Animal Rights Online - Issue # 06/26/05

[Catchawave]

Armchair Activist
By JJswans - [e-mail]

An armchair activist, like an armchair quarterback, is one who is critical of those activists who are actually in the "trenches" helping animals, but who has no experience from which to make valid criticisms. This last week I've seen several of these armchair activists condemning Peta for their work in North Carolina. Mind you, Peta has been doing the dirty work, improving impossible conditions, while the armchair activist sits at his comfortable desk, slamming Peta for its actions and insisting that he knows better how to spend their money. And all the while he shows the world that he really doesn't understand the scope of the problem with companion animal overpopulation in this country, nor does he understand what's involved in sheltering and caring for homeless animals.

What started the armchair activist on his/her rant? Newspapers reported that two employees of Peta were arrested on various charges after they were linked with the disposal of plastic bags of dead cats and dogs in supermarket trash bins after they had been killed by lethal injection. But instead of waiting to hear all the facts, the armchair activist begins to pound out his vitriolic attack on his computer keyboard. The armchair activist doesn't even consider that there is another side of the story, nor that what's being reported is not convictions, nor that there might be mitigating circumstances. Normally, news reports are something that activists learn to read with a grain of salt when it comes to reports about animal activists, but because they give ammunition to Peta's detractors, these reports are taken as gospel - the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

What the news reports didn't say is how horrible the conditions were that Peta has been trying to improve for several years. Peta was first alerted to the problem by a Bertie, North Carolina police officer in 2000, whose concerns triggered a Peta investigation of several so-called shelters in Bertie County and Hertford County where Peta found some of the animals housed in "shacks without heating in which animals were left to drown or freeze to death," according to Peta's website at www.helpinganimals.com/f-nc.asp

Also reported by the officer was a large white dog found drowning in a pool of water, lying on her side and too sick and weak to lift her head; a starving dog eating a dead kitten; no covering for the cages; no electricity; and methods of killing the animals that were barbaric, including a leaky, rusty, windowless box where animals were crammed on top of each other, and then gassed to death. This gas chamber can be seen at . Other methods included restraining animals on a metal pole and shooting them with a .22 caliber gun. Northhampton was killing dogs and cats with an injectable paralytic agent that causes suffocation while the animal is awake and aware that it can't breathe.

These "shelters" are in impoverished counties where animal control is the least of community concerns. They are located in remote locations, are not open for adoptions, and are minimally staffed by one warden whose duties include responding to dog bites and stray animals.

Peta found injured and sick animals in the shelter that were badly in need of veterinary care. Many had parvovirus and contagious mange. Chains were found imbedded in dog's necks. There was no protection from the elements. A water hose froze in winter. Animals drowned during floods and froze to death during winter.

Peta sent a team to offer aid to Bertie County in order to train shelter staff in proper feeding and cleaning protocols, and built doghouses within the kennels to provide shelter from the elements - a desperately needed improvement. Peta made arrangements to pay a local veterinarian to euthanize the animals painlessly at the Hertford facility and has paid, to-date, $9,000 for the service.

When checking back with the Bertie shelter, they found conditions deteriorated again. Countless piles of feces were throughout the shelter, dogs living in their own filth, a bag of food thrown into the dog run and left to get wet in the rain, a dead wet cat lying in the middle of the dog run, two dead puppies in an empty food bag. At that time they issued an action alert that can still be seen at www.all-creatures.org/aip/nl-20feb2001-peta.html

All the inhumane methods of killing stopped after Peta volunteered to provide a peaceful painless death free of charge. No secret was made that they euthanized animals and that the animals retrieved from the pounds would be provided with a humane death.

One of Peta's employees met with officials and was never asked about adoption. The shelters don't have an adoption program or an adoption rate, and never have. Since 2003 Peta has submitted several proposals to officials and attended several meetings where they offered and begged to be allowed to implement an on-site adoption program, among other things. Officials weren't interested.

Peta worked with the shelters to clean old cages and build new ones, train personnel, provide supplies and service. They spent more than $250,000 on veterinary and other services in one North Carolina County alone. They built a cat shelter from the ground up in an area where cats were previously set free in the woods to breed.

