This wonderful story has been circulating on the dog lists and hits the nail on the head in my opinion!!! I don’t know the author or point of origin, but please enjoy.

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn’t do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker’s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker’s death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, ‘I know why.’

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I’d never heard a more comforting explanation.

He said, ‘People are born so that they can learn how to live a good Life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?’ The six-year-old continued, ‘Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.’

Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.

Speak kindly.

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.

Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.

Take naps.

Stretch before rising.

Run, romp, and play daily.

Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.

On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

Finally our electric and phones are back on.  Ike had his way in Ohio also. Lots of damage, but nothing like Texas had of course. We lost our electricity  last Saturday and it came on again yesterday,  We have Time Warner which uses the electric lines so despite us having a big generator to run the refrigerators, freezer, and microwave, no television programming and no phones. The generator came with the new house and kept the kitchen, master bedroom, and half the dog room in light. We used our old dependable oil lamps for whatever else we needed. 

The legislation battle continues on. Now the state of Massachusetts, ongoing in Chicago and other hot spots.  Michigan’s proposed legislation is dead in the water right now and we assume Ohio will bring up SB173 and HB223 soon.  The war against purebred dogs continues with the animal rightists claiming how many health problems purebred dogs have.  There has been research done on the problems of mixed breeds which are just as many or more than purebred dogs.  With a purebred, one knows the looks and temperament the breed should have.  I am not saying one should not desire to have mixed breeds to love.  I have one, our Snoop who came for two days and stayed eight years, who is a wonderful, devoted companion; all my beloved cats have also been rescued.  I am all for rescuing dogs and cats from shelters and puppy mills; I believe every dog and cat should have a forever home and I have worked in rescue to try to help.  I also know that if the reputable breeders are shamed because we breed purebred dogs something is very wrong with our system.  (In so many ways–just look at the state of our economy).  We are doing a much better job of spaying and neutering our pets; so much so that many shelters do not have enough adoptable animals and have to import from other countries or get them from other shelters.

The tail often wags the dog in our country; we cannot let the agenda of the animal rightists win for that agenda is to end the ownership of all animals. Please check what is going on in your community, town or city, and state.  If we pass restrictive dog ownership or breeding legislation, the good breeders will not be able to continue and all that will be left are shelters, puppy mills, backyard, and commercial breeders. I may have already told this story here, but feel it bears repeating. I recently bought “a breeding pair” of Cavaliers from a multiple breed breeder who felt that Cavaliers took too long to breed and she wanted “breeders” who could be bred on the first season. She had gotten the breeding pair from the Amish. Papers were not in order.  I paid a thousand dollars which with two mortgages was difficult.  Buying dogs from such circumstances is not a great idea as it only encourages so called breeders to breed more.  However, I could not tolerate the idea of one more breeding pair producing in my county.  I took them immediately to my vet for a check up and neutering; they stayed several days to ensure they were totally healthy.  They had great temperaments as it is often hard to find a Cavalier with a bad temperament no matter what its background.  My attorney who had just lost his Cavalier, volunteered to reimburse me and give them a home. The moral of this story is to be very careful when you buy a purebred dog. I believe in giving shelter dogs a home and have done so through the years, but with a purebred dog one can tell what that dog will be at maturity in temperament and looks.  Purebred certainly can have genetic faults, but so can mixed breeds.I have just read a couple of research articles on the problems found in mixed breeds and there can be many.  All animals as well as all humans can have health problems of one kind of another. As long as we are made of corporeal bodies and not steel parts, we will continue to malfunction!!!  Kiss your pets no matter purebred or mixed parentage.

until next time . . .

 

California has defeated AB 1634 which would have changed the face of breeding dogs in the State.  It was a hard battle, but the voices of sanity won.  Now there are two more pending cases that must be defeated.  In Chicago, there is a mandatory spay/neuter law being proposed in the city.  It must be defeated; if you live in Chicago, please check out this looming legislation and let your voices be heard against it.  In Michigan, newly proposed legislation would again attempt to control and curtail breeding, but as in Chicago and California would hit the reputable breeders the hardest.  Ohio has such legislation also being proposed but there has been enough pressure on the State Legislature, that the two bills, HB223 and SB173, have not yet been passed.

Let’s look at the new developments in Michigan:

From the AKC:

Michigan Breeder Bill Introduced [Thursday, September 04, 2008]

Yesterday, Representative Bill Caul of Mt. Pleasant introduced Michigan House

Bill 6395, which proposes to strictly regulate virtually all responsible dog

breeders. It is imperative that all concerned responsible dog breeders in

Michigan contact the members of the House Agriculture Committee, which currently

has cognizance of the bill, and their elected Representatives and express their

vehement opposition to this bill.

