor and incorrect food -- is doing much better. Handsome, athletic and playful Weeman and the Woodall family that loves him stand ready for the challenges 2010 will bring. </span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">
</span><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Footloose and fancy free with the feds
</span></strong><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/irs_logobw.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 124px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 101px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/irs_logobw.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">
In late December the </span><a href="http://www.dpca.org/Legisltv/bills/HSUS-spay.htm"><span style="font-family:arial;">Spay and Neuter HSUS </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">campaign was launched. The campaign is calling for the revocation of HSUS's tax-exempt, charitable designation due to its excessive lobbying activities.</span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">
</span><span style="font-family:arial;">The campaign provides 14 pages of questionable HSUS tax filings, policies and activities and requests the IRS fraud division to investigate them.</span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">
</span><span style="font-family:arial;">Want a piece of the action? Follow the link above. It's not too late to join the thousands of animal lovers everywhere who have written to the IRS and to their own federal representatives demanding answers.</span>
<span style="font-family:arial;"></span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">We look forward to a response at your earliest possibility, Wayne-o.</span>
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/BEAT_montageSQUARESsmall.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 124px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 124px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/BEAT_montageSQUARESsmall.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>This ain't over.</strong></span>
<span style="font-family:arial;"><strong></strong>
</span><span style="font-family:arial;">Not even close. </span>
<span style="font-family:arial;"></span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">But the start of the new year is a good time to take stock. These were some of HSUS's failures and flailings that meant the most to me. </span>
<span style="font-family:arial;"></span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">Best wishes for the coming year to Blue Dog State readers. </span>
<span style="font-family:arial;"></span>
<span style="font-family:arial;">And a heartfelt flip of the bird to you, Wayne Pacelle.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-35813302334234616482009-11-24T19:54:00.014-05:002010-08-09T14:42:06.415-04:00Pets Alive: Animal Sanctuary or Animal Scam?<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/185.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/185.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 120px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 135px;" /></a> <span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><strong>ASPCA Oreo-gate pays off big for Pets Alive</strong></span> <em></em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Disgraced "rescue" spins ASPCA crisis</em> <em>for own benefit</em> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Pets Alive makes its bid</strong> <strong>for fame and fortune</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">As ASPCA Prez Ed Sayres </span><a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aspca-issues-statement-on-euthanasia-of-oreo-69976997.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">struggles</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> and </span><a href="http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=2177"><span style="font-family: arial;">fails to contain outrage </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">from his </span><a href="http://www.aspcacommunity.org/group/dontkilloreoaspca"><span style="font-family: arial;">own constituency </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">over the decision to kill an </span><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/07/31/2009-07-31_miracle_dog_survives_sixstory_fall_after_heartless_owner_throws_her_off_red_hook.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">abused dog </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">previously used as a fund-raising and public relations tool, somebody in upstate New York saw a golden opportunity. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">The ASPCA may continue to stutter and blurt explanations, but Pets Alive in Middletown, New York, already got what it wants: a shot at joining the humaniac elite by riding the coat tails of the ASPCA's acute ethical and PR problems. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Pets Alive's strategy was --</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">(a) feed the media frenzy and encourage </span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2009/11/13/aspca-new-york-using-your-donations-to-murder-animals/"><span style="font-family: arial;">negative publicity</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">, and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">(b) </span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2009/11/14/failing-oreo/"><span style="font-family: arial;">position Pets Alive </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">as "more humane," "more ethical" and --very important !-- "more deserving of donations." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">The ASPCA shot itself in both feet when it arrogantly exploited and then killed an abused dog. And as the dust settles on Oreo-gate, the Pets Alive gambit seems to have paid off. They're a clear winner. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">But is Pets Alive ready for prime time? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Oooooh, baby. Not hardly.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/pkfz-whitewash-070926.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/pkfz-whitewash-070926.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 166px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 166px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> <strong>The whitewashing of Pets Alive</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">In the spring of 2007, the collection of 500+ animals at Pets Alive was in </span><a href="http://network.bestfriends.org/groups/petsalive/news/archive/2007/04/05/best-friends-at-pets-alive.aspx"><span style="font-family: arial;">really bad shape</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">. After founder Sara Whalen died of cancer in March and Pets Alive sought assistance from Best Friends Animal Society, the animal welfare disaster at Pets Alive became public knowledge. In <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3068497&page=1">ABC News coverage</a>, a visitor to the 80 acre compound compared the place to Auschwitz.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Michael Mountain's prompt </span><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/22902496/Untitled"><span style="font-family: arial;">plea for money </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">included shocking descriptions of animals confined in "substandard conditions" and in need of basics like routine vaccinations and treatment for worms. Other accounts described animals kenneled in the dark and </span><a href="http://network.bestfriends.org/groups/petsalive/news/archive/2007/04/11/rock-star-sees-new-beginnings-for-local-animal-shelter.aspx"><span style="font-family: arial;">malnourished</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><em>In the wake of one tragedy – and working to avoid another – Best Friends teams have stepped in to save and care for hundreds of at-risk animals while trying to stabilize operations at the troubled Pets Alive sanctuary in upstate New York. Many of the more than 500 animals at the shelter were living in substandard conditions as founder Sara Whalen succumbed to cancer on March 19. . . .<strong>Toward the end, when the Pets Alive board learned the extent of the problem</strong>, they turned to Best Friends for help.</em> [emphasis added]</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>What did Pets Alive's BOD know, and when did they know it?</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/question-mark-button-thumb304974.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/question-mark-button-thumb304974.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 60px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 60px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">Pets Alive's Board of Directors only learned about so many sick and neglected animals "toward the end"? Could dogs like Oreo end up warehoused in substandard conditions for an entire lifetime? Current Pets Alive Executive Co-Director Matt DeAngelis </span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2008/03/28/remembrance/#more-50"><span style="font-family: arial;">describes an intimate familiarity </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">with the facility and the animals there going back eight years. Where was he when conditions at Pets Alive reached crisis stage? </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/FeliciaEyeChart_large.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/FeliciaEyeChart_large.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 156px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 100px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">As it launched its "Pets Alive Emergency operation" Best Friends blogged that deteriorating conditions at the facility </span><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/22902496/Untitled"><span style="font-family: arial;">were an issue for years</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Nobody noticed 500 or 600 at-risk animals, over a period of years, until the place "looked like Auschwitz"? How is that possible?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Learning about "proper care"</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Best Friends pulled out of Pets Alive by January, 2008, leaving the Pets Alive staff </span><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/22914252/Untitled"><span style="font-family: arial;">gushing with gratitude:</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Best Friends came to Pets Alive when we were in a desperate situation and they helped us in every way imaginable. They hired staff and <strong>taught us how to properly care for and house the animals.</strong> They helped us develop a network of volunteers and supporters, showed us better adoption practices, helped us train the animals (and the staff), and helped teach us how to stand on our own two feet.</em> [emphasis added]</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"></span><br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/question-mark-button-thumb304974.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/question-mark-button-thumb304974.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 60px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 60px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Pets Alive only learned how to <em>properly</em> care for and house animals in its care in 2007? What was going on during the "30 years of experience" they claim? <em>Improper</em> care? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Oh, and by the way, <a href="http://appsext8.dos.state.ny.us/corp_public/CORPSEARCH.ENTITY_INFORMATION?p_nameid=1363960&p_corpid=1251985&p_entity_name=%70%65%74%73%20%61%6C%69%76%65&p_name_type=%41&p_search_type=%42%45%47%49%4E%53&p_srch_results_page=0">Pets Alive was incorporated in 1988</a>. The corporation began doing business in New York State in 1990. The "new" Pets Alive dates from 2007, when Best Friends went back to Utah. </span><span style="font-family: arial;"></span><span style="font-family: arial;">There is no "30 years" of Pets Alive experience and expertise.</span> <br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Business resumes at Pets Alive</span></strong> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">By January, 2008, a scant nine months after the animal welfare crisis at its facilities was first acknowledged, Pets Alive was back to importing dogs from southern states and sending out desperate messages soliciting donations to care for them.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">In February, 2008, finances became a big theme as </span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2008/02/20/my-secret-life/#more-28"><span style="font-family: arial;">Matt DeAngelis blogged </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">about "too many animals and not enough space" while being "blind-sided" by a $3500 electric bill.</span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/question-mark-button-thumb304974.