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You know, in the documentary about Newkirk they actually rescued a Pit mix, who, as it turned out, had heartworm (and a miserable existence, let me tell you), so yes, they had him euthanized.
Nowhere in any credible literature have I ever read anything about PETA wanting to kill animals--quite frankly, it's a bit absurd. And even more absurd is the remark that the American Humane Society wants to abolish pet ownership and is the "funding arm of PETA." Interestingly, someone from this group spoke during the documentary and has serious issues with PETA and their tactics (as does the other co-founder, btw). People, please, cite your sources, and for everyone's sake, question, question, question!!!
Hearworm is treatable. A dog doesn't have to have a "miserable existence". It can be treated and the dog can be cured. It's done all the time. So just the existence of heartworm is not sufficient reason to euthanize.
As for the reports about these organizations, they are not absurd. Hard to believe, yes. Absurd? no. Except, maybe absurd that they would actually want to do that. I don't need to convince anyone. I would just want to encourage people to do their own research and look deeper. Read up on ALF, and ELF. Read between the lines, and extrapolate. Extend their stated goals to the impact that would have on your personal life. Reason it out. It sounds very idealistic and nice on the surface, but think it through.
Indeed, please, for everyone's sake, question, question, question. Do not be taken in by glib advertising, emotional appeals and PR releases.
As for pitbulls being maligned by repeated press reports of mishaps -- I'd venture to say that's because it makes sensational news. I'd be willing to guess that just as many other breeds are responsible for dog bites, but it doesn't make the news because it's not sensational. A vet once told me that the largest number of dog bites he sees in his business are associated with goldens. Shall we press our legislators to ban golden retrievers? They must surely be vicious. How come we don't hear about this? Must be the extreme right wing organizations that are hiding the truth about this breed.
But where does Diane Jessup get this information??? On what is she basing it? You know, in the documentary about Newkirk they actually rescued a Pit mix, who, as it turned out, had heartworm (and a miserable existence, let me tell you), so yes, they had him euthanized. Nowhere in any credible literature have I ever read anything about PETA wanting to kill animals--quite frankly, it's a bit absurd. And even more absurd is the remark that the American Humane Society wants to abolish pet ownership and is the "funding arm of PETA." Interestingly, someone from this group spoke during the documentary and has serious issues with PETA and their tactics (as does the other co-founder, btw). People, please, cite your sources, and for everyone's sake, question, question, question!!!
Very good point! There are a lot of dog owners in the south that leave their dogs tied up outside all day long. And they get heartworm because not all owners care enough to give their dogs the preventative. So many rescued dogs have heartworm infestation. To cure a dog of heartworm coats about $1500 in MA. My terrier from TN had heartworm when I got her. We had her treated the cheaper TN way, which was the medication without any x-rays or ultrasound scans.
I worked doing transport for the American Brittany rescue for a while and it was just atrocious that hunters would have these dogs for the hunting season and then let them loose when they were done for the season. And I have a friend in Mobile, AL with hunting dogs and he told me that he was unique for keeping his dogs indoors instead of tied up outside.
So I can see why in certain parts of the country, the kill rate would be very high for rescued animals, and rescued cats too because there are so many of them.
I don't hate PETA nor am I mad at them. They've been around for years. I remember in the 80's when they would throw red paint on women wearing fur coats. The majority of people don't take them seriously, so I don't fear their ideas becoming law. I do think that they do serve a purpose in presenting a very pro animal side and they do make some people pause and think about their actions. And I do think that there are a lot of dog owners out there that shouldn't be dog owners and families that shouldn't have dogs. At least over the years, in most states you now can't buy chicks for Easter to give your kids.
I find vegans equally annoying since I am an omnivore. But anyway, I know of no one that is a PETA supporter but I know a lot of animal lovers. Then I also dislike the weekly Saturday picketers at the Planned Parenthood Clinics. It takes a lot of time and energy to be this wound up. They need a life.
Otherwise, how many pit bulls are currently in the US? And I have to wonder what percentages of those pit bulls and their owners are involved with dogfighting and using them for street gang/drug dealer intimidation factor? How many of those dogs are just poorly bred or socialized? 25%? 40%? I don't think that you can't say that it's a tiny percentage, not with all the pit bull stories in the news daily in the US.
I can't tell you how many APBTs, AmStaffs and Staffies are in the US or are involved in dog fighting, nor can I tell you how many APBTs, AmStaffs and Staffies have not been properly bred and/ or socialized. However, I can tell you that if there were a very high percentage fighting and/ or poorly bred and socialized "pit bulls" in the US, there would be many, many, many more "pit bull" bites/ attacks. The overwhelming majority of "pit bulls" in the US are never involved in a single bite. If you think about how many of these so-called "pit bull" attacks/ bites that we hear about are actually attacks/ bites by APBTs, AmStaffs and Staffies, there is no way that can be the majority of the "pit bulls" in the US.
I have said all of this before, but again, more than 4.5million dog bites are reported each year in this country, and far more bites go unreported. No data is collected on the breeds responsible for the bites. The only breed specific data collected are for fatal dog bites.
A study of fatal dog attacks from 1979 to 1998 found "pit bulls" (American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers) and Rottweilers were responsible for more than half of the 227 deaths for which breed data was available. Proponents of BSL use this study to support banning "pit bulls", but even the authors of the study have come out to say that such use is inappropriate. So does the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has this report available on their website (Dogbites Bibliography), with the caveat that the article "does not identify specific breeds that are most likely to bite or kill, and thus is not appropriate for policy-making decisions related to the topic."
