IL- Dog Owners Divided by HSUS Bag of Dirty Tricks

Illinois Dog Owners Divided
By HSUS Bag Of Dirty Tricks

by JOHN YATES
American Sporting Dog Alliance
http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org
asda@conline.net

This article is archived at: http://eaglerock814.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=39

SPRINGFIELD, IL
There is very little good that we can say about the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the political arm of the radical animal rights movement. However, we must credit HSUS with being very politically astute, as their leaders, lobbyists and supporters have demonstrated dramatically in Illinois over the past two months.

Illinois dog owners had successfully stopped two pieces of onerous animal rights legislation, which would have repressively regulated all kennels including very small-scale hobby breeders, destroyed constitutional protections of due process under the law, fair and equal treatment under the law and the right to own and enjoy private property, and criminalized docking tails based on emotion and myth and in ignorance of the facts.

A strong outpouring of dog owners'opposition caused these bad bills to be bottled up in committee, and they didn't have enough votes to be passed.

At that point, HSUS was beaten. Dog owners had successfully fought for and protected their rights by stating the facts and telling the truth.

In Illinois, the truth is that existent laws are very stringent and have completely addressed every kennel problem that has been found for many years, and that tail docking is a safe and almost painless procedure that benefits many dogs.

Then, HSUS pulled out its favorite bag of political dirty tricks in order to divide dog owners and send a mixed message to the Legislature. A few organizations representing dog owners fell for these tricks, and the HSUS plot against our rights was given new life.

It was a classic sucker play. The treachery of some dog owners' groups accomplished what HSUS wanted to accomplish, but had failed to do.

The turncoat dog owners agreed to negotiate and support (or not oppose, which amounts to the same thing) the creation of a task force to study the need for new laws. The task force is based on wholly fictitious premises (please see our report from last week at http://eaglerock814.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=38) and is stacked to give animal rights fanatics as much as a 10-5 voting edge that dooms dog owners to a loss of their rights through bad legislation in the future. HSUS succeeded in convincing some dog owners groups to sign their own death warrants.

In last week's report , we urged dog owners to take action to assure that the resolution creating the task force was under the jurisdiction of the House Agriculture and Conservation Committee, which understands animal issues. Through your help, we succeeded, and the resolution was assigned to the Agriculture and Conservation Committee, where it will get the most knowledgeable and unbiased consideration.

Now, we have to restore unity and undo the divisiveness created by HSUS.

HSUS targets six groups of dog owners in their tactics to divide and conquer:

1. Dog owners who are fearful and timid, and think that "compromise" is the only way to preserve even a pathetic vestige of their rights. It is a current example of the "better red than dead" mindset during the Cold War. These people lack the courage to fight for their rights and are willing to deal them away in exchange for some diluted form of survival
2. Dog owners who want to be seen as "part of the process," and seek out "leadership" roles in order to stroke their egos with illusions of self-importance.
3. Dog owner who have an inherent faith in "the system," but who fail to realize that animal rights groups and Illinois "machine" politicians like Rep. John A. Fritchey and Sen. Dan Kotowski (the sponsors of the legislation who are HSUS tools) are experts at unfairly manipulating the system to get what they want.
4. Dog owners who are elitists in some sense, such as show people who think people who raise companion animals are inferior, or field trialers who think people who raise hunting dogs are second-class citizens.
5. Selfish dog owners who care only about protecting their own interests, and would sell out anyone else in order to save their own hides.
6. And dog owners who accept parts of the animal rights agenda, such as opposition to "puppy mills," and are not able to see the true goals of HSUS, which are to gradually eliminate all ownership of animals in America. These peop le have bought into the HSUS propaganda, even though it completely contradicts the facts.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance strongly believes that the vast majority of dog and kennel owners are the good guys. We are the people who love dogs, breed dogs that are healthy, genetically sound and have great temperaments, and who have done 99% of the hard work to make the lives of dogs in America better than at any time in history.

We will never agree to any legislation that takes away or compromises our rights to continue to do what's best for the welfare of our dogs.

Thus, we are urging all Illinois dog owners to help us to restore unity in the face of the HSUS onslaught that has divided dog owners. Our unity was damaged when some groups decided to negotiate with HSUS, and the sham task force Senate resolution (SJR 56) was the result.

We are asking all Illinois dog owners to do four things now:

1. Do not support or contribute money to any organization that will participate on the task force, hires lobbyists to negotiate with HSUS or which supports the concept of a task force. It is absurd to have a task force based on the fraud of solving nonexistent problems. The only result will be to steal the rights of dog owners through a Devil's compromise in some form.
2. If you belong to a club or organization representing dog owners on the local, state or national level, please contact its officers immediately and ask them to withdraw all support for the task force or negotiations with HSUS. Instead, ask them to have their lobbyists concentrate only on informing the senators and representatives of the facts and encouraging them to vote against HSUS-anointed legislation.
3. Immediately contact members of the House Agriculture and Conservation Committee and ask them to oppose SJR 56. Please clearly state your reasons why. Here is a link for contact information for all members of the House Agriculture and Conservation Committee: http://www.ilga.gov/house/committees/members.asp?CommitteeID=626&GA=96 4. Please contact your own state representative and ask him or her to refuse to concur with SJR 56, and state your reasons. Here is a link to contact information: http://www.ilga.gov/house/default.asp.
5. And please join at least one organization that is fighting for your rights.

If enough Illinois dog owners take these actions, we can restore unity and defeat HSUS-inspired legislation. If you fail to act now, your rights to own and enjoy your dogs are doomed.

Our unity was broken when four dog owners'groups in Illinois hired or supported lobbyists to negotiate with HSUS and agents of Rep. John A. Fritchey and Sen. Dan Kotowski. Negotiations were held every Thursday for more than a month, and are ongoing on a more informal "hidden backroom" level. The result was the creation of the task force, which was the HSUS "Plan B"strategy.

We want to emphasize that most of the groups supporting lobbyists who negotiated with HSUS are among the good guys, who believe in and defend the rights of dog owners. These are good people who are on our side, but we simply think they were manipulated by HSUS into agreeing to the task force. In particular, we admire lobbyist George Fleischli of the Illinois Association of Outdoor Resources, who is helping Illinois Brittany owners and field trial clubs.

Please do not attack good people simply because they make an occasional mistake. They deserve our continued support and loyalty.

Instead, please ask them to join our efforts to restore unity and stop SJR 56 in its tracks. We need their help.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners, breeders and professionals who work with breeds of dogs that are used for hunting. We also welcome people who work with other breeds, as legislative issues affect all of us. We are a grassroots movement working to protect the rights of dog owners, and to assure that the traditional relationships between dogs and humans maintains its rightful place in American society and life. The American Sporting Dog Alliance also needs your help so that we can continue to work to protect the rights of dog owners. Your membership, participation and support are truly essential to the success of our mission. We are funded solely by your donations in order to maintain strict independence.
Please visit us on the web at http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org . Our email is asda@csonline.net .