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O.G.
Buckeye Schutzhund Club |
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Conformation Show Requirements
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Animal Welfare vs Animal Rights
– Keeping informed Michele Scarberry #10 on the Animal Rights Platform
states unequivocally: We Strongly discourage any further breeding of companion
animals, including pedigreed or purebred dogs or cats There is a distinct difference between animal rights and animal welfare.
In the light of all the recent BSL legislation, the animal rights platform has
come to the forefront and animal welfare has been lost in the shuffle.
We, as breeders, trainers and supporters of the German Shepherd Dog need
to be well informed about the difference between the animal rights and animal
welfare platforms. Animal
Rights platform believes: that animals have the same legal rights
as humans, with the most basic right of not being owned or used for any purpose
by human beings. Supporters of
animal rights seek to virtually end all ownership, use of animals, and breeding
of all animals. True animal rights
activists are vegan vegetarians meaning: they
eat nothing that is an animal, or from an animal by-product. They envision a
world in which no animals are left, contending that humans have mistreated
animals, and that humans no longer deserve the "right" to have any
animals. They want to end the existence of all animals by sterilization;
i.e. spaying and neutering. They
want all domesticated animals to be set free, to allow animals to live freely in
the wilderness, and to stop all hunting of any wild animals Animal Welfare is about the humane treatment of animals. This original
humane movement started in England in the 1840s. Animal welfare emphasizes
respect and concern for animals, a balance between owning, and using animals.
Allowing owners and breeders their right to own, use, and to breed
animals. Animal
Rights extremists have manipulated public perception with embellished and
distorted information. They are the largest most vocal group impacting laws and
issues relating to animals, and they are extremely well funded.
Animal Rights organizations spend a significant portion of their
donations on legislative initiatives. While some of their initiatives appear (on
the surface) to make sense to the general public, they ignore the more workable
alternatives which do not support the abolishment animals.
Animal abolishment would have severe and dangerous effect to our society.
Animals have a significant place in our society:
agriculture, industry, research, sports, and entertainment, in addition
to being pets. Animals, and our use
of them, impacts the economy, culture, environment and life-style.
Thus, without
public awareness, the rights of all animal owners is being gradually eroded,
while animal welfare is getting lost in the shuffle.
Most of the animal rights objectives are very subtle and aimed at
gradually achieving their end results: for
example, the effort to substitute
"companion animal” for "pet”
within our laws and our vocabulary, in the process, it gradually destroys
the concept of pet ownership and your ability to own pets.
Quote: Ingrid Newkirk, Co-Founder of PETA – “We would no longer allow breeding....if people had companion animals in their homes, those animals would have to be refugees from the animal shelters and the streets....But as the surplus of purebred cats and dogs (artificially designed by centuries of forced breeding) declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship - enjoyment at a distance." Animal Rights Agenda
has set goals for ending the use of animals, this animal rights agenda was
published in Animals' Agenda magazine, November 1987, and reprinted in The
Hijacking of the Humane Movement, by Rod and Patti Strand (Barnes and Noble)
Who
are these groups?
USSP
(United States Socialist Party): The Socialist Party recognizes the rights of
animals to live free from unnecessary pain and suffering, and the responsibility
of people to protect those rights. We
support the spaying and neutering of pets to prevent the massive extermination
resulting from overpopulation. We
oppose entertainment that causes pain to animals. We call for the banning of the fur trade.
We support greater inclusion and enforcement of the Endangered Species
Act. We call for a ban on
animal experimentation for product development, and for an oversight board to
examine and limit the use of animals in scientific and medical research.
We oppose factory farming practices of overcrowding, drugging, and
otherwise cruelly treating animals ARCO
(Animal Rights Community Online): is an online international
community of individuals and groups working to spread the animal rights message
and promoting less cruel diets, as vegetarian, vegan and fruitarian
alternatives. Their Mission Is To Preserve, Promote And Advance the
well-being of animals. 303 New York, NY 10012ty USA The Animals’ Platform : to advance the moral and legal status of animals in public policy throughout the four-year U.S. presidential term starting in 2005 The Institute for Animals and Society:
invites public comment on The Animals’ Platform Thereafter, we will
produce updated and revised editions on a two-year cycle timed to coincide with
the U.S. presidential and off-year elections. Once The Animals’ Platform
(2005-2006) is in place, we will launch a campaign to secure individual and
organizational endorsement of and commitment to the platform.
With movement-wide support, we will mobilize Americans to question
candidates for public office and elected representatives about their positions
on the issues addressed in The Animals’ Platform.
