This might just get me murdered by some people who have guest blogs waiting to go up(one of them I bugged and bugged to get her to write it, and now it's being bumped back at least a day), but this situation infuriates me, not only because it's just so idiotic, but also because it's in my own back yard. I can't even comprehend how some of these people are thinking, or why they are doing what they do. It's a horrible case of Breeder-on-Breeder hatred.
So, day before yesterday I wrote a post concerning how I myself classify various breeders. It wasn't written as a standard, but as my view point. Interestingly, in a group I belong to on FB, a conversation came up regarding the term "bunny mill" and "mill type breeders", and a few individuals were lobbying against use of the term. They said that it is a term used by AR's to entice emotion, and to make laws pass easier. A Puppy Mill Law is much harder to ignore or pick apart than a Breeder Law. Puppy mill(or mill-type breeder, as I prefer), connotes certain images and lack of care standards, it brings up pictures of dogs abused, neglected, underfed, living in feces. The problem is, of course(as I think I've said about a million times) is that the RARAs use this term to describe any breeder.
I was going to post an edition of ARA's Behaving Badly today, however it was brought to my attention from a friend that there is a group on facebook who is attempting to publicly shame another group on facebook. This is not okay, I am absolutely disgusted by this. I'm not normally one for public shaming(let he who is without sin cast the first stone, and all that moral stuff), however this time I feel the need to.
The first guest blog, hopefully of many! Thank you so much to Becky, who submitted this wonderfully written and informative article! If you spend some time on Craigslist, you’ll see some interesting listings. Free snow (in Chicago!), get-rich-quick systems, wire fraud postings. A few days ago, I even ran across one attempting to exchange a Chihuahua for “services rendered.”
Only makes sense to exchange a pet that way, though. The sale of non-livestock animals is forbidden on Craigslist. The intent is, of course, to ensure that the scourge of the Earth known as pet breeders do not use it as free advertising to make a profit from animals. However, it is perfectly acceptable to request a fee for the necessary veterinary costs associated with the animal you are rehoming. You’ll very often see ads like these. You'll have to excuse me, I'm not completely up to date on this situation, nor is it about rabbits... However, it is about a breeder being targeted by Animal Rights Activists. And that's enough for me to have an opinion on this.
First and foremost, this whole situation is thanks to Eric Bellows, who seems to be in the same line of work/thought as Cesar Millan.. Which is all well and good, you can keep as many dogs as you are able to properly care for. He saw some dogs, didn't like how they were cared for, took pictures and rallied the villagers. Cue pitch forks and torches!! And pitchforks and torches have come out, the villagers are indeed rallying - there are animal rights advocates posting all over the internet concerning this, with the majority of them being the typical "breeders are evil, all breeders should die, let's go steal these dogs and burn down their children!!!" type, irrational and jumping on every comment. Comment anything at all, in any way supporting the kennel OR simply stating an opinion about their conduct, and you are instantly an evil breeder, with no compassion, no heart, no soul, who should be stabbed and peed on. I was guilty of stating that taking the dogs would be theft, and that "for the animals" does not make you exempt from the law. The rabbit lady of Missouri. In case you don't want to read the articles, posted at the bottom, this is an elderly woman raising rabbits for pet and meat sales. No biggie, right? Well, apparently it was a biggie, as the HSUS came and took all of her animals away. And charged her with abuse. A judge has ordered the animals returned, however as far as I can tell, the HSUS is still holding onto them.
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