While all this was going on, Peta also delivered hundreds of free dog houses and straw to dogs throughout the community, who were chained to metal barrels or with no shelter at all, and have paid to spay/neuter countless animals already in homes. This, of course, was in effort to reduce the birth rate so that less animals would end up homeless and would mean less animals in the area's death trap shelters.

What does the future hold for the animals in the area if these shelters terminate their relationship with Peta? They will go back to their old ways.

As for the armchair activist - what happens to the dogs and cats who are born into a world that doesn't want them, has not cared for them, and ultimately has abandoned them to be disposed of? The armchair activist has all the answers. S/he thinks that all Peta has to do is build no-kill sanctuaries. But the armchair activist doesn't have a grip on the massive undertaking this would entail, nor does he understand what it would do to the animals themselves. The armchair activist believes that any life, no matter how lonely, no matter how fearful, is better than no life at all. And that's an easy thing for the armchair activist to believe, because he doesn't have to live it, doesn't have to see the animals suffer for his choices.

The armchair activist doesn't take into account that dogs have evolved, through selective breeding, into animals that want to be part of human families. The armchair activist thinks that a dog living in a kennel all it's life, is experiencing a life worth living. How big must the fantasy sanctuary in the armchair activists mind be, that it can handle the millions of dog and cats that are killed in this country every year because of lack of homes? And that's just this year - what about next year, and the year after that?

We all look forward to a no-kill society, where adoptable animals don't have to die, but the armchair activist forgets that this is a goal to work towards - one that will only be reached with education, spay/neuter campaigns, and possibly even legislation. It's not going to be solved overnight, and it certainly isn't going to be solved solely with sanctuaries, because as homeless animals are warehoused in sanctuaries, people come to the conclusion that it's okay to breed more. There will always be those that don't care about orphaned animals, and will just produce more to make money or to please themselves, but that number increases when people think that their actions don't cause the deaths of dogs and cats that are already here, needing homes.

Something else that the armchair activist doesn't realize about sanctuaries is that they fill quickly and need to turn subsequent orphan animals away. For those that they can take in, if no homes are available, the adoptable animals become "cage-bound" and are no longer adoptable. So, such animals are being kept while they slowly become unadoptable and have to be killed anyway - even by the no-kills. And then there is always the fine line between being a sanctuary, and being a hoarder or collector.

The armchair activist also conveniently ignores the efforts Peta has made to educate and to spay/neuter. Not only in the counties that are currently in question, but all over the country. Not only do they have a mobile spay/neuter van called the "Snip-Mobile" (www.helpinganimals.com/i-nobirth-snip.html) that helps reduce the birth rate in their area, but they also offer free downloads of educational literature on spay/neuter, and many other companion animal issues at (www.helpinganimals.com/t-lit.html). And hopefully they will be able to continue to help the animals in North Carolina to have a reduction of births, better housing, and a merciful death when there are no other options.

One other thing that the armchair activist sees fit to complain about is the method that the Peta employees used to dispose of the remains of the animals they euthanized, which was by putting them in plastic bags and placing them in dumpsters. This may or may not be ill advised, and apparently was illegal, as dumping anything in private dumpsters is illegal. However, the normal method of disposing of dead animals by animal control in that area is to send them to a landfill. Which basically means that they would end up in the same place as the contents of the dumpster.

More things for the armchair activist to consider:

· It costs taxpayers an estimated $2 billion each year to round up, house, kill, and dispose of homeless animals.
· An estimated 7 million cats and dogs are killed in U.S. shelters each year.
· 47% of cats surrendered to U.S. shelters are not spayed or neutered.
· 55% of dogs surrendered to U.S. shelters are not spayed or neutered.
· 67,000 puppies can be born from one female dog and her offspring in 7 years.
· 420,000 kittens can be born from one female cat and her offspring in 6 years.
· 71% of cats and kittens entering U.S. animal shelters are destroyed.
· 55% of dogs and puppies entering U.S. animal shelters are destroyed.
· For every human born, 6 puppies and kittens are born.