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/question-mark-button-thumb304974.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 60px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 60px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Can "reputable" animal sanctuaries be "blind-sided" by the arrival of a utility bill? What does that say about their administrative skills? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>No money to safely contain aggressive dogs at Pets Alive</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Two months later, in April, 2008, Co-Executive Director Kerry Clair </span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2008/04/13/kerrys-update-april-11th/"><span style="font-family: arial;">blogs about an urgent need for adequate kennel runs </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">for aggressive dogs then at Pets Alive: </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>We have two dogs that are in desperate need of a specific type of dog run. . .We worry about our regular chain link fencing and really need to put [a particular dog] in something more solid. . . We need to buy at LEAST 2 of them, and it would be best if we had five and could put all our “caution” dogs in these solid runs. . .Would you be willing to donate the cost of one panel? <strong>This will keep our staff, our dogs and our volunteers and visitors safer.</strong> Our funds are running low here at Pets Alive. . .We desperately need an influx of donations in the next few months. Matt is working on a direct mail campaign. . .</em> [emphasis added] </span></span></span></span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/question-mark-button-thumb304974.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/question-mark-button-thumb304974.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 60px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 60px;" /></span></a> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Pets Alive didn't have the facilities necessary to keep staff and visitors safe? And they claim expertise in "aggressive" dogs? Where did Pets Alive plan to hold Oreo for her lifetime? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Disappearing horses, rumors of rabies</strong></span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">In December, 2008, horses boarded at Pets Alive during court proceedings and subsequently ordered returned to their owners by the judge when the case was adjourned contemplating dismissal, mysteriously </span><a href="http://eastwickpress.com/news/2008/12/horses-seized-in-cherry-plain-have-disappeared/"><span style="font-family: arial;">disappeared</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> after the owners refused to sell them to Pets Alive supporter </span><a href="http://network.bestfriends.org/groups/petsalive/news/archive/2007/04/11/rock-star-sees-new-beginnings-for-local-animal-shelter.aspx"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rob Thomas</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Astoundingly, in August, 2009, </span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2009/08/01/kerrys-update-aug-1-2009/"><span style="font-family: arial;">Kerry Clair blogged </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">that Pets Alive knowingly "technically adopted out" a sick dog that had to be euthanized because. . . </span><br />
<br />
<em>. . .she continued to get worse and worse and eventually she had to be euthanized to spare her any more suffering. It was really traumatic for us all. We still do not know cause of death but the vets feel she either contracted <strong>rabies or distemper</strong>. .</em> .[emphasis added] <br />
<br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/question-mark-button-thumb304974.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><em><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/question-mark-button-thumb304974.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 60px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 60px;" /></em></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">Rabies ? Or was it distemper? Because there's a difference. And where was Pets Alive's concern for public health and safety? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">I mean, <strong><em>rabies</em>??? </strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong></strong><strong><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></strong></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Orange County, New York foreclosing on Pets Alive ?</span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/istock_000004891591xsmall.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/istock_000004891591xsmall.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 82px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 126px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The November 13, 2009 issue of the (Middletown) Times Herald-Record included the usual legal notices, including a Petition and Notice of Foreclosure on the Pets Alive properties.</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>STATE OF NEW YORK SUPREME COURT, ORANGE COUNTY</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE : </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>OF TAX LIENS BY PROCEEDING IN REM : </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>PURSUANT TO ARTICLE ELEVEN OF THE REAL : </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>PROPERTY TAX LAW BY THE : </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>COUNTY OF ORANGE : </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------X </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>PETITION AND NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE Index No.: </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>2008-11479 TOWN OF WALLKILL </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>335200 21-1-3 </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>PETS ALIVE, INC. </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>335200 22-1-30 </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>PETS ALIVE, INC. </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>335200 22-1-32.1 </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>PETS ALIVE, INC. ATTN: SARA WHALEN </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>335200 22-1-50.21 </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>PETS ALIVE, INC. </strong></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Uh oh. </span><span style="font-family: arial;"></span><span style="font-family: arial;">That just can't be good news for the animals at Pets Alive. </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/question-mark-button-thumb304974.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/question-mark-button-thumb304974.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 60px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 60px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> What would happen to dogs like Oreo, if their "sanctuary for life" was foreclosed? Then what? Huh?</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Missing In Action with the New York State Charities Bureau </strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Organizations exempted from federal income tax under Section 501 of the tax code that "normally" have income in excess of $25,000 per year are required to file <a href="http://www.npccny.org/Form_990/990.htm">IRS Form 990</a>. In New York, a copy of the 990 form is also provided to the Charities Bureau. Failure to comply with this or several other reporting requirements may result in revocation of the organization's tax-exempt status.</span></span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Even though Pets Alive routinely posts notices of large contributions (</span><a href="http://petsalive.com/blog/2009/08/01/kerrys-update-aug-1-2009/"><span style="font-family: arial;">$200,000 from Rob Thomas/Sidewalk Angels in 2008</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) and indicates that it is a "</span><a href="http://petsalive.com/oreo.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">valid 501(c)3 animal rescue</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">", a Freedom of Information request to the NYS Charities Bureau for copies of Pets Alive's reports yielded no current information. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">In fact, on August 19, 2009 the Charities Bureau confirmed that Pets Alive has not remitted a Form 990 for five years. The last report they received covered tax year 2003. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Oreo's Law and more unanswered questions</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">In New York, "duly incorporated humane societies" --although they may sell or offer for sale hundreds and even thousands of pets annually-- are exempted from inspection under the state's <a href="http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/AI/AGM_ART_26A.html">regulation of "pet dealers</a>." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">The provisions of the Animal Welfare Act do not cover facilities like Pets Alive. No one checked on the care provided at Pets Alive, which housed an unknown portion of the 500 or 600 animals there in "substandard conditions" for an unknown length of time.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Could dogs like Oreo spend a lifetime, warehoused in inhumane conditions, if a proposal like "</span><a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-16635-SF-Animal-Shelters-Examiner~y2009m11d18-New-york-state-legislators-seek-Oreos-Law"><span style="font-family: arial;">Oreo's Law</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">" mandating unregulated "sanctuary" is enacted ? What protections exist for vulnerable dogs and other pets condemned to a lifetime of unsupervised, uninspected confinement in New York's private, not-for-profit, duly incorporated "humane" societies?</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">What's going to happen when the sponsors of "Oreo's Law" realize that the "expertise" and "responsibility" of some animal sanctuaries may exist only in the imaginations and ambitions of their executive co-directors?<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/oreojustbefore.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/oreojustbefore.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 160px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 136px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> Why hasn't anyone in the "humane" community spoken up? </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There's clearly more than a small problem at Pets Alive, and it's not difficult to see. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Why the silence?</span> When will the exploitation of an abused, dead dog by those who claimed to be her "rescuers" end? </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-6698333640056746082009-10-26T15:05:00.173-04:002011-09-26T12:22:59.171-04:00Humane Havens for Dog Slaughterers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcTfsqi_ZUso-9ZBTPCWXhOfWStcQ19qCG3DZxNVPOtMibEbucx-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/imagesqtbnANd9GcTfsqi_ZUso-9ZBTPCWXhOfWStcQ19qCG3DZxNVPOtMibEbucx-.jpg" /></a></div><strong><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>Update on previously published article</u></span></strong><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pit Bull Killer Maloney Rakes It In</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">at Humane Society of the United States</span></strong><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Movin' on up in the world of corporate dog-killing</span></em><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pacelle lauds "accomplishments" of exec who cut and ran after Boudreaux' dogs were slaughtered </span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dontcha just love it? As ex Louisiana SPCA CEO Laura Maloney wiggles her way ever upward in the world of industrial animal killing "rescue", the bullshit just gets deeper and deeper. When </span><a href="http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2010/09/laura_maloney_joins_hsus_091410.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">she joined HSUS a year ago</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> as Pacelle's chief of staff, he babbled on . . .</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I’ve worked alongside Laura in Louisiana during the effort to rescue animals following Hurricane Katrina, and in the battle to outlaw cockfighting in the state, and I have seen her excel in all the areas where’s she focused her attentions. We are an enormously complex organization, and I know she’ll help us make it run even better."</span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Better at what, Wayne? Killing animals? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe setting up her employers for liability in civil suits stemming from her "rescue" activities?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cause that's what Laura Maloney excels at. