More often than not when an actor plays
villainous parts or one particularly
nasty role (think Jack Palance in Shane), the bad guy image is all but
impossible to shake thereafter. It's the same with writers.
We complain that kids don't realize what they are doing when they kill
others because they are "desensitized" by the computer games and
movies we
produce. We agree that hunting and trapping are "cruel" because
they kill
animals. We agree that horses shouldn't be slaughtered. We agree
that
primates and whales and porpoises and, (fill in your blanks) shouldn't be
killed or eaten or used. Baby seals are too cute, like puppies, to be
killed for any reason. Speaking of puppies.
Does anyone still remember when you wanted a dog and with only rare
exceptions you bought the kind (size, traits, fur, etc.) you wanted as a
puppy from someone that bred and sold a certain breed nearby? Today you
buy
them in a store or from an unfamiliar breeder or get a grown dog from a
shelter or a rescue operation. Why is this so, and so what?
In the midst of the environmental and animal rights explosion 35 years ago
the practice of killing any animal became a target for elimination. Right
in there with "saving" species (actually any and every little bunch of
every
"species") or "The Wilderness" was the biggest fund-raiser
and government
job fertilizer and legal weapon for the radical environmental and animal
rights causes; eradicating the killing of animals. Animals in traps or
shelters, baby seals, porpoises, whales, sea lions, elephants and every
animal we ate or shot or wore or profited from drove the fund-raising and
legal juggernaut of the radicals.
During this period of infamy, what happened to pets and pet owners?
(Actually the same thing that happened to hunters and fishermen and
rancher/farmers, rural residents and Yugoslavia.) They "Balkanized"
and
withdrew from their common interests and then helped kill each other off.
A
brief review of the pet world is instructive in this regard for all of us.
All breeders used to register with the American Kennel Club to assure buyers
of bloodlines and to protect breed standards. Today the AKC represents
something called "the fancy". The Animal Welfare Act (passed in
1974)
covers more and more "puppy mills" (mostly rural breeders called
"puppy
mills" to dehumanize them) as licensing, increasingly restrictive
government
regulations, and inspections by government employees with an anti-animal use
agenda put more and more of such breeders out of business. Stores sell
puppies that are of dubious lineage and care for them as little as possible
because they deal in volume and profit. Old ladies are publicized
routinely
who, with every intention of "saving" the numerous dogs and cats
stuffed in
their homes or on their acreage, are charged with "cruelty" statutes
that
carry heavy fines and imprisonment because of all the "pets" they want
to
"save". A husband and wife trying to move their collies from
Alaska to
Arizona are caught in a vicious web of radicals and pet owners that take her
dogs "under the law" and abandon her to penury and her own death later
in
Mexico. Radicals and "rescue" leagues cry for
"adopting" and "neutering"
available dogs before buying a puppy. Others demand licensing that
mandates
neutering of cats and dogs. Shelters cost taxpayers increasing amounts as
"no-kill" and midnight disposals of unwanted dogs are distorted to
appear as
"the answer" to "pet overpopulation". Urban cats are
neutered and released
to continue their harms. Lies about "neutering" and trying to
integrate
adult problem animals into families are everywhere. The latest
"answer" is
"breed- specific" prohibitions and more government power.
Veterinarians
(like professors watching Endangered Species funding evolve) are now
dividing into animal-rights vets (against ear-cropping, tail bobbing,
training methods, cockfighting, and "for" wildlife rescuers and
rehabilitators) and those with a hunting weimeraner (complete with bobbed
tail) that enjoy deer steaks on a cold winter evening.
Now before I go any further, I know that I "know nothing" about these
things
since I am NOT a veterinarian, or a dog breeder, or an AKC member or a
rescue veteran or shelter-experienced or a government "inspector" or a
member of an "animal protection" league or on and on. I know
that I must be
"cruel" or "insensitive" or against "humane
treatment", or a product of a
misspent criminal youth or a blood-thirsty lobbyist in the pay of evil
forces or just trying to preserve "barbaric" sports to enjoy in person
rather than on some computer screen in the privacy of my home. Well, stuff
it! What I am about to say is something that has gone unsaid for too long
and must be reintroduced into public discourse.
The turbulence cited above (rescuers v. "the fancy" or shelters v.
"puppy
mills, or pet owners piling on an old lady with many dogs instead of seeing
her as someone in need of help or condemning a breeder trying to move her
kennel just like penned pheasants pecking to death a pheasant seen to be
bleeding) in the pet world and it's counterpart developments in the world of
hunting (the duck hunter who can't understand why he has any stake in wolves
decimating elk or whales and seals being granted "sacred" status or
government cover-up of wolf impacts by blaming dogs); fishing (rich fly
fishermen supporting the eradication of brown and rainbow trout fisheries at
the expense of less affluent fishermen or Midwestern bass fishermen failing
to care about seals decimating salmon, cod, and lobster fisheries or
cormorants decimating Eastern lake fisheries, fish farms, and hatcheries);
trapping (WHO cares?); or farmers unconcerned about loggers decimated by
owls, Wilderness, imaginary woodpeckers, and Roadless declarations, all have
more in common than we think.