Where would you like those 6 puppies and kittens, for each of your family members, delivered?

My advice to the armchair activist? Get off your duff and volunteer at a shelter, or with a rescue group. See what life is really like in the world of homeless animals.



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Second Mad Cow in US is Confirmed
By Greg Lawson – [e-mail]


Last week I reported that a second case of mad cow disease was suspected, but that the USDA had been dragging its feet since last November on retesting the animal’s brain with more sophisticated tests. Finally, a few weeks ago, after the USDA Inspector General ordered the department to conduct further tests, the samples were sent to the International BSE Laboratory in Weybridge, England. Confirmation came on Friday from Weybridge. Yes, the animal had bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said that human health was never at risk. The animal was a “downer,” meaning it was too sick to walk and that such animals are banned from the food supply. True, there is a ban, but somehow I don’t trust the meat industry to always follow the ban. And while the government may keep assuring us that such animals don’t go into the human food supply, they do go into animal feed where the prions that cause mad cow disease are passed on to other animals. Downers do go into pet food, and cats have developed feline spongiform encephalopathy from eating tainted food.

Despite continual assurances from the federal government, our food supply and our companion animals’ food supply is not safe, it hasn’t been for years, ever since the government began allowing the meat industry to police itself.

For more information on mad cow disease, please go to
http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow.htm

Dr. Michael Greger is the Mad Cow Coordinator for the Organic Consumers Association and the Chief BSE Investigator for Farm Sanctuary’s www.nodowners.org and our guest this week on ACT Radio.



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Op-Eds & Happy Adoptions



The following website gives more information on the topic covered in our lead story, Armchair Activist.


http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=88131&ran=99846



More Opinions:

Look at the bigger picture
While it would be easy to vilify and condemn PETA right away after this animal dumping incident, it is more important to look at the bigger picture as you pondered in your op-ed. Sadly, these animals that were disposed of, no one wanted to begin with. PETA has provided (at great expense to their organization) a spay/neuter mobile van to help in getting the message out to a very apathetic public the importance of animal population control. They have made no excuses to their stance in humane euthanasia, and indeed Ms. Newkirk herself has said as much. However, PETA has always offered free doghouses and animal care equipment for those whose standard of living barely provides for themselves, let alone animals in the same area were the incident occurred. One only has to visit their beautiful dog park next to their headquarters in downtown Norfolk to see how much they care about companion animals. Every organization that has an ideology as its mission will always have a few individuals who believe they are helping further a cause when in fact they are nothing more than zealots, damaging a company or group or even their country with their twisted vision of what is right or wrong. There are thousands of shelters for all sorts of animals throughout this country that prove PETA has a point: We are a throwaway society. Animals are an enormous amount of responsibility, and caring for them should be no different than that of our children. Most people who have animals consider them members of their family. It is those millions of people out there who view them as toys or pastimes. It is these people who allow the large litters, start the puppy mills, open the filthy and inhumane pet stores, and then dump them on a shelter's doorstep like the one in North Carolina. The trash in those Dumpsters don't just hold the neglected or abused. They hold a problem that's not going away anytime soon. - Michael A. Carey, Virginia Beach

Blessed by a PETA dog
We adopted one of the many dogs PETA has rescued from North Carolina over the past several years and must respond to your article (“PETA president condemns dumping, defends euthanizing animals,” June 18). PETA did a wonderful thing by bringing Bea into our lives. She was dumped at a North Carolina county pound two days before giving birth to nine puppies. Emaciated, filthy and suffering from heartworm disease, Bea was discarded by an uncaring person who thought nothing of having their own dog give birth on a cold, wet cement floor. X-rays later showed that her body was riddled with bird shot. Every day of our lives has been brightened by having Bea with us, but giving her a happy, healthy life is just a small part of the solution. There are not enough homes for dogs, cats, kittens and puppies as long as people fail to have their animals fixed or if they buy animals from pet shops or breeders instead of adopting a homeless animal. PETA’s local spay and neuter clinic, their national campaigns to promote spaying and neutering, and the tireless work that they’ve quietly done in improving conditions in North Carolina for years - such as donating dog houses, training for animal shelter workers, and veterinarians' care - are efforts that deserve support from every caring person. - Frances and Roger Spuler, Virginia Beach

