Animal Rightists: Coming to a Town Near You - Are Your Council Members Being Used as Pawns?

As a guest column in the Magic City Morning Star, this article expresses a concern many of us do with Animal Rightists. I have been asked why on my web site I do not support PETA. Due to loss of files from a crash without all my files backed up (yes! 3 lashes with a wet noodle) I had lost valuable information that this column uses as references to.

Animal Rightists: Coming to a Town Near You - Are Your Council Members Being Used as Pawns?
By Nick Van Duren
Aug 11, 2006, 21:03

A disturbing trend is sweeping America: Costly and destructive animal ordinances. The reason stems from an all-out effort by Animal Rightist organizations to lobby every single city in the U.S. They are searching out lawmakers to exploit and further their twisted agenda.

A Full-Court Press

It’s hard to comprehend, but the leadership of the largest and most profitable "non-profit" lobbying Animal Rights organizations has an ambitious goal in mind: destroying all usage and ownership of domestic animals. That includes, but is not limited to, abolishing pet ownership. (See Animal Rightist Quotes Below)

Animal Rightists know full-well that they are not main-stream. However, they’ve been successful in influencing the American lexicon with politically correct words such as "over-population". With financial support from Hollywood and an ill-informed public, they spread propaganda, and inaccuracies about dog behavior. Their legislative packets are filled with phony studies, quack testimony, faulty statistics, and other materials are sent to city councils all over the country under the guise of being a reputable source. The News Press has been all too happy to oblige, publishing sensationalized stories which trump up the credibility of such a nonsensical agenda.
What is missing from these News stories is that these groups do not care one whit about animals, the welfare of animals, or the health and longevity of animals. This is proved by the fact that animal rights groups such as PeTA, claim to be helping elephants in Africa, but are simultaneously lobbying an all-out assault to destroy cats, dogs,
and the family pet at home. Do you know the difference between Animal Welfare and Animal Rights?

Animal Welfare is concerned with health, safety, quality of life, and the future of animals.

Animal Rights views domestic animal ownership as "slavery" and seeks to destroy the domestic animal by whatever means necessary. The fastest and most effective way to accomplish this agenda is by using lawmakers to pass prohibitive animal laws, such as mandatory spay/neuter, or breed specific ordinances (BSL).

The relationship between man and dog goes back literally tens of thousands of years. Animal Rights seeks to destroy that relationship...one-law-at-a-time. Just as wild animals are important to this world, domestic animals and our pets are an integral part of our short time on this Earth. There is nothing good about the Animal Rightist’s agenda to eradicate the future of our beloved pets.

Once the ownership and the relationship we have to the domestic animal is destroyed, it is quite obvious that they’ll move on to the next power-seeking agenda. Just like a plague of locusts, they infect the culture, exploit lawmakers to do their bidding, corrupt shelters and law enforcement, manipulate the News Press, and profit off it at everyone’s expense.

What makes these activists tick? First, they are collectivist in nature. They obviously harbor a deep-seeded hatred for humanity. Yet, they should not be underestimated in any way, shape, or form. They are well-organized, well-connected and extremely well-funded.

Sphere of Influence

The pathology of this evil has many faces, which both the public and lawmakers should be aware of. This is crucial to avoiding its sphere of influence. No good can come of associating with these groups and individuals. I can not stress enough how important it is to know who they are and what they stand for...or what they’re capable of.

Some of these activists are hysterical, showing up to council meetings wearing blood-soaked t-shirts, screaming and crying hysterically. They give emotional testimonials and always seem to have a convenient supply of shocking and horrible photos to share. They are militant, obsessed, brain-washed activists, but are very motivated. They participate in protest rallies and don’t mind getting arrested to prove a point. However, they should be avoided as they are sometimes prone to violence.

Then there are the ones to really watch out for and be cautious of. These are the cool and calculated activists. Some portray themselves as individual civic leaders, and professionals such as Kory Nelson, Assistant DA of Denver, known all over the country and Internet as Denver’s "Dr. Death of Dogs". Then there is Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the U.S. He is polished, charismatic, and good-looking. He trained for his position at the Humane Society of the U.S. as a member of PeTA.

