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At the door

Discussion in 'General Dog Chat' started by Judyg, Aug 18, 2014.

  1. Judyg

    Judyg Premium Member

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    There is a lot of talk going on with breeders on the restrictions being place on them now. My breeder posted this today. It's chilling and scary to think that one day this could happen. I hope it never does. I can't imagine life without my dogs.

    At The Door
    They were at the door. Her little dog was growling softly. She tried to hush the sound. She knew what they wanted. She felt as though her heart was being ripped from her chest. She had managed to hide her little friend for years. She shared her food and bed with her. She had bought her on the black market. It had cost her dearly but it was worth it.She had been so alone. Nothing to love her or for her to love in return. Her children had grown up and forgotten her. Her husband had died two years before she found Sweetie. Sweetie had been a tiny black and tan ball of fur showing her YorkshireTerrier background. Of course, she knew thatSweetie could not been purebred. There had been no purebred dogs for years. There were few dogs since the breeders had been slowly and methodically beaten down.When this first started, everyone sat back and said they could not possibly be the breeders they were talking about. After all, they loved their dogs and they were not puppy mills. They would never let themselves be overloaded with dogs. Some of them did not get overloaded nor did they breed more than a litter or two a year. They were smug and secure in that only the puppy mills were being raided. The raids were relentless. They would take place in one state then another. The dog raiders got smarter with every raid. They learned about warrants, the court system,the law in different states and they used whatever means they could to eliminate the breeders of dogs.Some people thought the raiders were dog lovers trying to save the poor mistreated puppies. Some of them were dog lovers, at first. The well-meaning rescue groups were used. The American Kennel Club was used. They would revoke the rights of the breeder who was raided. Kennel clubs were infiltrated and destroyed from within. The very fiber of the dog world was silently unraveled one string at a time.
    Everyone would rise to arms against every breeder raided. Saying things like that terrible person mistreated those poor dogs; that person had too many dogs; and that person is crazy. If the truth were not provoking enough they would lie and say that person should die. They campaigned by e-mail,petitioned the courts, and used political pull. Even when common sense would tell them that they did not know the facts or circumstances, they persist. They would see fat happy tail wagging dogs and would say abused dogs. They no longer believed their own eyes. The dogs tried to tell the truth but no one could hear them.True, there were cases of abuse, beaten, starved,
    and sick animals at first. Then the tide shifted. Good honest dog loving people started to be raided. Any reason was used. Dogs were taken and the owners refused rights to reclaim their dogs. The raiders started to narrow the number of dogs which were in violation. Any person with a dog became a target. Dog grooming became a thing of the past. Veterinarian services were performed out of back room under the dark of night until there were no veterinarians. Dog shows had long disappeared along with the AmericanKennel Club. Children were told tales of the days when every boy had a dog to run with through fields. The stories of "Old Shep," "Ol'Yeller", "Call of theWild", "Lassie" and all those wonderful stories which would bring tears to the eyes of grown men were being forgotten except by a few.But she remembered as a little girl the small dog who loved her, followed her everywhere, and gave her comfort like no one on earth could give. She just had to find her that special warmth, the grateful lick-kiss,something that loved her unconditional and a reason for getting up in the morning. She found SweetieNow they were at her door to take the life that she cherished. The warm little black and tan 3-pound
    body that loved her as much as she loved it. And there was no one to stop them.The old lady with the last dog on earth.
     
  2. 2GoodDogs

    2GoodDogs Forums Enthusiast

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    It stops me cold, every time I hear "Adopt one, till there are NONE" ....

    *shivers* at a world without Man and Womans best friends.... and not even wanting to think about a world without purebred dogs...
     
  3. Emmasmom

    Emmasmom Forums Sage

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  4. Mom2Melli

    Mom2Melli Forums Enthusiast

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    I saw that this morning. It frightens me to think this is what they are heading to.

    When I cat showed, we all knew to watch out for PETA coming into the halls. They would go around and if you left your cat in the benching cage unattended they would poison it or lure it over and cut the hair or even toss ink in the cage on it. We all switched to our own cages with locks, ventilation systems, and solid plexiglass fronts AND we kept shifts and made sure there was always someone at the table or a friend nearby watching. Ugly. It can get worse, for sure.

    It greatly saddens me that I have had to carefully vague-ize my terminology online about Cubby. Why? I have friends who believe in adopt-not-shop "exclusively". I have taken on FIVE needy dogs from a variety of situations, I have taken on kittens that were "oops" gonna take to SPCA, I have taken in two stray goats even. But Cubby. I am sure they would think I am going to burn with the hellfires for getting him direct.

    I also, at some level, feel that it is going to be getting harder and harder to get dogs in the years that come so I sort of got one now and stocked up. He should last a while.

    The Piper situation the Riverside 61 situation etc. are definitely doing harm. I really like that little Lacey's breeder is trying to bring some awareness and brainstorm some things to improve the hobby or the lifestyle or the right regarding pedigreed dogs.

    This is truly terrifying.
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2014
  5. Ann

    Ann Moderator

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    Very scary indeed. If the Animal Rights people have their way, this is closer than we think. Unfortunately, too many people think this can never happen. If you look at the inroads they've made already -- tarnishing the purebred name, making buying them nothing short of a crime ("Don't shop; adopt!"), making breeders the bad guys and making rescues sound like the only respectable way to get a dog -- life as we know it is certainly endangered.
     
