Steve
AS always, there are indeed two sides to every story, and if welfare was the sole goal, I'd be right on the front lines with these people. It's not.
The goal is to cause everyone to follow their lead, veganism,if it works for you? Great! Your choice, and I respect that. I choose to eat meat, MY choice and others need to respect that.I make the choice to purchase eggs from humanely raised chickens as opposed to factory farmed eggs, I pay a lot more for those eggs, but it's my way of supporting humane farming for the chickens.Same with meat choices.I do my best to choose food products from sources that have at least a stated interest in the welfare of the animals they raise, or the earth they farm. Why? Because of education. Not because someone, or some group forced me to choose.
If the end goal was to improve the conditions/genetic health of commercially produced puppies? GREAT, I'm all for it.But it's not, it's all about limiting the breeding of companion animals. Educating people on how to find the right companion for their lifestyle and temperament? Let's do it! Do away with puppies in pet shops? Believe it or not, I'm all for that too, but let's provide education(that word again) on how to find a good puppy, from sound parentage, with a minimized risk of genetic disorders.
As far as HSUS being 'affiliated' please check your local shelters, ask them how much money they receive each year from any of these groups. My local shelter is pretty animal rights oriented, yet these same gals have nothing good to say about HSUS, nothing. Meanwhile, I host adoption days, refer folks searching for 'just a dog/cat to the shelter, educate customers on why it's a good idea to spay the cat before she has her third litter this year, why it's OK to have intact dogs if you choose, but how to make sure they're not out there breeding randomly
I'm all for educating people, offering low cost spay/neuter clinics and coughing up money to enforce existing laws. I cringe every time I see someone's dog sauntering around in the road, I hate what feral cat populations have done to wildlife in many areas, feral cats that started as someone's pet, but, I'm not at all in favor of a relatively small group of people dictating whether I may or may not own pet animals.
So while of course there is a bias in anti groups, (there is always a bias with a point of view, Wiki has a bias based on who is doing the writing) while Pacelle et al have done some good things, they are also not in the least truly benign in their agenda. I'm probably not the most gifted writer when it comes to trying to make a point, one of my many failings. But I would ask that you not dismiss out of hand the idea that these organizations do indeed have an agenda that if implemented, would mean that your only contact with dogs and cats would be watching them in their feral state, or telling your grandkids about the great dogs you had when it was 'OK' to have dogs in your home.