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maloney was in charge when her blood-thirsty employees seized and immediately killed Boudreaux's 57 dogs. She "worked with authorities" to assure they acted on her allegations. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boudreaux hadn't even been arraigned when Maloney's SPCA killed his dogs. No wonder Wayne Pacelle loves her.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But when the case went to court the charges were promptly dropped. That's a problem, Wayne. That's a big problem.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/th_hitchcock_birds.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/th_hitchcock_birds.gif" /></span></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Birds finally come home to roost: </span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lousiana SPCA settles Boudreaux suit </span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has been a long, hard road for Floyd Boudreaux, his family, and the animal lovers that supported him and appreciated his dogs. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The </span><a href="http://theadvocate.com/home/827776-79/dog-deaths-lawsuit-settled.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">undisclosed sum the SPCA will be paying out to Floyd and his family</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">--and man, I hope it is huge--won't bring back the 57 dogs they lost on the evil day of the "humane" raid Maloney orchestrated against them. It can be no compensation for the extermination of a cherished, 200 year-old line of champions. No amount of money can make what that family went through go away.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it serves as a warning to other private societies-for-the-prevention who think their cute little uniforms and cop-car clone vehicles will shield them from liability when they </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strike>fuck up</strike>. . .</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">uh, <strike>indulge in a little mission creep</strike>. . .</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">okay let's cut to the chase and make that. . . <strong>do what they wanted to do all along and freaking slaughter beautiful animals belonging to innocent people. </strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Below is Blue Dog's October, 2009 piece on Maloney and her brilliant career. Let's just hope it finally comes to a screeching halt.</span><br />
____________________________<br />
<br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Gimme20Shelter.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Gimme20Shelter.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 122px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 126px;" /></a> <span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><strong>Exonerated Pit bull breeder Floyd Boudreaux sues Louisiana SPCA</strong></span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong><em>Disgraced SPCA CEO now ASPCA Sr. Vice President</em></strong> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Floyd Boudreaux made headlines last week with news of his suit against the Lousiana SPCA. The SPCA needlessly, wantonly--and apparently, <em>illegally</em>--slaughtered the Boudreaux dogs as fast as it could after the Boudreaux home was raided during a 2005 dogfighting investigation. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">You'd think that Laura Maloney, Chief Executive Officer at the LA SPCA when it exterminated each and every one of Floyd's 57 dogs within 24 hours of seizing them would be unemployable. At least unemployable within the "humane" network where the lives of animals are supposed to count for something. Right? Societies for the prevention of cruelty aren't supposed to be in a flaming hurry to kill the dogs they just finished "rescuing." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Are they? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Ooops. Blue Dog's bad. . .</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">That's </span><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20091015/NEWS01/910150325/Pit-bull-breeders-sue-SPCA"><span style="font-family: arial;">exactly what Maloney's LA SPCA </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">did on that black day four years ago when Boudreaux' dogs were seized, and killed, by "humane" agents. Boudreaux was </span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2008/10/pit-bull-breeder-floyd-boudreaux.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">quickly acquitted </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">when his case went to trial. But it was too late for his dogs. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Maloney's LA SPCA had already carried out sentence on his dogs. Boudreaux hadn't even been arraigned when the killings began.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Spotlight20Graphic.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Spotlight20Graphic.jpg" style="float: left; height: 129px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 131px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Scurrying to avoid the cold light of day </strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">State trooper Jacob Dickinson, the investigator that testified during the short trial that vindicated the Boudreaux family, said that "he believed the SPCA would house the animals and </span><a href="http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/64332682.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">did not know the dogs would be euthanized</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">But a<em> representative from the SPCA testified that no one person at the nonprofit animal welfare group made the decision to kill the animals but that there was<strong> a general assumption</strong> that the dogs would be euthanized. </em></span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Deny, deny, deny. . .</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Laura Maloney's Louisiana SPCA is asking us to accept that <em><strong>general assumptions</strong></em> killed 57 healthy, happy dogs as soon as they arrived at the "shelter"?</span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/11326016_BG1.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/11326016_BG1.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 149px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Are you <em>kidding</em>? What kind of an explanation is that? And how cold can you get? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">The stress from losing those dogs, particularly the dog belonging to his 10 year-old grandson, caused Floyd to suffer a heart attack five days after the LA SPCA killed his dogs. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Rewarding <strike>major fuck ups</strike> general assumptions</strong> </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/maloneyx-inset-community.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/maloneyx-inset-community.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 130px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">So Maloney, and the LA SPCA, asks the world to believe that LA SPCA personnel just took it upon themselves to kill all those dogs, immediately, no questions asked. All in a day's work. What kind of out-of-control crack house does Maloney claim she was running, anyway ? How arrogant can you get? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>ASPCA shelters Maloney from the storm</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Moving on to the present. . . </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Maloney's feeling no pain. She's got a nice new job at the ASPCA. </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/poster001.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/poster001.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 135px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 95px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> Delicately referring to Maloney's "</span><a href="http://www.aspca.org/pressroom/press-releases/111308.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">national recognition for managing high-profile dog fighting cases</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">" the ASPCA placed Maloney in charge of various business units including Humane Law Enforcement, Veterinary Forensics, Government Affairs/Legislative Initiatives, Field Services and the New York City Anti-Cruelty Center. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Some gig, huh? ASPCA Veterinary Forensics. Dang. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Lights going out in Georgia</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">So, was it Maloney that deployed Melinda Merck, the ASPCA Forensic head honcho now partnered up with </span><a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/dog-fighting-ring-busted-163758.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">Norred and Associates </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">and </span><a href="http://www.hsus.org/acf/news/pressrel/dogfighting_georgia_campaign_011008.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">HSUS </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">? These three private corporations are cutting a swath through the backwoods of Georgia right now -- seizing pit bulls first and asking questions later. </span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2009/08/hsus-and-aspca-filling-pit-bull-burial.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">Way, way later.</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusriadsixpup.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusriadsixpup.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 314px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 350px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Is Merck acting on Maloney's instructions--or maybe just a <em>general assumption--</em>when she seizes puppies from the homes of innocent people? Does anyone at the ASPCA even care? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Waves of "humane change" don't reach every shore </strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">What happens to all those seized dogs, anyway? </span><a href="http://yesbiscuit.blogspot.com/2009/03/hsus-dogfighting-tip-line-busts-in-ga.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">Where <em>are</em> the dogs? </span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Something tells me that news of the great "Las Vegas Humane Sea Change", in which HSUS sort of agreed that dogs seized during fighting investigations don't necessarily need to die, has been slow to trickle down. Plenty of </span><a href="http://animalrights.change.org/blog/view/pit_bulls_seized_from_georgia_dogfighting_operation_killed_this_week"><span style="font-family: arial;">good dogs are dying lonely deaths </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">for no good reason. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">After HSUS, Norred, the ASPCA and the news crews blow town, </span><a href="http://mastiffsj.blogspot.com/2009/08/at-least-three-pit-bulls-euthanized_25.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">the killing begins</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">What responsibility does Merck, Maloney and the ASPCA assume for the fate of those dogs?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">None.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Absolutely none. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>ASPCA doesn't walk the walk</strong></span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/fraud.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/fraud.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 96px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 145px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">The ASPCA cannot employ people like Laura Maloney and look dog owners, particularly pit bull owners, in the eye. It is not possible. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Most especially, the ASPCA cannot put people with a history like Laura Maloney's in charge of Melinda Merck and her travelling pit bull confiscation show. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">"<em>We are their voice</em>" ??? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">What a farce.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-48549114180202784202009-08-12T15:08:00.011-04:002009-08-13T18:22:36.710-04:00HSUS and ASPCA: Filling Pit Bull Burial Grounds<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Splogger-Content-Theft.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 118px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 105px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Splogger-Content-Theft.jpg" /></a>
<div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">John Goodwin, Melinda Merck caught in the act
</span></strong>