They are educated and well-connected and have money to burn. They carry with them titles of accomplishment and credibility, seducing their listeners by being well-spoken and charismatic. They approach lawmakers from both parties; the goal of infiltrating and corrupting the legal process from every angle. While ALF and ELF blow up buildings, their PeTA counterparts are busy screaming for attention. HSUS then comes in to consult under the guise of legitimacy. Their websites and promotional materials are phenomenally well-crafted. Their resources are unlimited. In fact, it is likely that your municipality is already using their materials to guide policy and craft new ordinances.

Once Animal Rightists are "outed", concerns are dismissed as "conspiracy theories" and the like. They do this to shut down the debate. After all, who could believe it?

However, one thing is for sure: Animal Rights is very conspiratorial in nature. The agenda has been built into multi-million dollar enterprise harboring well-paid Capital Hill lobbyists and lawyers in conjunction with violent militants on the front line.

However, the shelf-life of these organizations is limited. They are not main-stream by any stretch of the imagination. Therefore, they have only a small window of opportunity. This partially explains why much of the propaganda materials being delivered to municipal governments and lawmakers have been authored under pseudonyms and other aliases. Phony studies, pamphlets, and letters are often Animal Rightists parading propaganda incognito.

A Powerful Lesson for Lawmakers

Few lawmakers would be willing to accept advice from People for the "Ethical" Treatment of Animals, or from the Animal and Environmental Liberation Fronts respectively for good reason. These groups happen to be tracked on the FBI’s Domestic Terrorist Watch List for their violence and damage to private and public property.

They promote a completely dishonest agenda under faulty premises. For example, the origin of lobbying for mandatory spay/neuter laws comes from PeTA’s "No Birth Nation" program; which, by the way, is not intended to end with animals. No breeding or stricter laws regarding whelping of puppies ends up aiding this systematic destruction of healthy pure bred pets. As absurd as it sounds, consider how many municipalities are flirting with the idea or have actually gone so far as to pass it. Others want registration and intact animal fees. Every one of these ideas assists PeTA’s No Birth Nation program and gives it legitimacy.

However...

No lawmaker would dare be associated with such groups and their agendas providing their constituents were aware of the names behind the proposed animal ordinances.

And yet, they do.

When all is said and done, lawmakers are being manipulated and used.
Animal Rightists have no problem exploiting lawmakers and municipalities for their own aims, nor do they care if these lawmakers wind up embarrassed, recalled, or ousted from politics.

Kory Nelson, Denver’s "Dr. Death of Dogs"

According to the News Press, you’d think dog attacks are an epidemic. However, as a percentage of population, abuses, attacks, and cruelty are very rare...especially by the poster child of Animal Rightists: the so-called "Pit Bull". The deceitful information spread about this breed reaches epic proportions.

For example, Kory Nelson, Assistant City Attorney of Denver, CO joined the Colorado Douglas County Republican Party, in which the GOP has traditionally left pet ownership rights alone. Under his influence, the Town of Parker, CO introduced Breed Specific Legislation (BSL). Council members were quoted in the press, describing horror stories of Pit Bull behavior. They mistakenly used verbatim descriptions straight from the Kory Nelson "handbook". Never before had the Town witnessed such an outcry by residents.

After the facts were brought out, the Town Council unanimously voted to remove the proposed ordinance. However, the damage was done. Nelson had contributed a valuable service to the Animal Rightist’s ability to affect the language of law and put our property rights on the defensive. It was all done at the expense of honest, law abiding residents.

Did the outrage and embarrassment at the Town’s expense stop Nelson? No. He’s moved on to other cities to pursue his Breed Specific Legislation. Kory Nelson defends his war against the Pit Bull, claiming that anti-BSL forces have some kind of financial interest in dog fighting. It is obvious that Nelson lacks credibility and a personal moral code that is necessary to continue as a prominent Assistant City Attorney of a major city. If he actually believes that certain breeds of dogs are more cunning, more powerful, more intelligent than any human being is capable of owning, how can he possibly serve the best interests of the public good?

