I received an email regarding Oprah's puppy mill investigation airing tomorrow

[oregonjen]

Breeders are having a fit over Oprah's show which hasn't even aired yet. If after seeing it, they are upset, well, by all means do whatever seems appropriate. I just want the issue of puppy mills to be addressed and for changing the laws to make them illegal. I have no problem with breeders that follow the law and try to breed with the best interests for the dogs ie: breeding out genetic defects, proper care and health screenings.

This email is over the top and I wanted to see what you guys thought. On a different note, they spelled Barack incorrectly!


Dog Owners' Oprah Alert
>
> by JOHN YATES
> The American Sporting Dog Allianced
> http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org
>
> Dog owners might be in for another bashing on Friday, when ultra-
> liberal talk show host Oprah Winfrey does a special program
> on "puppy mills." Winfrey's star reporter, Lisa Ling, went
> undercover in commercial breeding kennels to do an expose on the pet
> store trade.
>
> Although the commercial trade in pet store puppies has nothing to do
> with the vast majority of dog owners and breeders, sensationalistic
> news coverage tars us with the same brush. To the liberal animal
> rights mindset, all breeders are either "puppy mills" or "backyard
> breeders," and this always translates into more laws that harm only
> the innocent. Moreover, the hidden agenda of the animal rights
> movement is the ultimate elimination of animal ownership, and their
> strategy is to pick us off one group at a time.
>
> The American Sporting Dog Alliance (ASDA) does not know how Winfrey
> and Ling will approach the topic, but we are not optimistic that it
> will be a fair, balanced and reasonably objective report. Based on
> the normal biased reporting we see about dog breeding, and Winfrey's
> close personal ties with animal rights groups, we would expect them
> to take their cameras into a couple of "worst case" kennels, and
> then by inference say or imply that all kennels and breeders are bad.
>
> Expect to take a thumping from one of the wealthiest and most
> powerful animal rights activists on Earth. According to a report in
> Women's Day magazine, billionaire Winfrey feels that leaving a cool
> $30 million to her own five dogs in her will is not even slightly
> extravagant. Inflation, you know.
>
> Winfrey was partners with the radical Humane Society of the United
> States in a movement aimed at destroying cattle ranching because of
> alleged food safety issues from eating beef, and they were
> codefendants in a lawsuit brought by the industry.
>
> This month, Winfrey has been giving serious consideration to an
> invitation to appear in nude photographs sponsored by one of the
> most extreme animal rights groups in America, People for the Ethical
> Treatment of Animals, pop tabloids report. The nude photos would be
> for PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign. Winfrey's
> concern reportedly is not about endorsing PETA. The tabloids report
> that she is worried that nude photos might offend voters and harm
> the presidential campaign of Barrack Obama, whom she has strongly
> endorsed.
>
> On Friday, we can expect a thumping with no opportunity to defend
> ourselves. The Winfrey/Ling style of journalism is to exploit highly
> emotional topics and sensationalize them to twang the heartstrings
> of a predominantly middle class audience of liberals who are looking
> for the next "do-gooder" cause to embrace. It looks like saving the
> whales or feeding starving people in Somalia aren't fashionable this
> year. Pity the poor whales. Pity the poor Somali refugees.
>
> And pity the poor dog owners! A campaign against dog owners and
> breeders has become the latest fashionable cause for the glitz and
> glitter crowd of celebrities.
>
> The question is, what are we going to do about it?
>
> For myself, I'm just plain sick and tired of being unfairly bashed.
> I guess I just wasn't raised to be a punching bag.
>
> But, you might be asking, how can we fight back against the
> wealthiest and most powerful media mogul in America? How can we
> fight that kind of power? How can we fight someone who wills $30
> million to her dogs when we're trying to figure out how to pay last
> month's electric bill?
>
> I think we can do it, if we get off of our butts and actually do
> it. There are hundreds of thousands of people who breed dogs because
> they love them show dogs, performing dogs, hunting dogs, obedience
> dogs, field trial dogs, companion dogs and just plain dogs. In
> addition, there are millions of dog owners who love their animals
> and thank breeders for doing the fine job that they know we do in
> improving temperament, genetic soundness, utility, beauty and health.
>
> If we join together in this, we can be a formidable force.
>
> My thoughts are that a boycott of Winfrey's advertisers would be the
> most effective strategy. If several hundred thousand dog owners and
> breeders were to contact advertisers on the Oprah show and refuse to
> buy any of their products, they would be forced to take notice.
>
> Please understand that I am not talking about censoring Winfrey's
> opinions. I would fight for her right to express any opinion she
> chooses, and also for her right to present and endorse the views of
> animal rights groups on her program.
>
> However, journalistic ethics demands fairness, balance and
> objectivity if programming purports to be reporting the news. If
> Oprah wants to do a report on dog breeding, that's fine. But the
> report should be fair to us and give us the opportunity to balance
> the views of the animal rights groups with our side of the story.
>
> I don't expect that Oprah will hold to the same standard of ethics
> that I did as a newspaper reporter. I expect that her report will be
> a hatchet job on dog owners and breeders. The promotional blog for
> Friday's Oprah Show gives us an idea of what we can expect:
> http://www.oprah.com/community/thread/44908. Read it for yourself.
>
> A boycott of advertisers just might convince Oprah to undergo an
> ethical reformation. Most of her advertisers won't like the idea of
> losing several hundred thousand customers so that Oprah can preach
> sermons against dog owners and breeders.
>
> When I worked on newspapers, there was a cynical wisecrack that my
> bosses sometimes told me when they didn't like something I
> wrote. "There is freedom of the press in America for anyone who
> owns a press." That meant I didn't own the press.
>
> It takes a lot of money to own a TV show. Oprah has that kind of
> money, and she earned it, but it has gone to her head. Now she
> sneers at the rights and lives of ordinary people who made her a pop
> star, and that includes dog owners and breeders.
>
> The Internet is the great equalizer. One of the beauties of the
> Internet is that it allows everyone to truly have the rights of free
> speech and free press. The Internet has become the printing press of
> ordinary people, and now it reaches a reported 80-percent of
> American households.
>
> Television represents the past, when Oprah's kind of money and power
> controlled the right of a free press. The Internet has given us our
> voice.
>
> The American Sporting Dog Alliance is asking all dog owners and
> breeders to watch the Oprah Show on Friday and form your own
> opinions. Then, if she does the kind of hatchet job we expect,
> please bombard her with emails expressing your displeasure.
>
> Then, we need to get organized for a campaign to reach her
> advertisers. In order to get ready, ASDA is asking readers of this
> report to email us a list of every advertiser that supports the
> Oprah Show. ASDA is willing to organize this campaign. Also, please
> let us know if you are able to help with it. Our email address is
> [e-mail].
>
> The American Sporting Dog Alliance works at the grassroots to defend
> the rights of dog owners and professionals against the very real
> threats of animal rights activism. Please visit us on the web at
> http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org. We maintain strict
> independence and are supported only by the voluntary donations of
> our members.
>
> While the Oprah segment may be about "puppy mills," the laws that
> her friends in PETA and HSUS are proposing really are targeting dog
> owners and hobby breeders, with the goal of reducing and ultimately
> eliminating animal ownership. These same radical groups also want to
> eliminate hunting, ban the ownership of firearms, forcibly convert
> us to vegan vegetarianism and destroy American farming traditions.
>
> "Puppy mills" are not the issue. Existing federal, state and animal
> cruelty laws already intensively regulate commercial kennels. You
> are the issue. These groups want to destroy the things that you love
> and believe in.
>
> Does Oprah have a conscience? She is leaving $30 million to support
> five dogs that she loves and apparently believes she is doing
> something right by supporting animal rights groups.
>
> But she is being suckered. She is supporting groups that believe
> that the only unexploited dog is a dead dog. The truth is that PETA
> slaughters 97-percent of the dogs that enter the
> organization's "shelter" in Virginia. They would rather kill those
> dogs than help them find a loving home.
>
> Please forward this posting to as many people as you can, and also
> cross-post it on message boards. We need to reach as many people as
> possible quickly.
>