<em><strong>Who's hearing black helicopters now?</strong></em></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><em></em></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><em>Seizing dogs for fun and profit: theft under color of law</em></strong></div></span><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Nobody ever accused convicted ALF terrorist and HSUS Dogfight Czar John Goodwin of getting bogged down in petty details. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Legalities, responsibility for the health and welfare of the dogs he and ASPCA's Melinda Merck seize, restitution for the cost of <strike>failed attempts to kill pitbulls</strike> lamentable errors made while pursuing the animal extremist "greater good" ? </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Not even on Goodwin and Merck's radar. </span></p><p><a href="http://johngoodwinexposed.blogspot.com/2008/10/hsus-dogfight-czar-john-goodwins-army.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">HSUS offers a bounty</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> for dogfighting "tips." </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/VOSbutton.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 121px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 91px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/VOSbutton.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><p><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2008/08/busting-dogfighters-for-profit-pit-bull.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">In the Line of Duty</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> continues to dance to HSUS' tune, hyping "lucrative" dogfight busts to local law enforcement agencies.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">And </span><a href="http://www.hsus.org/acf/news/pressrel/dogfighting_georgia_campaign_011008.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Norred and Associates</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">? HSUS' private, for profit,<strike> hired guns </strike>investigators ? Why should Norred give a shit about a country boy, his family, and his handful of dogs? Norred was hired by HSUS to obliterate <strike>pit bulls</strike> dogfighting, and that's what they're gonna do. </span></p><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>The Curious Case of Joe Woodall, Gilmer County, Georgia</strong>
</div></span><p><span style="font-family:arial;">For 12 hours on October 28, 2008, the Woodall family watched helplessly as agents of the Humane Society of the United States, Norred and Associates, the ASPCA, local humane societies and local law enforcement swarmed over their property. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Among those executing the Woodall raid were: </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>John Goodwin</strong>, the Humane Society of the United States's "</span><a href="http://www.hsus.org/about_us/board_and_staff/experts/experts/subject_experts_goodwin.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">manager, animal fighting campaign</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">." Despite the much bally-hooed "sea change" at HSUS, Goodwin remains very much in charge of HSUS's <strike>pit bull</strike> dogfighting eradication program.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Melinda Merck</strong>, the ASPCA's "</span><a href="http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/animal-csi/dr-melinda-merck-aspca.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">forensic veterinarian</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">." Merck takes pride in her "expertise."</span></p><blockquote><p><em><span style="font-family:arial;">In order to properly identify evidence, analyze it and interpret the
findings, you have to know animals and animal behavior. This is what I do and what I bring to a crime scene. I am an animal expert investigating crimes against animals. . </span></em></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"></p></blockquote></span><span style="font-family:arial;">More on Merck's "expertise" below.</span> <p></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">HSUS's <strong>Chris Schindler. </strong>Three months after the Woodall raid, </span><a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd43cv4k_7dfmrdsg7"><span style="font-family:arial;">Schindler testified in a North Carolina court</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> that un-weaned pups are "too dangerous to live" and joined with other HSUS employees in urging the deaths of every one of the Wildside Kennels dogs. Schindler, like Goodwin, remains an employee in good standing at HSUS. . .despite the "sea change" at HSUS.</span></p><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Greg D. Norred,</strong> Founder and President and <strong>Chuck Simmons,</strong> VP Special Operations at </span><a href="http://www.norred.com/humane_society.htm"><span style="font-family:arial;">Norred and Associates</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">. Like Schindler, Merck, and Goodwin, Simmons is employed by a private, non-governmental agency and is responsible only to the privately employed people who control his pay-check. His boss, entrepreneur <a href="http://www.spoke.com/info/p640K5d/GregNorred">Greg Norred, has a background </a>in private sector, for-profit, security services.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">The Woodall home, barn and wooded property was searched for nearly 12 hours. Their 13 American Pit Bull Terrier dogs -- eleven adult dogs and two puppies -- were seized on suspicion of dogfighting.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">News of Woodall's "arrest" was reported on local television. Joe, a hobby dog breeder who shows his dogs in ADBA-sanctioned conformation events and competes in weightpull trials, became a notorious dogfighter in the blink of an eye. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">The Woodall kids had to get up and go to school the next day.</span></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">No arrest, no prosecution--but the dogs don't come back</span></strong></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">The Woodall family, with good reason, feared that their dogs would be summarily killed as a result of their "rescue". Joe and Tracy's two young sons were devastated by the loss of their special pet dog, Purdy, who slept with them each night.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Yet after the dogs were loaded into Merck's ASPCA paddywagon and taken to another county several hours away from their home, and despite news reports, Joe was never arrested. He was never charged with a crime. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">It took the Woodalls two months of frantic effort, and a court order, to get their dogs back. When they did come home, they arrived in sorry condition after eight weeks of "assessment for dogfighting." All had open sores. The gleaming, flawless coats evident in Joe's videos on the day of the raid were gone. Two of the dogs had more significant health problems, especially one of the pups. All of them showed signs of stress and trauma.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">But Joe and his video camera succeeded in getting his dogs out alive.</span></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">$5000's worth of "probable cause" ? Did it cost more ?</span></strong></p><div><span style="font-family:arial;">HSUS's strategy all along and across the board is to lower the bar on what constitutes probable cause. </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusraid-one2.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 314px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusraid-one2.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div>
<p><span style="font-family:arial;">Joe's video (YouTube links below--image captures here courtesy </span><a href="http://petdefense.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/hsus-12hr-dog-raid-yields-nothing/"><span style="font-family:arial;">Pet-Defense</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">) shows John Goodwin questioning the Woodalls as to their dogs' bloodlines and registry. Goodwin is anxious to establish pedigree and registry, alone, as proof of "fighting" dogs.</span></p><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Here's Goodwin gingerly examining one of Joe Woodall's dogs -- a dog which showed no trace of fighting, was in excellent physical condition and showed the exuberantly people-friendly, "correct" temperament for an APBT. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">The poor dog could have no understanding of what Goodwin's gloved hand placed on her head meant. She was seized a short time after Goodwin's examination.</span></div>
<p><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">How low can you go?</span></strong><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/SOLD20AT20AUCTION.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 120px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 80px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/SOLD20AT20AUCTION.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">But looking at the </span><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/18461731/Joe"><span style="font-family:arial;">search warrant application for the Woodall home and property</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">, I have to wonder how much lower the court system can sink. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">The remarkable document indicates that the search was based on--</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">A. A phoned-in tip to a private, non-governmental security firm from an anonymous source.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">B. Alleged references in an "underground" magazine of no known veracity -- one that ceased publication more than four years before the Woodall raid.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">C. The presence of tethered "pit bulls" at and near the Woodall home.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">and last, but not least. . .</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">D. "Independent information" provided by a convicted felon. The informant's statement constitutes a confession to yet another instance of felonious activity, but he can't remember the details of the event he reports because, he testified, he was too drunk to know where he was. </span></p><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>All the justice money can buy
</strong>
</div></span><p><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm wondering how many pockets were lined by HSUS in putting together the "probable cause" for the raid that ripped apart the Woodall home and nearly killed their dogs. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">For the record, the "dogfighting paraphernalia" found in the Woodall home consisted of dog collars, a couple of ropes, veterinary supplies for the treatment of eye and ear infections, a few magazines. . .and the videos Joe had made of his own dogs. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">And his dogs, of course.</span></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Your donations at work: Melinda Merck, DVM, and ASPCA Puppy Thief</span></strong><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusriadsixpup.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 290px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusriadsixpup.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">
</span></p>
<div><span style="font-family:arial;">Here's a shot of Melinda Merck removing one of two healthy, well-cared for puppies from the Woodall home. She got the other one a few minutes after this shot was taken.</span></div>
<p><span style="font-family:arial;">Neither puppy returned in the excellent condition they left the Woodall home in. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Eight weeks of "assessment" failed to identify any evidence of dogfighting in any of Joe Woodall's dogs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">You'd think that the ASPCA's so-called forensic expert could have established that the dogs were in excellent condition, and had beautiful, very friendly temperaments in something less than eight weeks, wouldn't you?</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Or was Merck's only purpose to sign off on the seizure of dogs--any dogs--and let the chips fall where they may? Maybe do an interview or two, have a little lunch. . .</span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusraidthree.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 325px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 525px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hsusraidthree.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">
<strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Who speaks for these victims?</strong> </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Huh? </span></p><div><span style="font-family:arial;">That's what I want to know.