The basic thread of commonality is an emerging belief that all (with select
exceptions) animal DEATH or suffering should be avoided and that human life
or interests are of no more worth or concern than is necessary to let every
wild and domestic animal live and die "naturally'. Rescue and Shelter
programs are based on this belief. Every animal rights and most animal
welfare campaigns and legislation eventually come down to this, although
they always start with a particularly touching aspect like avoiding sickness
in puppies or saving baby seals. Any mention of killing (for whatever
reason or in whatever manner) whales or porpoises or seals or stray dogs or
unwanted adult dogs or stray cats or bears or deer or leopards or elephants
or ANY animal draws more and more opposition each year. The list of
prohibited animals that can be killed or used grows each year. Britain and
New Zealand have prohibited any medical experiments utilizing primates while
Spain is proposing to give primates the "rights" of orphaned children
and a
US Federal judge even prohibited any research on Steller Sea Lions because
it may be "cruel". Introduced ("exotic",
"non-native", or "Invasive)
species are of course an exception to the no-kill rule according to the
politically correct teachings of the day. Likewise dogs killed by wolves
or
hikers killed by cougars or alligators are just the price we must pay for
the environment dictated by government.
Children are heavily propagandized by teachers to justify these ends.
Newspapers and television slant and distort these issues daily because, like
government agencies, activists have taken over these organs and "Bambi
sells". Government employees and politicians see budget growth and
votes
when you are on the "right side" of these issues. Veterinarians
and
University professors see government funding and customers and recognition
just like their counterparts have with the ever-expanding Federal Endangered
Species Act.
Consider where this has taken us and where it is going. Puppies from known
breeders are no longer the way to integrate a dog into families because such
persons and their hobby are discouraged at every turn. Stray, i.e.
"unwanted, abandoned, lost, and even dangerous", dogs are maintained
at
considerable costs both public and private and then recirculated in many
cases. Neutering is sold as somehow "reducing" populations when
the true
results vary widely and are problematic at best when taking into
consideration the reduced competitiveness of neutered animals and the
constant influx of fertile animals. As government power and oversight
increases, human activities are increasingly circumscribed and the
government program and all the "partners" and "benefactors"
work with
politicians to expand it for all the wrong reasons to the detriment of the
nation and its' citizens.
It is the same in the wild animal arena. Hunting and fishing like pet
"ownership" are slowly being eliminated. State fish and wildlife
agencies
(the former bulwarks of fish and wildlife management) like veterinarians and
professors join in the agenda of the radicals for their own future security
and interests. Predators are introduced, protected, and honored like
errant
golden retrievers to decimate ranching and farming and hunting and pets and
rural living. "Invasive Species" like pit bulls are blamed for
all problems
and specific new authorities for government are the proposed solution.
Urban legends about "live-trapping and releasing" everything from
cougars to
moose are embraced by "experts" and made into photo-ops for newspapers
just
like the "puppies" being carried from a squalid trailer by a uniformed
young
lady with a badge. Destructive populations and distributions of everything
from African elephants to whales and seals are ignored or justified like
neutered urban critters as something that must be endured by the public, no
matter what. The continued expansion of the very same government
intrusions
that disrupted everything is the only solution offered. All because we
don't
want to "kill" anything or for certain animals to "die".
If you are still reading, thanks. I am NOT against "rescue" or
urban
"shelters" that do not drain scarce public resources. I am sad
that the AKC
and many dog owners see each other as opponents. The devolution of
veterinary science, like the devolution of wildlife management, into a
Balkanized, Disney-ish pop-philosophy platform like the parallel evolution
of Universities and State fish and wildlife agencies is both disappointing
and ultimately a danger to society. Pet ownership, like the renewable use
and management of public natural resources, is being eradicated by the same
radical groups manipulating the same bureaucrats and politicians to achieve
the same hidden agendas to radically transform our society. Governments have
shifted from being the representatives of the common good of society to
advocates of animal welfare no matter the expense and harm it causes certain
segments of society. The public aversion to animal death is the main
thread
orchestrating this campaign.
Unless and until we can understand and accept the continuing need for animal
deaths, the problems with and effects of radical agendas will only increase.
A very wide spectrum of assertions must be publicly discussed from horse
slaughter and whale harvests to shelter euthanasia and lethal wild animal
controls by government and hunting and fishing programs for citizens. If
whales or baby seals are "different" regarding harvest and management
then
the old PETA lady is ultimately right about her "kid is a rat" ditty.
If
horses and cats cannot be killed when unwanted or when "wild" then
cattle
and mink will eventually be so designated. If primates cannot be
"owned"
then it is only an academic matter of time until all animals are but another
government item. If "live-trap and release" or introduction and
protection
of dangerous animals is standard government procedure then future harm to
property or even human deaths are expendable and tolerated costs for
whatever government declares is to take place.
The "un"-responsible bureaucrats that front for all this, the
politicians
that enable it, and all the propagandizers and profiteers that benefit from
this aversion to Animal Death must be dealt with and stripped of these
powers they are granting themselves over the rest of us. If we are to ever
again to have responsible pet owners and safe yards and an environment that
is truly diverse and enjoyable WHILE SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITIES AND
ACTIVITIES (i.e. Human LIFE), a serious discussion and examination of Animal
DEATH is probably the first hurdle we have to overcome.
Unlike Jack Palance I don't get paid for playing a villainous role or for
writing such villainous things. My pay comes in the form of the increased
understanding of those that are alerted to the nature of the threats they
face and even more to those that begin to act in their own sphere to put
things right. It is in that light that this is written.
Jim Beers
20 June 2006
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