Who are the real hypocrites?
At the dog park I take my adopted greyhound to, at least once a week I hear people discussing the breed they "just have to buy" and the "responsible" local breeder they go to. I was appalled to hear these same people berate PETA for euthanizing unwanted animals in North Carolina. PETA did not create the overpopulation problem. People need to realize that there are too many animals, not nearly enough homes, and that if they're buying animals from breeders and pet stores, they are only exacerbating the problem. PETA has spent over $240,000 in our southern neighbor's counties to try to implement adoption and spay/neuter programs, improve their dilapidated shelters, and give the often mange-ridden, starved, uncared for and unwanted animals a humane death - as opposed to a gunshot to the head, life in a cage, or other horrors. So if we should be calling anyone "hypocrites," it's not PETA - it's the irresponsible people who keep bringing these animals into the world and then cry foul when caring groups have to "clean up" the resulting mess. - Jacqueline Drake, Virginia Beach

Bertie County is no Hilltop
Regarding the story about PETA euthanizing unwanted animals in North Carolina, I think most people have no idea how extreme the situation is for unwanted animals in that area. Bertie County is no Hilltop; much of the human population there lacks the essentials, so of course homeless dogs and cats are allotted next to nothing. It seems that PETA's ultimate intention was to try to compensate at the very least for the basics that the county is financially unable to provide - a humane death for those unfortunate dogs and cats that nobody wants. - Ann Radcliff, Norfolk

Not just a PETA problem
I’m sure that the caring souls who work at PETA are as devastated by the allegations facing two of their staff as the rest of us are. Those involved with PETA’s Community Animal Project have a thankless task. We humans have created a massive animal overpopulation problem by supporting breeders and pet stores while unwanted animals languish by the millions in shelters; by failing to spay and neuter our animals; and by tossing animals away when they become “inconvenient.” Now we have the responsibility to find a solution. Throwing stones at those who are trying to help does none of us any good.- Maura McClure, Virginia Beach

Pair will be vindicated
I worked in PETA’s Community Animal Project and was always inspired by Adria Hinkle’s compassion, enthusiasm and deep concern for the animals. I assisted her at a few animal “shelters” (sometimes nothing more than a shack) by helping clean, feed and care for the animals. One shelter was simply dumping food over the fence for the dogs a couple of times a week. Many dogs are protected from the elements because of the sturdy, free doghouses PETA has provided. In North Carolina, I saw Adria cry at the treatment animals received at the hands of cruel people and I saw suffering that would turn a strong person’s stomach. I know that when the investigation is complete, Adria and Andrew Cook will be vindicated. I only wish their good deeds captured the headlines as quickly as their misfortune. I will always be proud of the work I did at PETA and always be proud of Adria Hinkle.
- Misty Collins, Hampton

Euthanizing isn’t cruel
PETA would not have to euthanize any animals if more people would have their dogs and cats spayed or neutered. Everyone wants to believe there are plenty of good homes for needy animals, but when millions of them must be killed in shelters all over the country every year, that belief is obviously not grounded in reality. Euthanizing animals isn’t cruel, it’s kind — and necessary. What does veterinarian Patrick Proctor think happens to the thousands and thousands of other seemingly “very adoptable” kittens who are born every year? Where are we supposed to put them? On the roof? There just aren’t enough homes for them all. That’s the bottom line. I support PETA and respect them for doing what needs to be done. Thanks to them, unwanted animals in North Carolina won’t die painful deaths or spend their lives on the streets or in cages. - Elaine Sloan, New York City

Look at the real scandal
There are three rescued cats in my home who are alive today because of PETA, and at least a dozen others in my neighborhood would have given birth to unwanted litters if not for PETA’s low-cost spay-neuter clinic. Unfortunately, as long as people continue to allow their animals to breed and as long as people buy dogs and cats from pet shops and breeders instead of adopting them from shelters, the “extras” will have to be euthanized. That’s the real scandal.- Emily Williams, Norfolk



