I’d be willing to bet that most folks who have found their way to this section of our webpage have no idea why a breeder would promote articles that attack groups that are thought of as rescuing animals. After all, we all love dogs and cats, right? That’s what I thought as a young adult, beginning a small breeding program. I have learned a lot since then.
Some 20 years ago I became interested in animal related legislation when investigating what the “lemon laws” were in my state. I was very fortunate to meet mentors who I still think of as friends after all these years.
My idle curiosity initially turned into anger when I learned of the Animal Rights movement and their goals. Animal Rights is not to be confused with Animal Welfare. Being the sort who likes to take action, my anger turned into a passion for learning – what has been done in Virginia, what happens in other states and especially what has been effective and ineffective.
What have I learned? The thing that stands out the most is that Animal Control is an extremely difficult, multi-faceted problem with many solutions that work in some areas but not others, and countless instances of coercive legislation that do not work in any area but continue to be touted as the “solution”. It continues to mystify and amaze me why our lawmakers will pass legislation that has failed over and over again.
The other thing that stands out is that there are plenty of groups with agendas that are not pet-owner friendly. Some of the links on this page provide some background on just a fraction of these groups – the larger, well-know ones. To the un-indoctrinated, these groups are synonymous with animal rescue. I used to donate money to some of them before I learned what they were about. Now I donate countless hours of my time networking with other very tired and disappointed people who want to maintain their rights to pet ownership and pedigreed dog and cat breeding. Were that I could reach more people with this information.
Below are several links to articles intended to educate the public about some of these groups and their alternate purposes.
I also strongly recommend a book entitled “Redemption” by Nathan Winograd. Anyone who reads this can never look at animal control, animal welfare, and animal shelters the same way again.
Your personal rights -versus- the Animal Rights Movement
For years, the public has been duped into thinking that the money they send to organizations such as the ones mentioned in the articles linked to here actually benefits homeless or shelter animals. It's time that it became more clearly understood that donations to groups such as HSUS and PETA are widely used to lobby YOUR government to pass laws with the ultimate goal of making it illegal to use animals for any purpose. This is not the same thing as animal welfare, which is the humane care of animals. The fact that you are on this website says that you probably really love animals. You may even donate money to these groups - after all, they send you requests for donations in the mail with emotional pleas and sad faces of puppies and kittens needing homes. They don't mention that for the most part, they don't have shelter facilities and do not find homes for homeless pets. They are political machines with a hidden agenda and they want to take away your rights.
The focus in many areas at this time it to make it prohibitive to be a hobby breeder - by putative breeder licensing fees*, inspection requirements, business licensing even though the majority of us operate at quite a loss...the list goes on and on. If you love your purebred animal, and you would like the opportunity in the future to purchase from the best source for healthy, well socialized pets, please take the time to read the articles on this section of the website.
* In Richmond, VA, it costs more to license a non-spayed cat each year than it does to license a handgun, or an adult movie theater.
Do You Know the Real PETA and Humane Society of the United States?
Seven things you don't know about PETA (link to outside website)