[ SHOWGSD-L ] a MUST READ - PAWS
- From: Peggy <pmick@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: GSD Show List <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 13:49:00 -0400
This is crossposted with permission. I know the writer
personally...and while this is only an opinion, it is an INFORMED
opinion, and puts PAWS and all its warts out before us plainly. Please
read it...and give some thought to joining the fight against this
terrible Bill.
Peggy
As one who has now spent DECADES in the trenches, in courts
> > across this United States, fighting against Breed Specific
> > Legislation, let me tell you now, and in ABSOLUTE lack of
> > equivocation: PAWS means NOTHING good for us whatsoever, and is in
> > fact one of the most DANGEROUS pieces of legislation that the diseased
> > minds at PeTA and DDAL have ever come up with. Why? Because it has
> > JUST enough feel-good crap in it to ease the minds of those who should
> > be diligent for exactly this kind of thing.
> >
> > Let me explain. The problem is, vanishingly few people actually have
> > any experience with legal precedent. Most of us have never been sued
> > or been on the wrong end of an unfair law. We have this illogical, but
> > deeply ingrained belief that "if you aren't doing anything wrong, then
> > nothing bad will happen to you," which means of course by
> > extrapolation that if something bad IS happening to you, why you
> > brought it on yourself and deserve nothing better. And we complacently
> > ignore how untrue this belief is, overlooking egregious examples on an
> > almost daily basis. We have all been taught from an early age that our
> > legal system is 'the best in the world' and it is almost considered
> > heresy and unAmerican to bring that concept under scrutiny. We believe
> > that police do not arrest people who are not guilty of anything, that
> > the people in our prisons are ALL guilty as charged, and that we never
> > put the wrong guy to death in capital crimes. Not us! We have, after
> > all, 'the best system of justice in the world.'
> >
> > Which leads most of us to be very complacent when people suggest new
> > laws. We see no reason to object, since anyone who might be affected
> > is unimportant to US anyway. The reasoning goes like this: *I* would
> > not want to have more than 7 litters in a year, and anyone who would
> > want to is *probably* a puppy mill. And besides, if we don't agree to
> > SOME kind of limits, they are going to take ALL our rights away.
> >
> > No.
> >
> > Emphatically NOT.
> >
> > First of all, we have to remember who "they" are. "They" are citizens
> > like us. "They" have NO more right to suggest laws or limits than any
> > of the rest of us. "They" are incredibly well-heeled, yes, but their
> > influence is actually waning in view of some of the damaging
> > information that has come to light in recent years. Even HSUS is
> > coming under more and more scrutiny; and the message, slow though it
> > has been, is finally gaining ground: these people are fringe people,
> > not mainstream.
> >
> > You know how to MAKE them mainstream? GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT. Let
> > THEIR warped sense of reality determine LEGAL PRECEDENT.
> >
> > Legal precedent is the danger here. You need to understand; in all of
> > our history, it has been shown that once a bureaucracy gains a certain
> > 'power' over any segment of the population it is loathe to relinquish
> > it. No, in fact, over time it tends to become MORE restrictive, never
> > less. It works like this:
> >
> > If you can make a case that it is 'in the public good' to regulate
> > what private people can do in their private homes, then you have
> > established the government's *right* to restrict that activity TO ANY
> > DEGREE WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING CONDEMNING IT ENTIRELY.
> >
> > That's right. Many want to ridicule the actions of the NRA in
> > resisting what even most of us would consider 'reasonable'
> > restrictions on gun owners; but their adamant resistance has a logical
> > core: Any restriction agreed to, no matter how slight, establishes
> > that the government has a RIGHT to restrict. And that gives them legal
> > grounds, the next time there is a senseless tragedy, to do a knee-jerk
> > reaction using the previous, 'reasonable' limits as a springboard to
> > tighten those limits. It is not ridiculous obstructionism; it is the
> > only defense against creeping regulation. Because the end result is
> > the same as if you simply agreed to outlawing guns (or any other
> > endeavor, including dog breeding.) It is just a longer road to the
> > same painful conclusion. > >
> > I won't even bother to point out all the problems in this concept, for
> > example those of you who co-own bitches with others; how does the
> > GOVERNMENT know where the bitch resides when she has those litters?!