</div></span>
<p><span style="font-family:arial;">Who's going to put the world back together again for kids like Joe and Tracy Woodall's children?</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Children who had their lives torn to pieces because HSUS and the ASPCA can get away with it, and learned the hard way that innocence will not protect them? </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Does anyone <em>really</em> believe that HSUS magically changed its ways, when the people who organized these kinds of tragedies remain in place ?</span></p><p><span style="font-family:Arial;">Short of a brain transplant for John Goodwin, I don't see how it's possible.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:Arial;"><strong>Pit Bull burial grounds</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">How about those 350 or 450 or who-knows-how-many dogs seized in the "world's greatest dogfighting bust", orchestrated by HSUS's usual players: Goodwin, Norred and Schindler, with the ASPCA's Merck there to rubber stamp the proceedings? What about the myriad other busts taking place across the country?</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Does anyone else worry that dogs just like Joe Woodall's got scooped up, and will probably die when HSUS and its local proxies determine that, too bad, too too bad, the dogs were too ill/too injured/too "unsocialized" ? </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Or maybe they'll use the "no room at the inn" excuse. Hard to take coming from the world's largest, wealthiest "animal advocates" but I think it's coming. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Nothing about what happened to Joe Woodall's dogs demonstrated care about their welfare. Nothing. HSUS's and ASPCA's <em>only</em> interest was in seizing the dogs. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Joe Woodall thinks their purpose is to exterminate all "pit bulls." I think he's right.
So, how much longer can this abuse continue?
</span><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">About Joe's videos</span></strong></p><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Joe Woodall placed several videos on YouTube. Many mix shots of his dogs at weightpull trials, playing with his children, etc., with clips of the HSUS/ASPCA raid on his home.</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">A couple of highlights:
</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:arial;">At roughly 3:15 minutes, </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7To6xHTWL4"><span style="font-family:arial;">this clip</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> shows Goodwin's review of Woodall's dogs, including his preoccupation with their pedigrees and near complete disregard for how well they are cared for.</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">At roughly </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn0l0Egh2tg"><span style="font-family:arial;">3:51 minutes on this tape</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">, Melinda Merck seizes the smaller of Joe Woodall's two puppies as Joe struggles to get Merck to admit that there is nothing wrong with the pup. Joe's voice rises a bit. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Understandable, doncha think? </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-56528052418050779022009-07-19T15:22:00.005-04:002012-03-10T14:29:51.199-05:00Puppymillers R Us<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/thjackie-kennedy.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/thjackie-kennedy.jpg" style="float: left; height: 210px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 100px;" /></a> <span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>HSUS plays "responsible breeders" for fools</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Get a clue, sweetheart. The days of Camelot are over. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Roger Caras is dead and buried, too.</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">The American Kennel Club doesn't call the shots, Robert's Rules of Order count for shit, and declaring yourself a responsible, ethical, <em><strong>hobby</strong></em> dog breeder means nothing--nothing at all--to animal extremists. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Oppose "puppymills", do ya?</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">First of all, if by "puppymills" you mean "abusive, unlawful dog breeding facilities that violate generally accepted animal husbandry practices" . . .well, all I can say is: whoop de doo. </span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/archiebunker.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/archiebunker.jpg" style="float: right; height: 92px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 118px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> How do you feel about global deforestation, kiddie porn, and adult illiteracy? For, or against? Any motherhood statements you need to get off your chest on, maybe, the torture of civilian combatants in Guantanamo? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Puppymillers like you and me</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">On the other hand, if by "puppymiller" you mean what the Humane Society of the United States means, better think again. Because HSUS and its extremist supporters are coming after <em>you </em>if you breed dogs<em>. </em>They don't care how much you love your dogs and how careful you are with your pups. </span><a href="http://www.petage.com/news070904.asp"><span style="font-family: arial;">HSUS's latest crop of anti-puppymill proposals </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">have nothing to do with cruelty to animals. Instead, these proposals outlaw ownership or mere temporary custody of intact dogs (and cats). </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Custody of the happiest, healthiest most well-cared for dogs (and/or cats) in the world would be a criminal act under these proposals, if you happen to have "too many." </span> <a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Roulette-Wheel_HR.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Roulette-Wheel_HR.jpg" style="float: left; height: 99px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 149px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> Groomers, trainers, boarding kennel operators and doggie daycare facilities, huntsmen/women and mushers, vets. . .all potential "puppymillers" in the eyes of the Humane Society of the United States. "Too many" intact dogs in their custody could lead to criminal charges. Not because the animals were mistreated in any way. Oh, no. Just because they had custody of the wrong number.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>HSUS's numbers game: who wins, who loses? </strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://www.petage.com/news070904.asp">Pet-Age </a>got it wrong. Dogs are born intact, and some people choose to keep them that way, whether they intend to breed them or not. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Its called personal preference, and its not criminal.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Yet. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">These aren't proposals to protect animals from "puppymillers." While disguised by anti-puppymill rhetoric, these proposals are designed to shut down breeders and take their animals. Period.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>True agenda: seizure and destruction of animals</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Under </span><a href="http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddfvwhqf_59f44m85hs"><span style="font-family: arial;">HSUS's New York proposal </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">alleged custody of the wrong number of cats and dogs may lead to seizure and forfeiture of the animals. Amazingly, in New York forfeited animals may be killed or sold off by the agency that seized them BEFORE the owner gets his day in court. So, HSUS and its acolytes could accuse someone of owning "too many" intact dogs and/or cats, seize them, kill them. . .and THEN the owner gets to go to court. Some shit, huh? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Pencil in a number. Any number.</strong> </span> <span style="font-family: arial;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Consider yourself "safe" because you don't have 50 (or 40 or 75) intact dogs and/or cats? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Then you're an idiot.</span><br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/11966523.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/11966523.jpg" style="float: right; height: 116px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 116px;" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">The </span><a href="http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/puppy-mills/puppy-mill-faq.html#what"><span style="font-family: arial;">ASPCA </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">is already signalling that <strong><em>twenty</em></strong> dogs could identify a breeder as a "puppymiller." </span> <span style="font-family: arial;">There won't be any way to stuff that genie back in the bottle, folks. Numbers were made to change.</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"></span> <span style="font-family: arial;">Once criminal animal cruelty can be charged based only on alleged numbers of animals present--and not the quality of care they are provided--home and hobby breeding of dogs and cats will come to a screeching halt.</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">Ditto sports and hunting kennels, or any other place where intact dogs tend to congregate. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Shoulder to shoulder with HSUS's Jennifer Fearing</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Anyone else going to an anti "puppymill" demonstrations with Jennifer Fearing? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Before you pack your lunch and your poster, here's a trivia question to</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> consider. Especially for California pit bull owners:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Question: Ingrid Newkirk, Bob Barker and Jennifer Fearing-- what document unites them all?