[Critters2]

1. This makes me laugh! They honestly think people are going to bombard Oprah

with negative e-mails because she's exposing the horrors of puppy mills? Yeah, that's gonna happen. :eyes:

Oprah is doing a great service to dogs everywhere, and these bitching asshats claim to love dogs.

Asshats.

[Catchawave]

2. What drek.....if this guy is so responsible why isn't he cleaning up

the puppy mill mess?

http://network.bestfriends.org/legalanimal/news/7067.html


I'm not a big Oprah fan, but I'm 100% supportive of her taking this on. I look for that show!

[LeftyMom]

3. If they think an expose on puppy mills will harm their business, they should change their business!

And I'm not sure what the side rants on "radical organizations" (good lord, if they're radical, I don't want to think about what that makes me) like HSUS and PETA have to do with anything. Is what those organizations have to say about backyard breeders, puppy mills or the pet overpopulation problem generally wrong? Or is it just that breeders have no good response, and prefer instead to attack the messenger, as they're doing now with Oprah?

In the current pet overpopulation crisis, there's no such thing as a responsible breeder.

[Midlodemocrat]

4. 'Radical' Humane Society?

What a nutjob. He belongs in GD-P.

[Pithlet]

5. She's stated that she'll only adopt from a shelter from now on.

That's probably what got them steamed. Well, tough, I say. Oprah's right.

[Catchawave]

7. "Don't Breed or Buy While Homeless Animals Die"

Hopefully she'll have the stats of the millions of companion animals that are euthanized every year simply because they're not wanted :cry:

The pet industry makes billions a year, so animal welfare is not in their best interest :mad:

[cynatnite]

6. My sister emailed me the same thing...

This guy seems to be an avid supporter of hunting dogs...which I find distasteful.

[riverdeep]

8. Looks like someone senses a threat to their business.

And calling the HSUS 'radical' is a giant tip off. If the situation is fine, then why are there puppy mills? Obviously, something is not working. Also, this individual doesn't know the first thing about 'ultra-liberal' if they believe Oprah falls into that category.

A worst case reading of this, they want the puppy mills to continue and are using ad-hominem attacks to discredit the show before it even airs. If that's the case, I hope one of their inbred pit bulls rips out their throat one day soon.