As Animal Rightist ideology does not mix with principles of individual responsibility, morality, or responsible government, it came to a shock that a conservative community had become a home base in which to spring his platform. For whatever reason, the City of Denver, however, continues to allow him to use his position as Assistant DA to promote his destructive agenda.

If his campaign isn’t against the Chow Chow, it is the American Staffordshire Terrier. If it isn’t the American Staffordshire Terrier, it is the French Mastiff...and so on and so on. Destroying ownership of one-breed-at-a-time is what Breed Specific Legislation is all about.

No one knows for certain whether Kory Nelson operates with animal rights organizations, or acts as a lone wolf, so to speak. He is ambitious, having successfully used and exploited several local governments around the U.S. to achieve his Breed Specific Legislation trademark. Even if BSL fails, Animal Rightist language often gains a foothold into the language of animal ordinances. The criminalization of dogs and cats has begun. Regardless of success or failure, he exploits one city and then moves on to adversely impact animal owners in another.

If he hasn’t contact lawmakers in your area, it is only a matter of time. Once contacted, you’ll need to decide whether you’ll allow yourself to be used for his personal agenda and those of other Animal Rightists.

The Influence of Shelters on Animal Law

Considering the phenomenally successful statistics of voluntary spay/neuter by the general public, where are all the animal shelters getting their dogs? Regardless of the facts that most shelter dogs are adult dogs, sadly displaced due to people moving to covenant-controlled homeowner associations and cities with extreme pet limits, the numbers in shelters do not add up.

Obviously, shelters should be going out of business left and right since voluntary spay/neuter is successful. Euthanization numbers have been declining for 20 years. And yet, "over-population" is the mantra still used by animal shelters for fund-raising and selling dogs to an ill-informed public.

Where is the over-population when dogs and cats are transported across state lines and from even out of the country to fill up animal shelters?

Even the numbers of irresponsible breeding are nothing like people think it is. Considering the voluntary rate of spay/neuter, it is highly unlikely that accidental and irresponsible breeding are filling up shelters to the extent that shelters claim they are.

However, a product must come from somewhere. If your job is about to disappear, often people do desperate things. Why should animal shelters be any different; especially when one considers what is happing inside these organizations. Some are so passionate that they’d do nearly anything to keep the "moral imperative" of the shelter going. This partially explains why "over-population" is used as a marketing ploy to sell dogs and cats. Tell a family that the dog they’re interested in is about to be destroyed due to "lack of space", the deal is closed. Another dog is then shipped in to take its place as product.

City Councils and the general public should be aware that Animal Rightists lobby with local Animal Shelters as cover. The cruelty and unethical practices in the shelter industry are shocking...and make no mistake, it is an industry. Many shelters have become some of the most profitable pet shops around that kill anything that does not bring top dollar; or is too much work to place in adoption programs. Pure Bred Rescue organizations have an awful time getting pure bred dogs and cats out of the shelter system, simply because shelters exploit these breeds to increase sales. Sadly, the News Press and general public have been willing to look the other way.

Why do some shelters operate in this manner? The answer is that many shelter agencies have become havens for Animal Rightists; shelters are exploited to spread propaganda, "over-population" myths, and faulty statistics for marketing purposes. Shelters naturally become a breeding ground for recruiting new members and activists. It’s a natural, albeit unhealthy, fit.

It is no wonder dubious shelter operations are becoming an ever-increasing problem. Thankfully, not all shelters are this way, but the public should be aware of what is going on. Both Animal Control and many animal shelters have had their ethics compromised, if not downright corrupted. The end-result is that generally, shelter workers and animal control agencies are not a credible source for accurate information about animal behavior and breeding of quality pets, especially when it comes to crafting pet law.

Fancy That!