</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Answer: All three signed a letter urging legislators to support SB 861, California's pit bull extermination law that continues to kill innocent dogs for the crime of being caught intact. SB 861 laid the groundwork for the global forced sterilization proposals rocking California today, four years later. </span> <span style="font-family: arial;"></span> <span style="font-family: arial;">Too bad "the Fancy" didn't see the writing on the wall back in 2005, isn't it?</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">You can read the dim-witted letter Fearing signed, which claims that breed specific mandatory sterilization would benefit and even protect "pit bulls," </span><a href="http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache%3AwJf0vJw4qEcJ%3Ahome.comcast.net%2F%7Echako%2Fspeierletter.pdf+jennifer+fearing+SB+861&hl=en&gl=us&pli=1"><span style="font-family: arial;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">. </span> <span style="font-family: arial;"></span> <strong><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></strong><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: arial;">We're all puppymillers</span></strong> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Or dogfighters. Or backyard breeders, or hoarders, or "irresponsible owners."</span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/ostridge.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/ostridge.jpg" style="float: right; height: 115px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 80px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> Or blood-crazed, rifle-toting Bambi-killers.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">There's an accusation out there waiting for each of us. In the end, no combination of OFA certified dams and performance-titled studs, no forlorn adherence to the mandates of a national breed club, no number of pups produced small enough to protect a targeted dog breeder from extremist allegations which will destroy their lives. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">I've got a huge problem when "responsible" and "ethical" dog breeders --not to mention bloggers and freaking journalists -- </span><a href="http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2009/07/18/hate-fear-and-the-politics-of-puppy-mills/"><span style="font-family: arial;">fall for HSUS jive</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> and completely, utterly, fail to see who they're climbing into bed with. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">The Humane Society of the United States employs the best public relations advisors money can buy. Pacelle will position himself and HSUS any way necessary to achieve his goals. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Watch what HSUS <strong>does</strong>. Not what HSUS <strong>says its doing.</strong> </span> <span style="font-family: arial;"></span> <span style="font-family: arial;">Don't be a chump.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-43966491027102523732009-06-06T15:46:00.005-04:002011-02-26T18:38:23.118-05:00HSUS Is Evil. And Proud Of It.<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hulu-evil.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/hulu-evil.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 118px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 105px;" /></a> <br />
<div><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong><span style="font-size: 130%;">Lobbying, fundraising and vegan food fun </span></strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Donations to the Humane Society of the United States at work</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>How a national extremist agenda gets served with a smile in New York </strong></span><br />
</div><div><strong><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></strong></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">With a scant three weeks left in the New York legislative session and not a whole lot to show for it yet, employees of the Humane Society of the United States--the largest, wealthiest animal extremist organization in the world--kicked in to high gear in late May.</span><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Endgame strategy? </span><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Convert brains at the state capital into gelatinous mush, the HSUS way. </span><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">HSUS Regional Director Patrick Kwan: Hey, that's how he rolls.</span></strong><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/image.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/image.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 130px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 130px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">And Kwan appears to have packed his toothbrush and airline frequent flyer card as the critical end-of-legislative-session last week of May came to a close. As Kwan's </span><a href="http://twitter.com/heypatrick"><span style="font-family: arial;">Twitter log </span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">of activities documented, the HSUS's point man in New York didn't spend much time at home as the lobbying season reached its climax.</span><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">From social calls on <strike>hens</strike> roosters (oops! good the Farm Sanctuary supporter got that pesky detail ironed out), a cameo appearance on public radio, and a barnstorming campaign through upstate New York, Kwan racked up the mileage. And he kept up a steady barrage of tweets and twitters--keep those home fires burning!--as he did it.</span><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><strong><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></strong></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Bliggety blogs, facey spaces and tweetie pages</strong> </span><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">So here's Kwan's own rendition of how he spent the last week of May, with notations in <strong>bold</strong>. [And, yeah, I removed the links plugging extremist websites. They can get their own damn blogs.]</span><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">May 24: <em>Visiting the rescued roosters . . . b4 their trip to sanctuary </em></span><br />
</div><div><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/twitter-logo.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/twitter-logo.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 113px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 113px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">May 25: <em>Met Bernadine, a broiler hen believed to have escaped from truck. . .</em></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><em></em></span><br />
<div>May 27: <em>My interview w/ WNYC</em><br />
</div><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Assm <strong>Lentol</strong> @NYSenate <strong>Stavisky</strong> bill to strengthen NY animal fighting laws </em></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="font-family: arial;"><em></em></span><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Note: Kwan's radio interview mentions neither Asy. Lentol or Sen. Stavisky. Lentol chairs the committee where HSUS's proposal is now stalled and Stavisky is the Senate sponsor of the proposal. </span></strong><br />
</div><div><strong><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">But hey, a free tweet is a free tweet.</span></strong><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">May 27: 3 <em>"hens" I transported . . .are roosters. . . .</em> </span><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">May 28: <em>Visits & meetings w/ @FarmSanctuary + <strong>Tompkins County SPCA</strong> today; Lobbying for Animals workshop in <strong>Ithaca</strong> tonight </em></span><br />
</div><div><em><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></em></div><div><em><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></em></div><div><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Note: Sen. James Seward, representing Ithaca, sits on the NY Senate Agriculture committee. On May 28, several extremist proposals, including one endorsed by the Humane Society of the United States, were stalled in the the NYS Senate Ag. Com.</span></strong><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Taste of Thai in Ithaca Commons was awesome - seitan + labeled vegan desserts</em> May 29: <em>Great meeting w/ the fine folks of Citizens Campaign for the Environment who are doing amazing anti-CAFO work. <strong>Watertown</strong>, NY </em></span><br />
</div><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Note: Watertown is home to Senate Ag. Committee chair, Darrel Aubertine. </span></strong><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: arial;">Had privilege to meet his son Ken Wiwa at Amnesty AGM RT @amnesty Ken Saro-Wiwa: The Legacy of an Environ. Defender Jefferson County SPCA loves ZooToo and shows it! </span></em><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Note: Aubertine's home, near Watertown, is in Jefferson County</span></strong><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: arial;">Will get to <strong>Syracuse </strong>around midnight to celebrate their 1st anniversay. 30%off vegan milkshakes + free cupcakes! </span></em><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Note: Syracuse is the home district of Sen. D. Valesky. Valesky is the third ranking Democrat in NY's Democratically controlled Senate, and he sits on the Senate Ag. committee.</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">May 30: <em>Just spoke to an amazing + inspiring crowd of <strong>anti-puppy mills</strong> advocates</em></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong></strong><em></em></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: arial;">Back to NYC tmrrw nite after advocacy tour of <strong>Woodstock, Binghamton, Watkins Glen, Ithaca, Watertown, Delmar, + Syracuse</strong>! </span></em><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Note: Sen. Neil Breslin represents Delmar and sits on the NYS Senate Ag. committee. </span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><em>At Recess Cafe in Syracuse for every Sat all-you-can-eat $5 vegan BBQ. In a business suit. Ha! </em>May 31: </span><em><span style="font-family: arial;">Demo today from 11am-Noon in Cicero, NY to urge Petland to <strong>stop supporting puppy mills + selling puppies</strong>. See you there? Syracuse Airport - GOOD: Free WiFi + Ziploc bags at security BAD: No soymilk at the Au Bon Pain. Urgh </span></em><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: arial;">So, connect the dots. What do you get?</span></strong><br />