  6. JLSOhio51

    JLSOhio51 Forums Enthusiast

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    I will admit that my initial reaction is that there will never be a day when there are no dogs, but in truth, there are two reasons that cause me to re-evaluate that thought: 1.) I resist with all my being the belief in most absolutes (I believe there are few "never's" and "always'" and "every times" truly in life); and 2.) In the absence of absolutes like "no" or "none" there could in fact be "few" or "very few" dogs or choices of dogs available to us, and that is an eventuality of which I can conceive. IMO, only the very youngest members of SN may live to see such an eventuality, but I can see that a major change in the landscape of dog ownership could well be on the horizon. (My now 6+ decade life span will never see it).

    However, it is also my opinion, that the demise of a (or many) breed(s), should it come will NOT be brought on by they (animal rights folks like PETA, etc.) or them (politicians who fail or refuse to assist in promulgating effective and workable legislation to protect dogs/owners) or even those (people who just plain don't like animals). It will be brought on by us (dog people). It will be brought on by those who want to eliminate breeds because ownership has misused and mishandled those breeds to a point beyond belief and the dog's behaviors are outrageous as a result. First one breed will be eliminated, then another, then... It will be brought on by people clamoring for the courts to close the floodgates of litigation brought on because we now know that breeder/owner contracts for many years have included stipulations that are unenforceable (even though legal) and courts will be asked to fix those inequities produced because we now know that litigation is the answer to our ills. It will be brought on by supposed dog lovers who claim sovereignty over animals they deem in need of salvation because they (and only they) know what is best for each and every animal they can get their grubby little paws on (pun intended). In other words (to paraphrase, "we have met the enemy and we are they" (poor syntax and grammar also intended).

    I was a member of a political forum a while back, and in one of my last posts on that forum, I explained the "sometimes I weep for ..." (and I inserted a title of a particular group of folks). I now believe that I will soon begin to weep for dogs owners. Some of us (perhaps myself included) are so entrenched in our beliefs of what "good/bad" and "right/wrong" really is, that we don't realize that the light we see at the end of the tunnel isn't our way through trouble, but the train coming the other way. We are so sure that we are right that we refuse to believe that someone else can also be right. "My way/highway - the only two available choices. My apologies for my soapbox rant and even more apologies to Mom2Melli for using her beloved trains as such a negative metaphor.
     
  7. Mom2Melli

    Mom2Melli Forums Enthusiast

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    The problem is, Jeff, it's a double track. You have attacks by "them" and "us". There's just trains coming and going, going and coming, and some of the switches are thrown the wrong way.
     
  8. Mom2Melli

    Mom2Melli Forums Enthusiast

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    Or, the more clear (though cliched) . . . the dog fancy has circled the wagons. The vast majority of folk are shooting outwards at the animal rights onslaught, the PC agenda onslaught, the secret government onslaught, the economic onslaught, etc. However, you do have some folk who are shooting inwards at their own circle and some folk shooting at the other circles of wagons too (ie., the cat fancy, rabbit fancy, bird fancy, ferret fancy, llama fancy etc).

    No, there probably will not come a day when there are no dogs. What there will be is a day when the purebred individualized breeds have been chased out of existence and all dogs will be just a color and coat length of the random bred generic mutts born on the streets and in the dirty backyards of people too lazy, too ignorant, and too greedy to keep their bitch and dog apart. You will get your dog off Craigslist for cash only please or from the shelter where the pups and unwanted adults get dumped. You have no bred-in characteristics, you get a grab bag o' baggage, and if you are lucky the dog is healthy mentally and physically, but probably not.

    Will that day come? Yea, unless people within a hobby pull together to preserve it and help those in similar hobbies fight the same enemy.
     
  9. JLSOhio51

    JLSOhio51 Forums Enthusiast

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    I can see this as a realistic potential possibility, but to me, this is an extension of the us destroying our own future. "Owners of generic mutts", "lazy, ignorant, greedy people" and owners "buying and/or selling generic mutts on Craig's list" are "dog people". They may not be good "dog people", but they are "dog people" none the less. I look at it similarly to the plot line of an old "Twilight Zone" episode where aliens destroyed a town by planting a seed of discord in a community. The inhabitants then took that seed of doubt and destroyed themselves with infighting and strife.

    None of this is to say that there isn't an outside threat - I only say that I believe that we are a bigger threat to our own community than anything that has yet been thrown against us. One bright side might be, however, breed specific forums like SN may just serve to stave off the growth of internal discord. My belief is that honest communication (even in the face of differing points of view), serves as a way to allow us to at least consider other's positions. I have learned as much here from those with whom I disagree as I do from those with whom I agree.
     
  10. Mom2Melli

    Mom2Melli Forums Enthusiast

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    Does it matter the cause? Or what percentage is from within or without? Same effect if it gets the job done.

    Like much being set up in the "big agenda" -- plant the seed and let them do it to themselves -- but if it is something entirely out of their control, do it to them from outside anyway and just laugh.

    In this case, are we Maple Street or Stopover in a Quiet Town? Or is it both simultanously? Yea, I know my Twilight Zone.
     

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