I know I have not posted on here a lot as a new member, but I received this email and have been asked to cross-post it to get the word out. This is from a group that supports our rights as animal owners and farmers.
Crossposted with permission:
> >
> > Dog Owners' Oprah Alert
> >
> > by JOHN YATES
> > The American Sporting Dog Alliance
> > 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
> > [email protected]
> >
> > 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
> >
> >
> >
> > "The HSUS is NOT a government entity, and DOES NOT shelter
> > poor little homeless puppies and kittens but is the most powerful
> > political lobby in the world for taking away pet owners rights through
> > a radical Animal Rights Agenda."
> >
(dog)
Crossposted with permission:
> >
> > Dog Owners' Oprah Alert
> >
> > by JOHN YATES
> > The American Sporting Dog Alliance
> > 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
> > [email protected]
> >
> > 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
> >
> >
> >
> > "The HSUS is NOT a government entity, and DOES NOT shelter
> > poor little homeless puppies and kittens but is the most powerful
> > political lobby in the world for taking away pet owners rights through
> > a radical Animal Rights Agenda."
> >
(dog)