<br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/alien.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/alien.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 137px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 91px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">On June 2, two anti-pet breeder proposals--disguised as anti-"puppymill" bills--moved favorably out of the NY Senate Ag. committee. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">One proposal would shut down small, hobby pet breeders. The other one is a limit law which will close moderate-to-large kennels and catteries. Both are in perfect alignment with HSUS head honcho Wayne Pacelle's "<a href="http://www.activistcash.com/biography_quotes.cfm/bid/3366">One generation and out</a>. We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals." goal. HSUS backs similar proposals in many states, most notably California.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">The New York State Ag. Committee is chaired by the senator from Watertown. Members include the senators representing Delmar, Ithaca and Syracuse. Coincidence?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">I'm just saying. . . </span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Your donations at work: gelatinous mush through lower intestines</span></strong><br />
<br />
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/421949167_a2b2301595.jpg"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/421949167_a2b2301595.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 130px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 103px;" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Patrick hasn't posted his Travel & Expense report on Twitter, but zig-zagging around upstate New York doesn't come cheap. New York ain't Texas, but its a far piece from Brooklyn to Woodstock to Syracuse to Delmar to. . .</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">Somebody's got to pay. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">I'm thinking its going to be the animals. The ones that remain caged in shelters throughout the country--particularly the pit bulls--because HSUS chooses to spend its money on lobbying, public relations and expanding its own influence.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial;">And leaves the messy stuff to others.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-58170278540792961792009-04-30T16:46:00.003-04:002009-04-30T21:08:37.414-04:00New York City Housing Authority Bans 27 Dog Breeds<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/statue-of-liberty-picture.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 133px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 129px" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/statue-of-liberty-picture.jpg" border="0" /></a>
<div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Are some dog owners more equal than others in Big Blue NYC?</span></strong>
<strong>Pet-friendly New York's Eve of Destruction</strong>
On May 1, New York's NYCHA intends to enforce its new "pet policy" for the almost 178,000 apartments scattered throughout New York's five boroughs in its control. NYCHA provides homes to more than </span><a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/about/factsheet.shtml"><span style="font-family:arial;">400,000 New Yorkers</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">. </span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:arial;">Never much of a pet-friendly landlord, in 2002 NYCHA agreed to allow tenants one dog or cat, providing the pet was neutered and weighed 40 lbs. or less.
<strong>But that was then. This is now.</strong>
Seems that policy was just too liberal. Dig it.
With </span><a href="http://www.thevillager.com/villager_313/bostonterrieris.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">explanations</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> like "too many incidents of people’s dogs doing what they aren’t supposed to", NYCHA announced new rules, including breed specific prohibitions in a</span><a href="http://www.naiaonline.org/body/articles/archives/nylaw.htm"><span style="font-family:arial;"> state</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> that forbids breed specific laws. NYCHA's policy is in direct contradiction to an exisiting state law.
As of May 1, 2009, the following dogs are </span><a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/downloads/pdf/j09apre.pdf"><span style="font-family:arial;">prohibited</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> (maybe):</span></div><div><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/gull_dong_postcard-p239861717371008.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/gull_dong_postcard-p239861717371008.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">
Akita Inu, Alangu Mastiff, Alano Español, American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Argentine Dogo, Bedlington Terrier, Boston Terrier, Bull and Terrier, Bull Terrier, Bully Kutta, Cane Corso, Dogue de Bordeaux, Dogo Sardesco, English Mastiff, Fila Brasiliero, Gull Dong, Gull Terr, Irish Staffordshire Bull, Korean Jindo Dog, Lottatore Brindisino, Neapolitan Mastiff, Perro de Presa Canario (Canary Dog), Perro de Presa Mallorquín (Ca de Bou), Shar Pei, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Tosa Inu.
Also: any dog predicted to weigh more than 25 lbs. when full grown
And even more: Even though this is all supposed to commence tomorrow, the list of breeds seems to change several times a day. The above list came from an NYCHA publication. Since then Boxers, Dobermans, German Shepherds, and Rottweilers have been included in assorted other news items. I think I saw Golden Retrievers on one.
<strong>SNAFU at NYCHA</strong>
Your guess is as good as mine as to which dogs are going to be illegal in six hours or so. I called NYCHA. Three times. NYCHA isn't talking.
They're too busy "tweaking" their list.
Who came up with that bizarre list of prohibited breeds? Was it their carefully compiled and well-documented records of dog-related incidents involving </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gull_Dong"><span style="font-family:arial;">Gull Dongs </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">?
How many problem </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alangu_Mastiff"><span style="font-family:arial;">Alangu Mastiffs </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">live in the New York City public housing projects, anyway?
<strong>Unexplained weight loss</strong></span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Paris_Hilton_Tinkerbell.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 95px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 122px" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/Paris_Hilton_Tinkerbell.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">
</div></span><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Here's </span><a href="http://www.thevillager.com/villager_313/bostonterrieris.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">how it all began</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">:</span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Dogs in public housing were becoming a headache. So, rather than work towards the enforcement of New York's comprehensive animal control laws (don't they watch Animal Precinct??? how do they avoid it???) the agency decided that 40 lbs. was "too much." </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">They figured 25 lbs. was a better number.
And then . . .
<em>. . .the agency looked into popular breeds used for dog fighting. The result was a list of about 30 types of dogs that will be prohibited from being registered in public housing after May 1. NYCHA’s pet policy overview consists of an odd mix of large and small dogs believed to be aggressive, and rare breeds. </em>
Like a lot of other dog-bite related "science", the list seems to be stuck together with chewing gum and bullshit, and maybe a little 'net surfing.
<strong>Poor people and their dogs don't count</strong> ?
<strong></strong>
New Yorkers aren't crazy about BSL. </span><a href="http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2007/01/score-after-round-one-in-big-apple-pit.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Not at all. </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Big blue New York has resisted negative stereotyping of dogs and dog owners for years.
Maybe NYCHA figures New Yorkers just don't want to know happens in the projects?
Is this a "people like us" vs. "people like them" thingie? Poor people just don't deserve pets?
Is <em>that</em> the reasoning? Rich people have more rights than folks in the projects?</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Say whaaat?
<strong>Enter <strike>Dracula</strike> Peter Vallone Jr., Stage Right </strong></span><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/petervalloine_mediawhorejpg.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 130px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 98px" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/petervalloine_mediawhorejpg.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">
</span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Proving once and for all that he is a complete media whore, Vallone couldn't resist the opportunity to <strike>shoot his mouth off</strike> uh <strike>make a fool of himself</strike> uh </span><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/04/29/2009-04-29_pit_bulls_bounced_owners_are_howling_as_dobermans_rotts_also_curbed_in_city_hous.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">pander once again </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">to the public's most fearful, most racist tendencies--</span>
<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/bedlington_terrier_03a.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 89px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 119px" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/bedlington_terrier_03a.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">
<em>"Finally someone is realizing that these potentially dangerous animals have no place in a confined urban space," said City Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Queens), who has unsuccessfully lobbied state legislators to ban the dogs.</em>
<em></em>
Think Vallone has a clue about what he's saying? Any clue at all?
How many out of control Bedlington Terriers are there in New York public housing projects ?
<strong>I'm so excited. I just can't hide it.</strong>
<strong></strong>
With the ASPCA in there "negotiating" with NYCHA, and May 1st just hours away. . . the tension's killing me.