The Dog and Cat Fancy, and show-breeders alike, has been aware of shelter abuses for many years. Fanciers operate their own rescue organizations and our rules about breeding are very strict. What’s more, it’s a small world. Fly-by-nights never last long. Unethical practices are not tolerated. You would never see a Fancier cross-breeding a "mutt". Ethics are the cornerstone of show-breeding; incredible knowledge and experience is required, as is mentorship. The competition, the friendships, relationships, and even politics and rivalries, all steer show-breeding towards the future of healthy dogs of good conformation and temperament. You’re lucky to break even financially in this sport. You do it for the love of the breed. My love is the English Mastiff. Friends of mine show and breed Yorkshire Terriers, Afghan Hounds, Staffordshire Terriers, Dalmatians, and the Irish Setter.

We spend thousands of dollars and untold hours of time and effort to test our dogs for what is required for the future of our respective breeds. We labor for the love of our dogs and cry when we must send them up to Heaven. We build life-long friendships; spend untold hours of time putting on dog shows, educating puppy-buyers, labor 24 hours a day every time we whelp a litter of puppies, and work hard to learn, learn, learn. It’s an on-going process in an incredible effort to further a tradition which spans generations.

Rarely will you ever see our dogs wind up in an animal shelter. We govern ourselves. The only problem with the Fancy is it is guilty of not reaching out to the public and helping city councils as much as it could be...for good reason:

We’re under attack. Licensing, pet taxes, registration schemes have done incredible damage to healthy pet ownership over the years.

Animal Rightists know full well that destroying the Fancy is a major victory. That is why animal ordinances and restrictive measures such as licensing, registration, mandatory spay/neuter, etc. have forced the most responsible and knowledgeable group of pet owners in the world nearly into hiding. And it is the general public which misses out on the benefits of our knowledge, and experience, and our passion for furthering the love of our dogs.
Fanciers residing in cities are forced to keep a low profile or move to the country. They simply stay active amongst themselves. The result is that the general public does not get to tap into this invaluable resource for educational opportunities. What has replaced it is a variety of quack training methods, political correctness, and just plain ignorance spread by opportunists and even some pet-related businesses.

We are really interested in the health and well-being of pets, and we are just as interested in the future of our breeds. If a dog is healthy, of good temperament, and has sound conformation, it should be bred. Future health and genetics depend on it!

Education...and Lack Thereof

The vast majority of the public generally does not even understand something as simple as how to approach a dog properly. First, it is polite and expedient to ask the owner if you may pet a dog. Then you offer to have the dog sniff your hand. When the dog conveys that, "It’s okay to pet me", you’ve been given permission; but always pet from underneath the head. Never on top of the head! No matter how friendly or unknown the dog is, this is the cardinal rule before petting any dog, cat, etc...

Only do you pet the dog’s head after you’ve gone underneath and worked your way around the neckline, back of the ears (which most dogs love!) and then from behind, you may go over the top. Petting the head first is aggressive! Nearly every single person that greets my dogs in public tries it; approaching without manners...this lack of proper etiquette is simply a result of ignorance. And yet this is something as remotely simple as saying:

"Hi!"

Despite the fact that ignorance can be fixed, municipalities are quick to pass ordinances without considering the pet education element in their communities.

If safety is what we’re after, than creating an open and active, pet friendly community is what we should be striving for. Anything which contributes to this should be done. Anything that hinders it should be stricken from the books. Tapping into the Fancy and encouraging them to be active is the fastest way to build allies rather than enemies. Rather, further regulating pets and pet breeding into oblivion will contribute to animosity, an unsafe community, and unhealthy pet population faster than anything.

Municipal Animal Abuses and Cruelty

Animal Rightist propaganda would have us believe that animal abuses and cruelty are at epidemic levels, not to mention that attacks most certainly receive sensational press coverage. The Press is only too happy to oblige any political opportunism by politicians, animal control, shelter agencies, and municipal employees actively pursuing their own agendas. Animal Rightist ordinances have become a means to an end, exploited at the expense of the general public.

