animal protection: Fw: [petlaw] Re:Fwd: We owe them more...

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Nancy Glick <depayne04@hughes.net>
To: Pet Law <pet-law@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 3:47:34 PM
Subject: [petlaw] Re:Fwd: We owe them more...

In other words, we need to put aside unfounded biases and consider
> the victims of these cruelty cases the way we talk about the animals
> in other cruelty situations-with regret and condemnation for what
> they have suffered and with the expectation that whatever agency now
> has power over them will give these dogs what they deserve. We must
> assume-as the facts in the Michael Vick case proved-that
> condemning them as vicious simply because a dog fighter possessed
> them is guilt by association and unfair. That they were abused
> doesn´t make the dogs abusive. That they were subjected to violence
> doesn´t make them violent. That they were unloved doesn´t make
> them unloving.
============ ========= ========= ========
What is never mentioned in any articles like this is the many times the owners of the dogs turned out to be innocent victims. Innocent victims who lost their animals for no reason after being acquitted of any charges. When dogs are killed erroneously without benefit of evaluation, the owners are left behind and forgotten by the media. Most times even public sympathy (aside from family friends and those aware of the Industry behind the killing) all goes to the dogs, and seldom to the owner who was acquitted, if and when any of the wrongful killing reaches a media outlet.
There is not a day that goes by that I don't worry about "what if" in concern with my dogs. They are small, not a fighting breed, but the kind the AR's love to seize for quick turn around rehoming time. They are clean, happy, well fed, have regular vet care, and it would take only one AR asshole (pardon my French) to come in here and ruin my life, my reputation, and the lives of my dogs, over one piece of poop, not much bigger than a tootsie roll. Even if I was acquitted of any charges, it would not glean any media attention. No one but a few close friends would care that my life had been devestated and I would be just another notch on the belt of HSUS who would be all over the media singing their own praises loudly, collecting money hand over fist, and unscathed by their wrongdoing.
There has got to be a way for all victims (human and animal) concerned to become a part of the media coverage. The part that shows the AR Industry is NOT an unsung hero, but a brutish bunch of bullies who only care about how much money their selfish endeavors can put into their pockets and how much power they achieve through lies and deception. The public needs to see the real victims of these seizures. They need to see the AR Industry campaign is based on the few actually abusive cases and are victimizing others who have done nothing wrong and ruining lives for their own benefit.
ONLY when we (all breeders, owners, Ag community, etc.) find a way to come together and organize the way the ARA(ssholes) have, will we be able to accomplish more than just baby steps.. We need something that shows the personal devestation suffered by us and our animals. The lives lost unjustly, the family farms destroyed, the constitutional rights lost. We need to show the seamier side of what the animal rights Industry has caused and what it will do to our future as a nation if it's allowed to go on unchecked. Those of us who have been fighting for many years to just the past few years can see very clearly in our minds what is happening and what will happen. We need the rest of the public to see it as clearly as we do and we need them to see it before it becomes more reality than it already is.
There should be more than enough people on this list to brainstorm some good ideas on how to accomplish this. Enough people who have already been victims of the AR Industry in the basest way to put their stories forward for others to read. Enough good organizers to set up public demonstrations with these stories in writing, and enough people savvy with how legislation is done to get this type of info into the hands of our legislators in a form that is understood by politicians. The AR Industry is responsible for as much, if not more, devestation than any war our country has ever been in since it's conception and we need our politicians and JQP to be aware of it. If we can't get the information into the media, we can sure as heck get it into bookstores. Look how many AR's put their garbage into bookstores constantly. How much do WE put there to counter it? To show the 'other side'? What we put there could very well have more influence because it's the truth. It's what actually HAS happened, not what might or could happen. It doesn't matter if it's a biography or a documentary book, but we need them to be out there. How many times have we seen books turned into movies based on actual happenings? How many documentary books have been made into tv documentaries and gotten the authors invited to speak on news shows?
How many on here know that there are publishing companies who are there to help out first time writers? Who have copy editors that will read your books, tell you what needs fixed as far as grammar, spelling, etc.? Who take control over what the cover of your book will be because they are the ones who know what will work best to catch attention to sell the books? That it won't cost you anything but the time to write it and do the fixes the editor gives you? THEY are the ones who put out the money to print and distribute your story and collect the money for sales and distribute the royalties to you. They will tell you how to copy right your book in the Library of Congress. Publish America is a good company who helps first time writers do this. http://www.publisha merica.com If you don't trust someone else to tell your story, then tell it yourself! Help the public see who the victims are in the AR Industry push. Help them see who the villians are. You can use pictures in the books that are published. Show them the interaction that was the truth between you and your dogs who were seized, how they lived, that numbers don't equate bad care and no attention anymore than one pet being owned guarantees a wonderful home. Take back control of what was lost to you and others and get paid for doing it! Use the income to live or donate some or all to a legal fund to help others. But do SOMETHING!
Nancy G.

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