The American Kennel Club opposes the concept of breeding permits, breeding bans,

or mandatory spay/neuter of purebred dogs. Instead, we support reasonable and

enforceable laws that protect the welfare and health of purebred dogs and do not

restrict the rights of breeders and owners who take their responsibilities

seriously.

If adopted, HB 6395 would:

* Define anyone who sells or offers for sale more than two dogs per

year, or more than one litter of dogs per year, as a “pet seller.”

* Mandate that those who qualify as pet sellers to acquire an

annual pet seller license from their county animal control shelter at

a cost of $200/year.

* Require an applicant for a pet seller license to submit his or

her fingerprints with a license application for a criminal history

and FBI background check.

* Give discretion to county animal control shelters to deny

applications for pet seller licenses, regardless of outcome of

background investigation.

* Call for pet sellers to comply with administrative rules

regarding housing that will be financially detrimental to responsible

breeders who operate out of their homes.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Michigan residents should contact the members of the House Agriculture Committee

listed below and their elected Representatives and express their strong

opposition to this onerous legislation.

Michigan House Agriculture Committee:

Representative Jeff Mayes, Chairman

S1285 House Office Building

P.O. Box 30014

Lansing, MI 48909-7514

Fax: 517-373-8881

Phone: 517-373-0158

jeffmayes@house.mi.gov

Representative Barb Byrum, Majority Vice-Chair

S1086 House Office Building

P.O. Box 30014

Lansing, MI 48909-7514

Fax: 517-373-9430

Phone: 517-373-0587

barbbyrum@house.mi.gov

Representative Kathy Angerer

S0989 House Office Building

P.O. Box 30014

Lansing, MI 48909-7514

Fax: 517-373-7757

Phone: 517-373-1792

kathyangerer@house.mi.gov

Representative Terry L. Brown

S1188 House Office Building

P.O. Box 30014

Lansing, MI 48909-7514

Fax: 517-373-9852

Phone: 517-373-0476

terrybrown@house.mi.gov

Representative Kathleen Law

S0787 House Office Building

P.O. Box 30014

Lansing, MI 48909-7514

Fax: 517-373-5922

Phone: 517-373-0855

kathleenlaw@house.mi.gov

Representative Gabe Leland

S0689 House Office Building

P.O. Box 30014

Lansing, MI 48909-7514

Fax: 517-373-5985

Phone: 517-373-6990

gabeleland@house.mi.gov

Representative Joel Sheltrown

S1387 House Office Building

P.O. Box 30014

Lansing, MI 48909-7514

Fax: 517-373-5495

Phone: 517-373-3817

joelsheltrown@house.mi.gov

Representative Howard Walker

S1388 House Office Building

P.O. Box 30014

Lansing, MI 48909-7514

Fax: 517-373-9420

Phone: 517-373-1766

howardwalker@house.mi.gov

Representative Neal Nitz

N1097 House Office Building

P.O. Box 30014

Lansing, MI 48909-7514

Fax: 517-373-5918

Phone: 517-373-1796

nealnitz@house.mi.gov

Representative Richard Ball

S1189 House Office Building

P.O. Box 30014

Lansing, MI 48909-7514

Fax: 517-373-7937

Phone: 517-373-0841

richardball@house.mi.gov

Representative Arlan B. Meekhof

N1193 House Office Building

P.O. Box 30014

Lansing, MI 48909-7514

Fax: 517-373-9830

Phone: 517-373-0838

arlanbmeekhof@house.mi.gov

To find your Michigan State Representative, go to

http://house.michigan.gov/find_a_rep.asp

For more information, contact AKC’s Government Relations Department

at (919) 816-3720, or e-mail doglaw@akc.org.

 

 

 

In the past couple of months, we have lost tow of our older Cavalier ladies. Rattlebridge Time after Time loved and owned by Roxy Hayes since “Kelsey” was eight weeks old.  

 

  

 

Roxy bought Time after Time from one of our first litters.  Her sire was my beloved Bounce.  While she did not turn out to be a show girl, she was a wonderful producer beginning Roxy’s Roxian line.  She was also Roxy’s soulmate just as my Bounce, Bandi, and now Clooney have been to me.  Of course, no one comes close to me as my Bandi or as close to Roxy as her Kelsey Sue.  Bounce kids have always been special.