Although nonprofit organizations are prohibited by law from supporting
individual candidates, we can and should encourage the increasing numbers of
voters who care about animals to keep the animals’ interests in mind when
deciding which candidates to support. -Integral to the future success of the animal rights movement is our ability to position animal issues in the arena of public policy. Heretofore, we’ve mainly focused on a strategy of public education. Increasingly, however, positive developments (e.g., the passage of pro-animal citizen initiatives) indicate that now is the time for action in the mainstream political arena. Friends of Animals, founded in 1957, advocates for the right of animals to live free according to their own terms. DONOTEASTUS.ORG: a non-profit organization that supports the rights of
animals with billboards, posters, advertisements, postcards, books, videos and
other means, we welcome all people who would like to help us help the animals.
We are happy to send this material FREE OF CHARGE, but since all of this effort
is based on contributions, we would be very glad - particularly with large
orders – to receive a contribution to help carry the distribution of these
materials to the third world countries where the need is great both for the
people who suffer hunger because the grain produced in their countries is used
to feed the animals in factory
farming, and for the wild animals that are often the only source of food left
for the people to eat.
SETA (Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals):
a college university animal rights group
formed in 1994. Their mission is to educate both students and community
members on animal rights issues, and to inform people of the role that they can
play in animal rights activism. SETA's national affiliate is PETA.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals): with
more than 1.6 million members and supporters, PETA is the largest animal rights
organization in the world. PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which
the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods
of time: on factory farms, in laboratories, in the clothing trade, and in the
entertainment industry. We also work on a variety of other issues, including the
cruel killing of beavers, birds and other "pests," and the abuse of
backyard dogs. PETA works through
public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue, legislation,
special events, celebrity involvement, and protest campaigns The PETA Statement on Companion Animals --"In a perfect world, all other-than-human animals would
be free of human interference, and dogs and cats would be part of the ecological
scheme, as they were before humans domesticated them and as they remain in some
parts of the undeveloped world." PETA pamphlet, Companion Animals: Pets or
Prisoners?-- "In a perfect world, animals would be free to live
their lives to the fullest: raising their young, enjoying their native
environments, and following their natural instincts. However, domesticated dogs
and cats cannot survive "free" in our concrete jungles, so we must
take as good care of them as possible. People with the time, money, love, and
patience to make a lifetime commitment to an animal can make an enormous
difference by adopting from shelters or rescuing animals from a perilous life on
the street. But it is also important to stop manufacturing "pets,"
thereby perpetuating a class of animals forced to rely on humans to
survive." PETA marketing ploys: Become a Member of PETA - We need your financial support
in order to put a stop to cruelty to animals. An annual donation of $16 or more
entitles you to many member benefits. Members receive a FREE year's subscription
to our quarterly magazine Animal Times, packed full of the latest news,
delicious vegetarian recipes, and easy tips on how to stop animal suffering in
your own community
Wanted: Compassionate Students: Students ages 13 to 24 who are
ready to get more involved. The Street Team promotes animal rights at the
grassroots level, spreading awareness in communities and making sure that our
message is visible and heard. Once you've joined, check out the activities that
you can do to get points, which you can exchange for all kinds of free stuff,
from T-shirts and messenger bags to CDs and bumper stickers
PETA Business Friends is a new and innovative
partnership for kindhearted companies willing to assist in PETA's groundbreaking
work to stop animal abuse and suffering
ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals): was founded in 1866 as the first humane organization in the Western
Hemisphere, aristocrat Henry Bergh—proposed a society to prevent cruelty to
animals before the New York State Legislature.
In 1894 the ASPCA was placed in charge of picking up strays and
maintaining the city’s poorly run shelters HSUS (Humane Society of the United States: has
worked since 1954 to promote the protection of all animals. With nearly ten
million members and constituents, The HSUS is the nation’s largest and most
powerful animal protection organization, working in the United States and abroad
to defend the interests of animals, celebrating the human-animal bond, and
fighting animal cruelty and abuse in all of its forms. Major campaigns target
these primary issues: factory farming, animal fighting, animal cruelty, fur
trade and inhumane sport hunting practices.
Other campaigns take on puppy mills, private ownership of exotic animals,
greyhound racing, and unacceptable animal research and testing.
The 110th Congress is at an unprecedented point in history when it comes
to animal protection legislation. They have already celebrated a major victory
this year with the passage of H.R.137
and Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act . Organizations
fighting Animal Rights: U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen organization that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. Sportsmen want Pennsylvania to
scrap new dog care regulations that will eliminate hunting with dogs, while new
enforcement measures for dog law violators are implemented and evaluated.
The attorney general’s office granted a
Department of Agriculture request to allow prosecutors to try criminal
cases dealing with the state dog law. According
to the Philadelphia Inquirer, prosecutors have been acting strictly as
advisors to dog wardens, who have often been unable to convict animal abusers,
many of whom are represented by professional attorneys. While violators
escaped justice, the department has pursued a restrictive set of new regulations
that will put sporting dog kennels and hobby breeders out of business.
