Oprah After Breeders Says American Sporting Dog Alliance

[eaglerock814]

BIG DOG (DogExplorer.com's Publisher) Adds this note:
I'm adding this after this item was already posted here by another user and responded to by a member of the forum. I was not sure what agenda the American Sporting Dog Alliance had from the several earlier posts made by the user who posted this - but now the agenda is becoming clear.

This, and the others, have been posted as if they are objective news - actual journalism. Clearly, from the language below that is not the case. This is opinion and spin. You may agree with them or not. What is important from my perspective is that you are not led to believe it is objective reporting. It is editorial. Pure opinion colored by agenda and not depicted as such.

Now back to the original opinion piece:


Original Text

Dog Owners’ Oprah Alert

by JOHN YATES
The American Sporting Dog Alliance

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 (link removed by BigDog). 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 (removed by BigDog).

(American Sporting Dog Alliance self-promotion pitch removed by BigDog).

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.

(Cross-post plea removed by BigDog)

[Word Star]

It is irresponsible breeding of animals for sale, and the failure to have pets spayed and neutered that is responsible for millions of animals who are put to sleep every year.   Oprah, HSUS, and PETA are trying to stop that irresponsible activity, which is the only way to stop the unnecessary death of millions of unwanted animals.

Mr. Yates says the "hidden agenda" of animal activists is the "elimination of animal ownership".  That's just industry propaganda!  In fact, the people who head organization like HSUS, PETA, etc. are all pet owners themselves.  And PETA's position is posted (link removed by BigDog). The opening line begins with "We at PETA very much love the animal companions who share our homes," and the closing line is "Learn more about how you can provide full, interesting lives for your animal companions." In between, they explain their stand and that "Contrary to myth, PETA does not want to confiscate animals who are well cared for and 'set them free.' "  So why do people keep repeating the myth? Most heard it from someone else and didn't bother to check before they repeated it. The few who did check are not being honest. 

The only hidden agenda involved is the usual one of those people who profit from the breeding and use and abuse of animals.   

The legendary TV host Bob Barker, who has many animal companions himself, just retired after 35 years as the host of the Price Is Right game show, where his signature sign-off was "Help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered".  His foundation DJ&T, contributes to "spay and neuter" shelters nationwide.  He also devotes large sums of money to endowments to support the study of animal rights law with millions going to top law schools like Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, Duke, Northwestern, UCLA and Stanford.  Like Oprah (who would be insulted to hear someone suggest she was being "suckered") Barker says that a major part of his multi-million-dollar estate will go to animal advocacy.  Someday, thanks to animal advocacy groups like PETA and HSUS, and people like Oprah and Barker animals will no longer be considered just personal property to be treated in any way their owners see fit.

When honest, intelligent, successful, people like Oprah and Barker devote so much time and money to a cause, it's not because they're "suckered" as the author here would like you to believe.  It's because they believe in what they are doing.  and it might be a good idea to listen to what they have to say. 

One should also question where the real hidden agenda might be lurking.  The bottom line is simply that animal-rights activists threaten the profit margins of agribusiness, meat and dairy, big pharma, circuses, fur traders, exotic animal breeders, and puppy mills.  When you follow the money and the politics, it is clear which side has the hidden agenda and the profit-driven motivation to distort the truth.  And it is not the animal-rights advocates!

[Big Dog]

Okay, as Publisher of DogExplorer.com I'm going to weigh in at this stage.

We welcome thoughtful discussion of this or any subject. The operative word is thoughtful. All sides of an issue are welcome to be heard if they present their view in civil and polite terms. Break that rule and your bark will be silenced. 

No more posts here with links to PETA, HSUS or ASDA sites. They don't need any link love from us. Those are easy enough to find. Want an exception? PM me.

As usual, I think history teaches these issues, which go way beyond the Oprah show, are much more complicated than admitted by any organization mentioned here thus far.

I'm not in favor of forced, obligatory, spay and nueter, except for owners of dogs and cats that let their animals breed while wandering the neighborhood or to show the kids the miracle of life. Kidding, of course.

Our view here is very clear - spay and nueter in almost every circumstance. Adopt and rescue your dogs - rarely, if ever, do you need to go to a breeder.

Millions of dogs are put to death in this country every year. Until demand catches up with supply, most folks would do well to avoid commercial breeder operations. There are exceptions - and they should be plain to see.