Two weeks ago, I lost my wonderful, yet sometimes annoying, Ch. Rattlebridge Rosie O’Grady, ROM.  Rosie and I had a power play going on since she was a puppy.  She loved me, but certainly would never give me the benefit of showing her utter devotion.  Yet she was devoted to me.  I was the only person who showed her.  She and I were a team and while in the ring she did all I asked, but step out of the ring and she took total control, barking “Yeah, Right.” at me constantly.  She died one month shy of fourteen and I will miss her for a long, long time.  Sleep well, my pushy girl, and give all my other loves a big kiss (in your own sparing way, of course). Tell them one of the benefits of my leaving this earth will be to embrace all my dogs once more as well as hopefully seeing The One who created us all. 

 

 

We have just found out that California bill SB1634 has a serious chance of becoming law unless we unite and write our own state senators and all California senators.  You can Google each state’s government legislators and get the name of senators and their contact information.  Please join in the fight against this bill.  You may read below from a legislation list just what is at stake.  Do not email, but fax  your opposition to this bill please.  If legislation like this passes, and it is pending in many communities and states, dog breeding will become a thing of the past and Peta will be well on its way to achieve its manifesto–end the ownership of animals.  Without companion animals, I do not want to live in this world. 

> Urgent AB 1634 Update
>
> I have just learned from our contacts inside the Sacramento State Capitol,
> AB 1634 will not be heard in Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday,
> July
> 14th.  AB 1634 will be sent directly to the Senate Floor without a vote in
> Senate Appropriations.  This has just been confirmed by the Senate
> Appropriations Committee.  This procedure is called 28.8.  Its when the
> Appropriations Chairman decides there are no appreciable costs to a bill,
> he
> can determine it isn’t necessary to hear the bill in his committee, thus
> sending it directly on to the entire senate.  AB 1634 also has been
> removed
> from the Appropriations agenda file.
>
> PetPAC is now asking everyone to direct their letters to 1) your State
> Senator; 2) to every California State Senator.  Contrary to what any other
> group is telling you, I urge you to not delay.
>
> Send in your letters NOW.  Contact your State Senator.   You can write
> them
> about every bad aspect of AB 1634.  You can tell them it will cost local
> governments millions of dollars. There is no Due Process; There is No
> Appeal
> Process; AB 1634 makes it a crime to own an intact dog or cat.  This will
> affect thousands of dog and cat owners in California;  AB 1634 will affect
> tourism in California; AB 1634 will affect law enforcement K9 units,
> working
> dogs and herding dogs in agriculture. There are no exemptions.  This is a
> punishment looking for a crime.
>
> Please don’t delay.  As California goes, so goes the nation.
>

 

Food for thought written by Alice Fix and reprinted here with permission:

Do You Know the Real PETA and
Humane Society of the United States?
An Editorial by Alice Fix

You will not often see negative articles in our newsletters, but every now and again we are forced to make a stand, and to speak out about what we know is for the better good for all involved. This is one such instance. We can no longer stand back and watch to
see what will happen. I think that it is past time to publicly expose the real agenda of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and their cohorts in crime, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and the animal rights agenda.
For many years we have all enjoyed the companionship of our dogs and other animals.We have been busy playing with them, taking care of them, finding fun things that we could do with them, and generally just having a great time with all the animals that
live in our houses. While we have been enjoying the love and fun that our animals provide to us, there have been groups out there organizing on a grand scale trying to get our rights to own those animals taken away. Yes, that is exactly what I meant.
Make no mistake about it. These people have organized on a large scale to infiltrate many major city councils and governments in the country to spread their propaganda.
Their agenda is easily defined and simple. Their main objective is to take away your right to own animals. They do not want you to have the companionship of any animal, whether that is a dog, cat, horse, mouse, frog, fish or any other animal that you can think of. They are pooling their resources to get this accomplished, and have millions of dollars in their war chest for this effort.
This is a statement made by Ingrid Newkirk, the President of PETA: “I don’t use the word ‘pet.’ I think it’s speciesist language. I prefer ‘companion animal.’ For one thing, we would no longer allow breeding. People could not create different breeds. There
would be no pet shops. If people had companion animals in their homes, those animals would have to be refugees from the animal shelters and the streets. You would have a protective relationship with them just as you would with an orphaned child. But as the
surplus of cats and dogs (artificially engineered by centuries of forced breeding) declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship – enjoyment at a distance.” — The Harper’s Forum Book,
Jack Hitt, ed., 1989, p.223. It is interesting that Ms. Newkirk used the word “speciesist”. Allwords.com defines that word as follows:

The discrimination against, and exploitation of, animals by humans in the belief that humans are superior to all other species of animals and can therefore justify putting them to their own use.
One of the animal rights mantras is that all animals are created to be equal to all humans, and should have the same rights as humans.
Just in case it still isn’t clear to you what their agenda is, here are a few more quotes from Ingrid Newkirk:

“One day, we would like an end to pet shops and the breeding of animals. [Dogs] would pursue their natural lives in the wild … they would have full lives, not wasting at home for someone to come home in the evening and pet them and then sit there and
watch TV.”
— The Chicago Daily Herald, 3/1/90

“In the end, I think it would be lovely if we stopped this whole notion of pets altogether.” — Newsday, 2/21/88

Who is Ingrid Newkirk, and why should we care what she has to say about anything? In the 1970s, Newkirk worked for Montgomery County (Maryland), and then for the District of Columbia, as an animal protection officer and deputy sheriff, before becoming DC’s first female Poundmaster in 1978. She co-founded PETA in 1980 with
established animal-rights activist Alex Pacheco. (1) PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, but in my opinion, there is nothing ethical in what they
do. Ms. Newkirk has very close ties with several groups identified by the FBI as known terrorists groups, such as Animal Liberation Front (ALF). The animal rights groups are very well organized, and when you check closely, you will see many of the same names sitting on the boards of these radical groups. They are intertwined and closely
linked through their finances, and the work that they do.

PETA operates on an annual budget of $ 29,000,000. Most of this is from donations made by ordinary citizens that don’t know the real work of PETA. Many people think that they are out to save the lives of animals after seeing all of their ads on TV and in the newspapers. That is why millions are donated to them each year. In Virginia, the home state of PETA, in 2004, PETA adopted out 361 animals, and
euthanized 2,278, according to their records. (2) Those figures aren’t good. That means that they euthanized 86.3% of their animals and only adopted out 13.7%. These
figures come directly from PETA’s Annual Report and from their 2004 Tax Return. It doesn’t seem like they used that $29 million for the betterment of the majority of the animals that they came in contact with. So where is the money going? It is being
spent for publicity to raise more money for one thing. It is also being used for legislative purposes. They have placed key people in city governments all over the country to try to influence legislation to take your pet ownership rights away. And they are having a lot of success with it. You need to understand the basic difference between the “animal welfare” groups and “animal rights” groups. Although the names might sound like they have the same objectives, there is a big difference. Animal welfare groups are working to see that all animals are treated humanely. Animal rights groups are working to see that all ownership of animals comes to an end.
As I said, PETA has close ties with many other organizations. One of those organizations is the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). People donate millions to the HSUS each year, thinking that their money is going to save the lives of millions of animals. Nothing could be further from the truth. The HSUS does not own
a single animal shelter anywhere in the country. Although many shelters have the words Humane Society in their names, they are not associated in any way with the HSUS. The HSUS does not sponsor any spay or neuter clinic anywhere in the country. They do donate a very small percent of the annual budget to a few local humane
societies, around $2 million annually, which just happens to be less than the amount that they spend in travel each year. Their major money is sent on fund raising and legislative activity. In 2005 they spent $28 million for public mailings, $6 million in vegan education, $10 million in legislative campaigns and litigation. Their income for
that year was close to $125 million.

The HSUS was founded in 1954 as an animal welfare organization. But in the early 1980’s, just about the same time as PETA was founded, they began to change to an animal rights organization. In the 1990’s the personnel began to change to better fit with their new purpose, and today many of the personnel at HSUS have ties to PETA, including the current President, Wayne Pacelle.

This is an interesting quote from Wayne Pacelle: “We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock produced through selective breeding …One generation and out. We have no problems with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding.” – Animal People News (May 1, 1993)

When you combine other statements that he has made, with the above statement, in my opinion the meaning of this statement is that if we could spay and neuter all animals, we could eliminate pet ownership within one generation. “One generation and out” would mean to me that they are gone and are eliminated in only one
generation. Quietly sitting back and maybe not being aware, we are now allowing the HSUS to make presentations at our local schools, with the definite purpose to educate our children about how bad pet ownership is, to indoctrinate children to the thought that animals should be free and not kept as pets. They are doing this in the same way that they have infiltrated city councils and local governments all across the country, quietly and matter-of-factly.
“Shortly after taking office, Pacelle announced a merger with the Fund For Animals which have assets of over $20 million, and the Doris Day Animal League. The combined group estimated its 2005 budget at “over $95 million” and also announced the formation of a new “political organization,” which will “allow for a more
substantial investment of resources in political and lobbying activities.” So that is where we find ourselves today. With the HSUS and PETA combined annual budgets of over $124 million for political and lobbying efforts to take away our rights to own animals. And that figure does not include the many splinter organizations that
have been formed from these two major organizations. We are in an uphill battle now, and it will be the fight of our lives to keep our rights to own pets.