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~4~
ACT Radio


Be sure to listen to ACT Radio, Animal Concerns of Texas, Sunday, June 26 at 7:30pm Mountain, 9:30pm Eastern. Greg Lawson, Steve Best and Liz Walsh cohost this animal rights oriented program every second and fourth Sunday of the month. This time we feature the second part of a conversation with Dr. Michael Greger. We discuss Mad Cow disease, Michael's new job at HSUS and other matters.
ACT can be heard by going to www.ktep.org and clicking on the Listen button. Past programs are archived on the web at www.drstevebest.org/ACT/AnimalConcernsofTexas.htm



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Anthony Marr's *Boycott Canadian Seafood* Tour


Anthony Marr (activist extraordinaire - works with Brenda Davis of "Becoming Vegetarian" fame) is doing a tour of Canada and the USA to encourage people to boycott Canadian seafood.

Here is a link to his information as well as a petition people can sign on the yaaa site that just recently went up: http://www.yaaaonline.org

Follow the "sign the petition" link at the bottom and you can also check Anthony's itinerary and website if you wish to. We would have given you the links directly, but the scenic trip to see Yoda Rabbit's cuteness on the homepage of that site is most worthwhile!



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Peaceable Kingdom is now Animal Acres


The Peaceable Kingdom Sanctuary has been renamed! The Los Angeles farmed animal shelter created by Farm Sanctuary Co-founder Lorri Bauston is now called: Animal Acres.

Animal Acres is a 26 acre sanctuary located just 45 minutes from Los Angeles. The new sanctuary is hosting several upcoming events including:

Walk for County Critters August 14th Venice, CA
Put on your walking shoes to help raise funds for feed, bedding and veterinary costs for rescued farmed animals. Call or email today to get your Walker Packet.

Sanctuary Grand Opening October 15th
Gather with animal advocates, celebrity hosts, and noted speakers for this special celebration for farmed animals. Music, food and farm fun from noon to dusk as we party 'til the cows come home (literally!) Stay tuned for more details!

Save the Turkeys Gathering November 19th
Encourage people to SAVE turkeys for the Thanksgiving holiday Spend the day with your farmed animal friends, enjoy a delicious vegan dinner, and feed the sanctuary turkeys.

For further information about the new Los Angeles Farmed Animal Shelter & Compassionate Living Center, volunteer opportunities, and what YOU can do to help, please call: 661-269-0986; email: [e-mail] or visit our website: www.AnimalAcres.org



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The Animals' Savior
Copyright Jim Willis 1999

I looked at all the caged animals in the shelter...the cast-offs of human society.
I saw in their eyes love and hope, fear and dread, sadness and betrayal.
And I was angry.
"God," I said, "this is terrible! Why don't you do something?"
God was silent for a moment and then He spoke softly.
"I have done something," He replied.
"I created You."

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Memorable Quote


"I will never understand why people continue to breed animals,
when there are already so many animals here to exploit and abuse."

~ Greg Lawson - [e-mail]





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Susan Roghair - [e-mail]
Animal Rights Online, President
Established 1997
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[shockra]

1. Great article by JJ.

:thumbsup:

It's an honor to have her here. :)

[JJswans]

2. article

Thank you. :-)

It's amazing how much hate mail that article generated. We got compliments too, but it was interesting to read the comments from those that are so blinded by the "no-kill" philosophy, that they completely ignore that animals still are dying. And if they do accept that fact, then they demonize those that are doing the killing, and are incapable of giving alternatives. I've been responding to that hate mail, and asking to prove their contention that there is always room for one more by opening their own doors to the 60,000 a year that are killed in my local shelter system. That's when they usually start calling me names. :-)

[livinginphotographs]

3. I really hope this PETA thing blows over

once the vultures get distracted by some other shiny object.

I was arguing with two people last night about this.......as they chowed down on their hamburgers. Don't worry, the irony did not escape me.