Breeders who can afford to remain in operation after complying with the
regulations will be forced to raise prices, since the state estimates the cost
of implementation will be as much as $10,000 per breeder. These factors will
leave hunters seeking to buy quality puppies to retrieve ducks, chase rabbits or
point pheasants high and dry. The
regulations were proposed at the direction of Gov. Ed Rendell, whose stated goal
is to “remove the stain of puppy mills from the commonwealth.” The
regulations will apply to the hobbyist the same as it will to the large
commercial breeder. The USSA and its allies in the fast-growing Sporting Dog
Defense Coalition have tried for months to convince the Department of
Agriculture to withdraw the regulations and rewrite the dog law to create a
distinction between commercial operations and hobbyists. Sportsmen have
repeatedly inquired whether there is sufficient enforcement ability to address
abusive breeders. Sportsmen’s groups continue to implore the department to
abandon the meat-cleaver approach to the problem and give the new prosecutorial
abilities a chance to show results. They have also committed to help change the
dog law, which will allow the department to isolate the abusive commercial
breeders. However, the Department of Agriculture insists that the regulations
continue to move forward. Making matters worse, recent rhetoric from the agency
and the governor’s office refers to a need for
“uniform regulations that apply to all kennels”
in Pennsylvania. A
one-size-fits-all policy has contributed to many hunters’ beliefs that there
is an anti-hunting agenda behind the effort.
“Hunters support bringing abusive commercial breeders to
justice,” said Sexton. “However, the governor and the Department of
Agriculture know how sportsmen will be hurt by the proposed rules, so our
members and allies wonder who is behind the continual push that ignores
hunters’ pleas.” The American Kennel Club (AKC): supports reasonable,
enforceable, non-discriminatory laws to govern the ownership of dogs. The AKC
believes that dog owners should be responsible for their dogs. We support laws
that: establish a fair process by which specific dogs are identified as
"dangerous" based on stated, measurable actions; impose appropriate
penalties on irresponsible owners; and establish a well-defined method for
dealing with dogs proven to be dangerous. We believe that, if necessary, dogs
proven to be "dangerous" may need to be humanely destroyed. The AKC
strongly opposes any legislation that determines a dog to be
"dangerous" based on specific breeds or phenotypic classes of dogs.
The AKC Canine Legislation Department monitors and provides input for federal,
state and local legislation governing responsible dog ownership. The AKC retains
a government relations consultant to represent AKC views in Washington, D.C. By
maintaining a visible presence in the nation's capital, the AKC continues to
serve as a leader in preserving and promoting canine welfare, while protecting
the rights and interests of the dog fancy. AKC also coordinates legislative
efforts with other animal-related organizations in Washington, D.C., and
initiates nationwide efforts by the dog fancy for important items of federal
legislation. AKC monitors state legislation pertaining to dogs with the
cooperation of more than 40 statewide federations of AKC clubs. Nine reasonable,
enforceable, and non-discriminatory state dangerous dog laws have been enacted
through the efforts of the AKC and its legislative contacts. Consumer protection
laws for dog buyers and kennel regulations are other types of state legislation
handled by the AKC. The AKC strongly supports the training and use of dogs to
provide assistance and service to humans. Dogs provide valuable service as:
seeing eye dogs; hearing dogs; therapy dogs; handicapped assistance dogs; drug,
bomb, and arson detection dogs; and tracking dogs to locate missing persons and
fugitives. The AKC opposes those who seek to define the assistance and service
dogs provide to humans as exploitative. The AKC encourages the continuation and
further development of the use of dogs for these and similar purposes.