They are going at it from many different angles. One way is to get Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) passed. The banning of Pit-Bulls all over the country is a good example. That has caught on like wildfires. The animal rights groups have said if they can just get one breed banned, then it will be easy to add others to it at a later date,
until eventually all breeds are banned. Another way that they are going about it is to have a mandatory spay and neuter law in place. Just think about it, if all domestic animals are spayed and neutered, when they die, there will be no more domestic animals. Those same words have been said by Wayne Pacelle, the President of the HSUS. They have a very well thought out and planned agenda, and they are counting on the ignorance of the American people to get their agenda accomplished. Well guess what: Ignorance can be overcome by education. The American people may be ignorant about the facts, but they are not stupid. They can be educated. We were ignorant before 9-11, and look what effect that had. It caused all Americans to become educated and unite and fight to prevent that from happening again. The difference here is that we are being attacked from within our own country. We are under strong attack by the animal rights groups, and I hope that we don’t just stand by and allow it to happen.

The animal rights groups are publicly stating that we need to get laws passed so that they can close down all the puppy mills and commercial breeding facilities that have their animals living in inhumane conditions. Just about everyone would agree with
the idea that animals should be treated humanely. But that is just the vehicle that they are using to try to do away with all animal ownership, period. And that is not a statement that they are being all that public about.
You can become active in this fight by telling your friends and neighbors what is going on. You can be an instrument of education. You can also fight this kind of legislation when it is presented in your area. Go to the City Council meetings and make your voice heard. Write letters to the state and federal government officials to offer your services to be on any animal related committee. In short get the word out to any and all of your friends that own pets. Let them know what is going on. If enough people stop funding the animal rights organizations, we can put them out of business. There is not much that they can do without operating funds.
The next time you think about making a donation to any of these organizations, you had better think long and hard about whether you really want your money being spent to take away your rights.

PETA
HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES
FARM SANCTUARY
FUND FOR ANIMALS
DORIS DAY ANIMAL LEAGUE
EARTH SAVE
GREEN PEACE
PHYSICIANS FOR RESPONSIBLE MEDICINE
ANIMAL LIBERATION FRONT (ALF)
FRIENDS OF ANIMALS
IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS

Right now the HSUS has started their “First Strike Campaign”. I find that an interesting choice of names. At visualthesaurus.com they define first strike as follows:

First strike: An attack that is intended to seize or inflict damage on or destroy an objective.

Most people think that attack is on inhumane treatment of animals. They still don’t know it is an attack to take your animals away from you. Last year over 10 million people donated money to the HSUS because of their massive spending on advertising.
Most of those 10 million people had no idea what their money was actually going to support.  Better places to donate your money that will fight for your rights to own animals are listed below. These groups are working hard to protect your right to own animals, and
to expose the true agenda to much of the animal legislation going on all over the country.

NATIONAL ANIMAL INTEREST ALLIANCE

http://www.naiaonline.org/
SPORTSMEN’S AND ANIMAL OWNERS’ VOTING ALLIANCE
http://saova.org/
AMERICAN DOG OWNERS ASSOCIATION
http://www.adoa.org/index.cfm
U S SPORTSMAN ALLIANCE
http://www.ussportsmen.org/
You can either make your donations work for you or against you. That decision is
yours to make.
Footnotes for Reference:
1) http://www.activistcash.com/biography.cfm/bid/456
2) www,nokillnow.comPetaDVACreporting.pdf
3) http://www.animalscam.com/quotes.cfm
4)http://www.activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/oid/136

This article will first appear in the March, 2007 issue (Volume V Issue 2) of the Rocky Mountain Wrinkle, the newsletter of the Centennial Chinese Shar-Pei Club, Inc. Any reference to this article must give full credit to Rocky Mountain Wrinkle, and the Centennial
Chinese Shar-Pei Club, Inc.

Permission must be granted to use any articles from our newsletters, and we must get a credit line for any article that is granted permission to use, with a link to our website. Anyone wishing to reprint any of our articles should contact Alleydoll3@aol.com for written permission.