> > You can get up over that 7 litter limit real fast in a toy breed if
> > you have multiple co-owners.... Others have already made those
> > arguments against PAWS, and others even more compelling. No, the real
> > danger is this: If it is 'in the public interest' to restrict us to 7
> > litters a year, what makes you think that over time, someone won't
> > decide that is too much, and it becomes 5? 3? 1?!!
> >
> > Trust me, this is EXACTLY what PeTA and DDAL are aiming for. They will
> > be tickled pink if this happens because they have their foot in the
> > door and will continue until they finally get what they want. You
> > think it will 'never happen?' Well, gee, how many of you saw THIS
> > coming? 20 years ago I would NEVER have believed that AKC would buy
> > into something like this. But they did! You know why they can now?
> > Because enough of us have been infected with the odious mindset that
> > we are somehow 'responsible' for ALL of dogdom's ills that we almost
> > accept these kinds of restrictions as penance for our sins. Deep in
> > our hearts, we have this seed of doubt: I find my dog breeding
> > pleasurable, but at what cost? Look at all those poor little puppy
> > mill faces. It's MY FAULT. I must atone.... THIS is where it starts.
> > THIS is where it lives! And over time, as the faces in the pound do
> > not go away, why it will be reasoned that 7 litters must be too many
> > (nevermind that the COMMERCIAL establishments will go right on
cranking out their dreck in the meantime) and the restrictions will get
a little tighter.
> >
> > THEY WILL, if we give them this precedent at all!! Oh, no; it won't be
> > tomorrow, or the week after that; but it WILL happen. JUST like those
> > who sneered that BSL was only something 'pit bull' breeders needed to
> > be worried about: do you still believe that too?! Case in point.
> >
> > This may well become the biggest fight of our lives, guys. Are you
> > afraid of PeTA and DDAL? YOU SHOULD BE. And the fear should go deeper
> > than that. As a group, we NEED to be condemning these people who want
> > to destroy our way of life. We need to take it seriously. We need to
> > stop wringing our hands and saying, "How awful!"; we need to be
> > getting on the stick and developing a plan of our OWN to combat them,
> > instead of forever REacting to their latest stunt. We need to be
> > generously pouring money into educating the public about these twisted
> > whackos, so they STOP giving them money. There are enough of us, and
> > OUR rights are every bit as precious as those of the DDAL and PeTA
> > members. And we vote, too. Our leaders need to be forcibly reminded of
> > that! If it came down to a vote today between the AR whackos and the
> > rest of the pet owning populace, we *might* win it. Give them another
> > generation to spread their poison, and we may well not.
Show of hands: How many of you have bought into the
> > 'shelter mentality' concept that the reason there are so many
> > purebreds in the pound these days is because of 'irresponsible
> > breeders?' THAT is an oxymoron, but it is the kind of tortured logic
> > that these people thrive on. They have managed to successfully
> > embarrass all breeders with this garbage, to the point that we
> > actually feel GUILTY when we produce a litter of well-bred puppies for
> > well-screened, loving homes; we almost have to apologize for doing so,
> > and offer justifications for it!!!
> >
> > ENOUGH!!!!!
> >
> > I don't know about you, but I am TIRED of being considered a pariah
> > for the terrible crime of loving dogs and producing more for others to
> > enjoy. And until we push back, and do it DECISIVELY, this kind of
> > stuff is just going to get worse. Giving in under pressure is not
> > going to help us.
> >
> > Folks, our Declaration holds that it is "self-evident" that all people
> > have the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." ANY
> > time the government gets into controlling what we are *allowed* to do,
> > that is a violation of one of those three principles. Yes, some laws
> > are necessary such as prohibiting theft, murder, etc. But it is a VERY
> > dangerous idea to expect laws to 'fix' our social problems. NO law
> > should EVER be enacted unless there is a clear and compelling need for
> > it, and even then only with serious consideration. This law should
> > never even be considered. And to have AKC complicit in its enaction
> > is absolutely unconscionable.
> >
> > We need to push back, Hard, NOW!! And let THIS issue be the one that
> > makes us wake up, see the danger and start fighting. Because if we
> > don't all get some genuine fire in our bellies and bring this kind of
> > thing to a screeching halt, we can kiss our sport... and our dogs, who
> > depend on US to protect them... goodbye.
> >
> > Respectfully submitted,
> >
> > Lenna S. Hanna-O'Neill
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