The AKC recognizes the invaluable contributions to both human and
veterinary medical knowledge and practices that have resulted from medical
research on animal subjects, including dogs. The AKC believes that all
efficacious alternatives to the use of dogs should be explored before using
dogs, that the research should clearly necessitate the use of dogs, and that
standards of humane care and treatment of such dogs should be scrupulously
observed The AKC encourages and strongly supports the interaction and mutual
enjoyment of owners and dogs in sporting activities such as hunting and field
trials; in working circumstances such as herding, tracking, and pulling; and in
competition events such as dog shows, obedience trials, agility trials, and
other performance events and tests. The AKC believes that dogs should be
properly cared for, humanely trained, and not pushed beyond reasonable limits
for which they were bred. The Church: teaches us that animals and plants are to be utilized for the common
good of humanity, animals should be used for food, clothing, to help humans in
work and leisure,
and also for medical or scientific experiments that contribute for the care or saving of human life. The church advocates respect, and care for animals, and also warns that you should not direct more affection to animals than to human beings. Catechism of the Catholic Church: 2415 The seventh commandment enjoins respect for the integrity of creation. Animals, like plants and inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the common good of past, present, and future humanity. Use of the mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe cannot be divorced from respect for moral imperatives. Man's dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation 2416 Animals are God's creatures, he surrounds them with his providential care. By their mere existence they bless him and give him glory. Thus men owe them kindness. We should recall the gentleness with which saints like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Philip Neri treated animals. 2417 God entrusted animals to the stewardship of those whom he created in his own image. Hence it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing. They may be domesticated to help man in his work and leisure. Medical and scientific experimentation on animals is a morally acceptable practice if it remains within reasonable limits and contributes to caring for or saving of human lives, with which saints like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Philip Neri treated animals 2418 It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals
to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise unworthy to spend money on them
that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery. One can love
animals; one should not direct to them the affection due only to persons
NAIA Trust (National Animal Interest Alliance):
their mission statement is to promote the welfare of animals, strengthen the
human-animal bond and safeguard the rights of responsible animal owners,
enthusiasts and professionals through education, legislation and the courts. The
psychological and medical value of close contact with animals has been well
established, in an age when few people work directly with animals or have the
opportunity to enjoy nature, the importance of having pets in our lives is
greater than ever. NAIA supports reasonable animal welfare laws and animal
control ordinances that protect animals and the rights of all citizens without
interfering with the rights of responsible pet owners. The NAIA Trust opposes
arbitrary limit laws, breed-specific bans or restrictions, mandatory
sterilization laws, breeding permits, exorbitant license fees, efforts to dilute
the rights and responsibilities of pet ownership by substituting
"guardian" for "owner" in animal laws, and blanket
prohibitions on "exotic" pets. NAIA
believes that the best way to prevent pet-related nuisances is to
encourages communities to use the expertise of animal experts in local
animal-related clubs and businesses when writing and reviewing animal
control laws Fewer
dogs are entering shelters every year, and shelter deaths are down and
continuing to drop. This decline is due to the tireless efforts of shelter
employees, responsible dog breeders and rescue volunteers. Nationwide studies
indicate that in the last thirty years shelter intakes and euthanasias have
decreased by 75-90% or more, particularly
in cities on the east and west coasts. One
of the consequences of the decline, is in the number of shelter dogs that are
available for adoption. In order to
deal with this, shelters and rescue groups have had to realign their efforts by
importing stray dogs across state lines and from foreign countries, some
shelters are misapplying the ‘no-kill shelter’ principles by adopting out
unhealthy and bad-tempered dogs. While these practices might be well motivated,
it creates significant problems for the public. ie they sustain rather than
solve the "overpopulation" issue; they effect an end run around
responsible breeders; they open a door to potentially devastating diseases and
parasites which are not currently found in our country; and harm a future in
which the supply of healthy, well-bred dogs and cats will be limited Using
their terminology: "Where
did the term “pet” come from? Have
the words "companion animal” referenced
your breedings? Has it ever occurred to you that you are unconsciously spreading
their message? Don't use the word
"pet" - choose
"companion animal" each
time we use "their terminology” in
place of our own, we spread “their
message and support their cause” Are
you telling people: that you "place your
puppies in their new adoptive homes”
“with their new guardians”
Is the check you receive for the puppy considered an "adoption fee
for their new furkid " In
the normal world, the evaluation of
your competence is not determined by how INfrequently you do something. But this logic was served to us by the Animal Rights
Activists, and we actually bought
it! The most harmful way in which
we’ve supported their cause (ending animal ownership and breeding) is by
believing that responsible/good breeders produce less dogs than
irresponsible/bad ones. The rationale used by the Activists, in order to get us
to believe and strive to be a more responsible breeder was: we were told that
there is a ‘pet overpopulation problem’ and every year, more and more
unwanted pets are euthanized in shelters. So,
the less dogs you breed, the better a breeder you are…… v The less dogs you breed, the better a breeder you are? v
The fewer books you write, the better a writer you
are? v
The less paintings you produce the better a painter
you are? v
The less cases you try, the better an attorney you
are? v The less surgeries you perform, the better surgeon you are? Would you choose a cardiac surgeon because he only performs that particular surgery once every four years? Fact
is: A good breeder is not one who breeds less dogs - it is
someone who breeds dogs well. A
good breeder is one who breeds only for the improvement in type and structure,
as defined by the Standard for his breed. He
screens his dogs for all the health problems,
and makes intelligent and informed choices based on the results of those
tests to minimize the risk of producing unhealthy animals.
He takes the time to learn the basics of genetics, anatomy, and canine
behavior before he starts breeding, and
continues to study throughout his years as a breeder.
He socializes his puppies. He
stands behind his dogs. He shows
his dogs in competitions, because he understands that the purpose of competition
is to evaluate the breeding stock. Dog breeders know that a good dog comes from a good foundation and that
a good dog handler/owner relationship is a result of good genetics….. We, as German Shepherd breeders, owners, trainers must support
animal welfare, be informed and ready to discuss the differences between Rights and Welfare, inform the public on the subject
of breeding for a purpose, titled dogs, maintaining temperament and working
ability
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