To calm my nerves, I'm gonna </span><a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/contact/contact.shtml"><span style="font-family:arial;">write a letter </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">to the Chairman of the New York City Housing Authority, Ricardo Elías Morales. I'm going to ask him why rich people are protected by the laws of New York State, but people living in city housing projects aren't.
Then I'm going to ask him what he's got against Boston Terriers and the people who love them. . .even if they aren't rich.</span></div>
<p><span style="font-family:arial;">You should, too.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35437039.post-81627910740491293242009-04-24T14:20:00.002-04:002009-04-24T20:32:54.922-04:00Pet Airways: No red carpets for "pit bulls"<a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/HUM1078.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 100px" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/HUM1078.jpg" border="0" /></a>
<p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong>Special requirements for "certain" dogs, plus a dose of corporate snark</strong></span></p><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>What a way to run a pet-friendly airline!
</em>
</span><p><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">The 8 per cent solution: Enough to make Best Friends look the other way on discrimination?</span></strong></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">So, here's an interesting problem in corporate ethics. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary--the animal rights giant that makes a <em>very</em> big deal about how pit bulls are no different than other dogs--just announced a </span><a href="http://news.bestfriends.org/index.cfm?page=news&mode=entry&entry=CE20551B-AF14-53CE-564AD6005F68D83C"><span style="font-family:arial;">partnership with brand new Pet Airways</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span></p><p><em><span style="font-family:arial;">Pet Airways has generously made a financial commitment to Best Friends and will also be donating flights to help transport rescued and adopted pets, says Namrata Chand, Best Friends cause marketing manager. </span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-family:arial;">“Their services will not only provide a safe, comfortable and fast way to transport animals, but will also be a big cost savings for Best Friends,” Chand says. </span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-family:arial;">In addition, <strong>eight percent of the price of each Pet Airways ticket purchased by Best Friends supporters will be donated to Best Friends</strong>. </span></em></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Sounds like a sweet deal for everybody, right?</span>
</p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/griffin4.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 127px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 115px" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/griffin4.jpg" border="0" /></a>Wrong. And I'm here to tell you why.</span></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">No "separate but equal" for doggies</span></strong></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Looking past all the festivities and celebrations on Best Friends' website, the owners of "certain" dogs are going to find the following requirement buried in Pet Airway's </span><a href="http://petairways.com/files/Pet-Airways-Contract-of-Carriage-02-19-09.pdf"><span style="font-family:arial;">contract of carriage</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">:</span></p><p><em><span style="font-family:arial;">SHIPMENTS SUBJECT TO ADVANCE ARRANGEMENTS
The following shipments shall be acceptable for carriage by Carrier only upon Advance Arrangements:
...
(D) Shipments of the following breeds of dog: Pit Bull, American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Saffordshire Bull Terrier, Presa Canario. </span></em></p><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/s-sclc.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 120px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 119px" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/s-sclc.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Its kind of like the </span><a href="http://www.crmvet.org/info/lithome.htm"><span style="font-family:arial;">Alabama "Literacy Test."</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> Sure, everyone gets to vote. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Blacks and Latinos just had to pass a little test first. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">No big deal. Right?</span></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Pet Airways spokespeople: snark and doubletalk</span></strong></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Consider this </span><a href="http://docs.google.com/Edit?id=dd43cv4k_82fzbvwhc"><span style="font-family:arial;">email exchange </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">between a Pet Airways Customer Care professional--re-named "Dick"--, and a potential Pet Airways client:</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Dick:<em> . . .[Y]ou are not presenting owners of this breed in a very good light. It seems to me that you are the one that has the aggressive tendency, not your pet. We are trying to do something good for all breeds, so I suggest that next time a little less antagonism and a little more dialog would be a better way to approach a situation. If you have an issue, I suggest you talk before you jump to conclusions.
</em>
</span><em><span style="font-family:arial;">We can always amend our policies based on calm dialog, can you amend your behavior?
</span></em></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial;">["Dick" later continued]</span></p><p><em><span style="font-family:arial;">You obviously have issues. We are trying to help, you are not. Please seek professional help. You are more aggressive than your pit bull.</span></em></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">In other words, Pet Airways responded with a defensive snit yielding condescension, negative stereotypes, and that old stand-by: deny, deny, deny.</span></p><span style="font-family:arial;">"Dick" apparently thought his approach was best for dealing with gang-banging, drug-dealing, dog-fighting "pit bull owner." Did he get it from the Pet Airways customer care manual?
</span>
<p><span style="font-family:arial;">Another silver-tongued Pet Airways spokesperson showed up over at </span><a href="http://yesbiscuit.blogspot.com/2009/04/pitbulls-fly-unfriendly-skies.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Yes, Biscuit.</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">
</span><span style="font-family:arial;">This time, the explanation was that. . .
</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>The reality is this we work with Best Friends to transport those very dogs that you say we are discriminating against. In fact, we are the only airline that even would consider transporting dogs with aggressive pasts. </em>
</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Dogs with aggressive pasts" ? WTF?</strong>
</span><span style="font-family:arial;">Sometimes it's best to just step away from the keyboard, guys. Really.
</span><span style="font-family:arial;">Crap, they had to haul out a dictionary to explain what "discrimination" means over at Yes, Biscuit. "Selecting some breeds for different consideration" . . .hellloooo ?
</span><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Partnering up with Pet Airways: what Best Friends brought to the table</span></strong></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm getting this vision of the deal struck between Best Friends and Pet Airways. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Best Friends gets 8%, and in exchange Pet Airways gets a slice of that sweet, <em>sweet</em> Vicktory Dog pie. I'm thinking maybe a little clip on "Dog Town" as Pet Airways delivers one or two "fighting dogs" -- infant puppies that managed to survive their rescuers, duly delivered for $190,000's worth of rehabilitation, each, in Kanab, Utah.</span></p><a href="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/page_030_415x275.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 125px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 83px" alt="" src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/Bluedogstate/page_030_415x275.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Quid pro quo. Business. "Cause Marketing", even.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">But what do you wanna bet "national pit bull stakeholders" would lap it up?</span></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Let's predict the future! Why not?</span></strong></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Take Blue Dog's poll! Make your voice heard!</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">After all, your wildest imaginings, and most bumbling verbalizations, couldn't be any worse than Pet Airways' performance.</span></p><p></p>
<form action="http://poll.pollhost.com/vote.cgi" method="post"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="150" border="0" style="color:#eeeeee;"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000000;"><b>How will it all end? With a bang, or a whimper?</b></span></td></tr><tr><td width="5"><input type="radio" value="1" name="answer"></td><td><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">BFAS, in a fit of shame and embarrassment, will force Pet Airlines to mend their ways.</span></td></tr><tr><td width="5"><input type="radio" value="2" name="answer"></td><td><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">Pet Airlines is in it for the money, and will walk away from the flying pit bull market rather than fix the problem.</span></td></tr><tr><td width="5"><input type="radio" value="3" name="answer"></td><td><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">After thinking it over, Pet Airlines will completely refuse service for "pit bulls" and Presas, but also 30 other breeds and types. Hey, why not?</span></td></tr><tr><td width="5"><input type="radio" value="4" name="answer"></td><td><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">Other (go for it! -- use the blog's comments section)</span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><input type="hidden" value="Qmx1ZWRvZzEJMTI0MDU4OTIxNAlFRUVFRUUJMDAwMDAwCUFyaWFsCUFzc29ydGVk" name="config"> <center><input type="submit" value="Vote"> <input type="submit" value="View" name="view"></center></td></tr><tr><td align="right" colspan="2" style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000000;"><a href="http://www.pollhost.com/"><span style="color:#000099;">Free polls from Pollhost.com</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Blogger's note: Roughly six hours after this blog went up, and 18 hours after Yes Biscuit's blog went up regarding Pet Airways' policy on "pit bulls" and Presas. . .the offensive wording was deleted from the Contract of Carriage on Pet Airway's website. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"></span> </p></form>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7