Dog-bite statistics cannot be used to predict which breeds are most likely to bite for two reasons. First, it's impossible to study breed bite rates in absence of breed population statistics. Bite numbers tend to increase simply as a function of breed numbers. Registration and licensing statistics do not accurately reflect breed popularity, because many breeds, including "pit bull" type breeds, are less likely to be registered and licensed than some others. "Pit bull" type dogs appear to be extremely popular, but statistics focus on the comparatively few that are involved in attacks, ignoring thefar larger percentage that are NEVER involved in even a single bite! Statistics also don't take into account the good deeds done by targeted breeds.
Statistics are also flawed by breed misidentification. With more than 700 breeds worldwide, the average person can't identify even a small proportion of breeds. It's not uncommon for newspaper reporters and even animal control officers to label Boxers, Shar-Peis, Dalmatians, Mastiffs, Labs, etc as "pit bulls". When it comes to mixes the situation becomes even more impossible! Headlines mentioning "pit bull" attacks seem to elicit more interest than those reporting dog attacks. All the media cares about is ratings, and if they have to twist a story a little, or a lot, to get their ratings, that's what they do!
Statistics are also flawed by breed misidentification. With more than 700 breeds worldwide, the average person can't identify even a small proportion of breeds. It's not uncommon for newspaper reporters and even animal control officers to label Boxers, Shar-Peis, Dalmatians, Mastiffs, Labs, etc as "pit bulls". When it comes to mixes the situation becomes even more impossible! Headlines mentioning "pit bull" attacks seem to elicit more interest than those reporting dog attacks. All the media cares about is ratings, and if they have to twist a story a little, or a lot, to get their ratings, that's what they do!
I noticed when I would check out adoption websites when we were looking for our pup, that anything that remotely resembled a pit bull was listed as "lab mix" on several of the websites. Not completely related, but I thought it was interesting.
I agree with many of the comments that certain people/families should not own dogs and some people should never breed their dogs. This is completely true.
Unfortunately, some of the practices that go on with dog breeding and even horse showing are dispicable at best. Some breeds have been inbred or bred with problems to make them show better in the breed ring (German Shepherds w/hip problems stack easier in the hind-end). Certain breeds of horses carry their tails high when they move, and some will break the tail bone or use pepper/ginger around their anal glands to make the horse carry their tails even higher.
The sad thing is that PETA's voice seems to be heard by the average person that takes care of and respects their animals. When I was a kid in 4H, some animal rights activists (I don't know from which group) went to the county fair 4H rabbit show and were protesting and trying to let the rabbits free. Like someone mentioned before, the purpose of 4H is to instill responsible pet ownership in kids ages 8 & up. Could you imagine some little 8 year old being yelled at that they're terrible for owning their rabbit?
There are much bigger battles that they should be choosing, I guess is the point to this rambling post.
I find vegans equally annoying since I am an omnivore. But anyway, I know of no one that is a PETA supporter but I know a lot of animal lovers. Then I also dislike the weekly Saturday picketers at the Planned Parenthood Clinics. It takes a lot of time and energy to be this wound up. They need a life.
I only find vegans/vegetarians annoying if they preach to me about the woes of my eating habits. Honestly, I dislike anyone that tries to bash me over the head with their views, unless I've asked.
I can't tell you how many APBTs, AmStaffs and Staffies are in the US or are involved in dog fighting, nor can I tell you how many APBTs, AmStaffs and Staffies have not been properly bred and/ or socialized. However, I can tell you that if there were a very high percentage fighting and/ or poorly bred and socialized "pit bulls" in the US, there would be many, many, many more "pit bull" bites/ attacks. The overwhelming majority of "pit bulls" in the US are never involved in a single bite. If you think about how many of these so-called "pit bull" attacks/ bites that we hear about are actually attacks/ bites by APBTs, AmStaffs and Staffies, there is no way that can be the majority of the "pit bulls" in the US.
But if can't produce any hard numbers at all, plus you question every negative pit bull story and don't believe that the dog(s) in question were even real pit bulls, how can you even talk about a majority of anything? For all you know, the majority of pit bulls do have issues. Either you have numbers or you don't.
But these numbers from Diane Jessup's site are very sobering:
Quote:
Every week in the US, thousands of healthy, young pit bulls die for want of a home.
Last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, 10,000 unwanted pit bulls were killed in New York city alone.
10,000 unwanted pit bulls annually in New York alone? And what about the other 49 states of the union? And that seems to imply that a good percentage and possibly even the majority of all pit bulls are unwanted at some point and just discarded by their owners, or confiscated due to poor behaviour or living conditions.
And with numbers like those posted on Diane Jessup's site, pit bulls will not become extinct anytime soon.
I must confess that I do not take PETA very seriously, and I should. PETA helps to fund the terrorist organizations Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). The two groups are responsible for more than 600 crimes since 1996, causing (by a very conservative FBI estimate) more than $43 million in damage.
I must confess that I do not take PETA very seriously, and I should. PETA helps to fund the terrorist organizations Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). The two groups are responsible for more than 600 crimes since 1996, causing (by a very conservative FBI estimate) more than $43 million in damage.
Thank you for posting this information! I'm glad to know that at least someone else is aware of ELF and ALF, and ties to PETA. Tried to give you rep point, but "they" won't let me.
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Shall we press our legislators to ban golden retrievers? They must surely be vicious. 
How come we don't hear about this? 
Must be the extreme right wing organizations that are hiding the truth about this breed.
PETA helps to fund the terrorist organizations Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). The two groups are responsible for more than 600 crimes since 1996, causing (by a very conservative FBI estimate) more than $43 million in damage. 