However, as a percentage of population, dog attacks, dog fighting, and even cruelty and nuisance behavior is rare. As disturbing as these incidents are, they are not even close to being the rule...they are by far the exception. Therefore, utilizing the exception to the rule as an opportunity to enact intrusive and unethical animal ordinances is distasteful and extremely dishonest. Witness the results:

Denver has over 1,000 kills to its credit in only the last year. Many of these dogs perfectly healthy before being confiscated, starved into ill health, and then killed.

Kansas City has concocted a process that it terms an "amnesty program". It goal is to make the slaughter of these innocent pets more convenient and less costly for animal control to enforce.

Long Beach forces residents to spay/neuter their pets, placing dogs (especially certain breeds) at physical risk by mandating surgery. We wouldn’t tolerate a municipality strapping down and sterilizing our children? Why should animal control be allowed to do this to our pets? Our private property? One begins to wonder.

Animal Control in Vermont has been going door-to-door conducting sting operations on average people; all to enforce a licensing pet tax.

Under the influence of Animal Rightists, some council members have even gone so far as to introduce legislation that governs everything down to what kind of food, containment, and even toys, are legal and illegal for our pets.

And that is just the beginning of the scandal, opportunism, abuses of search and seizure, etc. The list goes on and on. Overbearing animal ordinances almost always lead to these types of abuses, especially when shelter and animal groups are given government enforcement powers. When will these local governments admit fault and stop these destructive practices? Communities become less active and open, Fanciers become less willing to help the public, ignorance and lack of socialization becomes the norm.

That is exactly what Animal Rightists are banking on.

When Animal Rightists write ordinances that sic Animal Control on breeders via licensing, pet-limits, and registration schemes, the very future of healthy well-tempered pets is compromised. No breeding. No pure-bred animals. No healthy genetic stock. Hence, no more pets. No cats. No dogs. No nothing!

The only way to prevent these horrors from taking root in your community is not to go there in the first place. Again, only an open and active pet-friendly community creates a fun and safe place to live with our pets and neighbors.

The Ends Justify the Means

These abuses are the sure result of the Animal Rightists campaign to wage death and destruction on our beloved pets. Again, the "ends justify the means".

What exactly is the end? Power. The ensuing corruption contained within the intent to influence animal ordinances aids activists in the accumulation of wielding more power. Using and exploiting lawmakers wherever they deem necessary, the Animal Rightist goal of achieving power and wealth at public expense is in full force.

Even where lawmakers pursue their own agendas, where animal ordinances are concerned, the lawmaker is still a pawn of these lobbyists.

Fighting Animal Rightist Ideology and Helping City Councils Reform Municipal Agendas, The Moral of the Story

The lesson to be learned is that by the time Animal Rightists have taken municipalities hostage and animal ordinances pass, no one knows what has hit them. Animal ordinances quickly compromise the ethics of Animal Control agencies. These ruthless and irresponsible policies are most certainly not something that should have been introduced into law; let alone, considered, passed, and enforced.

Unfortunately, reinstating honesty into the debate is not as easy as it sounds. Egos are so entrenched to the point where lawmakers are hesitant to admit fault. They know they’ve been used, but backtracking becomes difficult; if now downright political suicide. While this does not absolve lawmakers of responsibility, it does partially explain the successes of HSUS and others to control City Councils and municipal governments.

As the Dog and Cat Fancy (show-breeders) and animal welfare groups continue to mobilize and gain influence, the general public is indeed becoming aware of what is going on. The public is aghast at how their pets are being held hostage by such political exploitation. And the fury is spreading at a rapid pace. Animal Rightist ideology is incompatible with public safety and private property ownership. Therefore, lawmakers and the ordinances they pass are being tracked. When re-educating lawmakers fails, they are being voted out and replaced.

The fight has only scratched the surface. With so many pet owners and dog fanciers in the U.S. becoming aware of the fact that animal ordinances truly do pose a very real danger to pet ownership, it is likely that elections are going to become very interesting in the near future. Those who vote for intrusive animal ordinances will lose clout, influence, and promptly voted out. Those who keep hands off and ally themselves with the Fancy to promote activities and community education will be rewarded.

