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Another item posted to the pet-law list by Walt
Hutchens and passed on with his permission.
Some Thoughts on the War
Why is PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals) seemingly sweeping everything before it?
Is the animal rights movement winning?
Let's start with a look at looking at what PETA is doing.
Like Hitler in 1920's-30's Germany, PETA and the
rest of the Animal Rights (AR) movement came onto historically favorable
trends and exploited them:
1. In
1900, 90% of Americans lived on farms.
In 2000, only 10%. How many of us have ever slaughtered a
chicken? On another
list, I had to explain some canine anatomy to a list member who for the
first time in her life saw a male dog with an erection and feared
something terrible had happened to him.
With so little direct knowledge of animals, we're
prey to all kinds of anthropomorphic claptrap.
2. We're
wealthy beyond the dreams of even the kings of a century ago.
How many working class Americans today could get by if they
burned every fourth week's paycheck just for the fun of it? And for how
many of the same class was that true a century ago? Even the poorest of
us have more than the middle class of those times.
If instead of burning our money we want to send it
to a stupid movement, what's to stop us?
3. We
have far more time now. A
century ago a work week was six days, often 60 hours. Mom was home
with the kids – all seven of them, and she was expecting another –
while preparing all the family meals either from scratch or from foods
canned the summer before. No
electricity then – inside plumbing was uncommon, no antibiotics if you
got sick, most women made at least some clothing at home on a treadle
sewing machine.
If today we want to march for 'whatever,' we have
the time; why not?
4. Radio,
TV, and now the 'net have pushed our horizons to the ends of the world,
exposing problems that our educational system does little to help us
understand. We seek
meaning and value in doing things that are 'worthwhile' but who is sure
about the worth of the war in Iraq? The future of Social Security?
Even marriage?
The life of a kitten? Now *that* we can get hold of
– especially since we're able to project onto it all sorts of feelings
that it doesn't have.
5. The
easiest form of movement is one involving an enemy who can be demonized: "Hoarders,"
"irresponsible owners," "perpetrators of cruelty,"
yes, and "breeders" – AR is an easy movement.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) has been
highly successful against anti-gun laws because it recognized at the
start of the fight (1970's?) that gun use and ownership was in a battle
for survival and that the top priority had to be winning that fight.
The nearest analogy in the AR fight would be the AKC which isn't
yet on the playing field, due as nearly as I can tell to 'hobby shop'
management. Another
possible view is that the organizational structure suited to operating a
registry is unable to cope with a threat to survival – dog clubs don't
fear for their survival so few delegates have a survival outlook, and
that concern is accordingly absent on the Board of Directors.
As to whether the enemy is winning the war, I don't
really know. There's a case to be made in both directions.
On 'They are winning,' they've got deep educational programs in
place, they spend a lot on legislators, they 'own' many state humane
society federations, and from one year to the next, more localities
enact laws that are bad for animals and owners.
On the other side, the last year has seen AR
legislative victories go to near zero at the state level and they're
falling at the local level. The state lists and this list have sprung
from nothing in two years or so – there are a LOT of sergeants and
lieutenants in training now, who will in the months and years ahead
become effective leaders. We
had several times the number of leaders in the fight over Virginia's HB
2927 this year as we did for SB 260/895 two-three years ago, and that
trend will continue.
(HB 2927 would have required mandatory spay/neuter
of all puppies prior to sale, regardless of age and without exceptions;
the same for all animals adopted from shelters; and licensing of
breeders. SB 260 (which
passed) implemented pet rescuer licensing including 'any reasonable
time' inspections, required regular 'open to the public' hours, and
posting of names and addresses in animal shelters; it was essentially
repealed by SB 895 the following year.) The AR premise is that people
need to be controlled; if they misbehave they must be punished.
Not surprisingly, they're less tactically flexible than folks who
believe in individual responsibility and decision making.
Their attacks often seem almost clueless – more or less the
legislative equivalent of drunken elephants.
If you are unaware, careless or divided, they will
flatten you. Mobilize and work as a team and down they go.
ARs are a tiny minority and their real program –
elimination of animal usage – doesn't hold water with the majority.
People are figuring them out.
They're definitely wearing out their welcome around the Virginia
Legislature: one sponsor of an AR bill who recycled last years failure
in this session was told essentially "We don't want to see this
thing again." Two years
back if you said 'AR,' legislators' eyes glazed over; is it going to be
'Area 51' and 'alien abductions' next?
But in one of this year's floor debates, one of our supporters in
the legislature mentioned the animal rights movement.
I'm cautiously optimistic.
But no organization can do it for us:
the battles will be fought all across the country in cities,
small towns and counties. It's
going to take thousands of motivated and educated citizens to win this
war.
It's mostly in your hands, folks!
Walt Hutchens
Timbreblue Whippetswaltah@earthlink.net |