As pet owners continue to mobilize, the political landscape will most likely change drastically in many areas in the country. This is actually a positive development because it is a healthy democratic process that aims at preventing constitutional infringements and other assaults on our freedoms.

Ultimately, we love our pets. We love our choices. It is a healthy tradition. Anything that puts pet ownership in jeopardy is incompatible with moral principles.

It all comes down to one thing:

Will your lawmakers and your city government aid and abet this destructive agenda?

Nick Van Duren
Colorado Director, Responsible Dog Owners of the Western StatesLocal Liaison for the
Colorado Federation of Dog Clubs

Contact Nick: checknick@comcast.net

If Anyone Doubts how Serious Things Have Become, Please Read the Following Quotes by the Leaders and Activists within the Animal Rightists Movement:

"Anybody who shoots a pit bull running loose is justified,'' Kory Nelson, Assistant City Attorney of Denver, CO, San Francisco Chronicle, Monday, June 27, 2005 (Known all over as Denver’s "Dr. Death of Dogs")

"We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock produced through selective breeding. . . One generation and out. We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding." Wayne Pacelle, Senior VP of Humane Society of the US, formerly of Friends of Animals and Fund for Animals, Animal People, May, 1993

NOTE: (Wayne Pacelle’s initial training was as a PeTA activist. Today he heads HSUS under the guise of "legitimacy". It is the largest and most profitable of the animal Rightist lobbying organizations.

"Pet ownership is an absolutely abysmal situation brought about by human manipulation." Ingrid Newkirk, national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), Just Like Us? Harper's, August 1988, p. 50.

"As John Bryant has written in his book Fettered Kingdoms, they [pets] are like slaves, even if well-kept slaves." PeTA's Statement on Companion Animals.

"We are not especially 'interested in' animals. Neither of us had ever been inordinately fond of dogs, cats, or horses in the way that many people are. We didn't 'love' animals." Peter Singer, Animal Liberation: A New Ethic for Our Treatment of Animals, 2nd ed. (New York Review of Books, 1990), Preface, p. ii.

"Our goal: to convince people to rescue and adopt instead of buying or selling animals, to disavow the language and concept of animal ownership." Eliot Katz, President In Defense of Animals, In Defense of Animals website, 2001

"It is time we demand an end to the misguided and abusive concept of animal ownership. The first step on this long, but just, road would be ending the concept of pet ownership." Elliot Katz, President "In Defense of Animals," Spring 1997

"The cat, like the dog, must disappear... We should cut the domestic cat free from our dominance by neutering, neutering, and more neutering, until our pathetic version of the cat ceases to exist." John Bryant, Fettered Kingdoms: An Examination of A Changing Ethic (Washington, DC: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), 1982, p. 15.

"My goal is the abolition of all animal agriculture." JP Goodwin, employed at the Humane Society of the US, formerly at Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade, as quoted on AR-Views, an animal rights Internet discussion group in 1996.

"Man is the most dangerous, destructive, selfish, and unethical animal on earth." Michael W. Fox, Scientific Director and former Vice President, Humane Society of the United States, as quoted in Robert James Bidinotto"

"We are not terrorists, but we are a threat. We are a threat both economically and philosophically. Our power is not in the right to vote but the power to stop production. We will break the law and destroy property until we win." Dr. Steven Best, speaking at International Animal Rights Gathering 2005. The Telegram (UK) July 17, 2005.

"Arson, property destruction, burglary and theft are 'acceptable crimes' when used for the animal cause." Alex Pacheco, Director, PETA

"Our nonviolent tactics are not as effective. We ask nicely for years and get nothing. Someone makes a threat, and it works." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's founder and president, US News and World Report, April 8, 2002

"I openly hope that it [hoof-and-mouth disease] comes here. It will bring economic harm only for those who profit from giving people heart attacks and giving animals a concentration camp-like existence. It would be good for animals, good for human health and good for the environment. Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA founder and president, ABC News interview April 2, 2001