Best Friends et al to HSUS – "Enough is Enough"

A group of Animal Welfare groups have issued an official statement that tells the Humane Society of the United States, in so many words, ‘enough is enough’.

Enough killing, enough outdated policies, enough ‘Pit Bull Czars’ who know as much about Pibbles as this whiny little nitwit.

The official press release, from the Best Friends website:

Coalition challenges ‘outdated’ policy
February 19, 2009 : 6:34 PM ET

The court-ordered destruction of 145 dogs, including about 75 puppies, which were seized from a fighting dog breeding operation in December, was based on the faulty assumption that all dogs seized in dog-fighting related busts should arbitrarily be deemed dangerous and euthanized.

The decision to kill the dogs was supported by the largest animal welfare organization in the country, the Humane Society of the United States. Representatives of HSUS testified in Wilkes County Superior Court that the dogs had to be destroyed because they had been “bred for generations to be aggressive.”

HSUS reasserted its outdated policy, written more than 20 years ago: “Any dog who has been specifically bred or conditioned for fighting, or for which there is evidence that the dog has been used for fighting should not be placed for adoption by an animal shelter but humanely euthanized as soon as legally possible.”

A Best Friends Animals Society-led coalition offered resources to the county for evaluation, spay/neuter, and support in finding homes for qualified dogs. These animal welfare organizations, which have extensive experience with rescued fighting dogs, urged Wilkes County to accept their offer of support for an alternative approach, such as was used in the Michael Vick case.

The coalition includes BAD RAP (Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pit Bulls), Animal Farm Foundation, Villa Lobos Rescue Center, Downtown Dog Rescue, The Sula Foundation and Our Pack.

“We are disheartened and shocked that HSUS, a leader in the animal welfare community, would testify in court for the automatic destruction of puppies and dogs, who had not been given the opportunity to be evaluated as individuals, based on this policy. The Michael Vick dogs have proven how antiquated this approach is,” said Ledy VanKavage, an attorney with Best Friends Animal Society.

In 2006, HSUS advocated that all of the dogs from the Michael Vick dog fighting case be put down for the same reasons they used when recommending the killing of the Wilkes County pit bulls. In that case, a federal court appointed a Special Master to oversee the evaluation of Vick’s dogs, all of which were adults. Many of the Vick dogs are now in adoptive homes, and at least two of the so-called “aggressive fighting dogs” are therapy dogs that visit hospitals to cheer up ailing patients.

“The coalition members and their supporters are urging HSUS to revaluate this policy and apply a more progressive approach that reflects the lessons learned by the animal welfare groups in the coalition, as well as other organizations that work directly with dogs,” VanKavage said.

Written by Best Friends staff

For more information of the coalition groups:

Coalition Contacts

Best Friends Animal Society http://www.bestfriends.org Barbara Williamson, (435) 689-0200 (cell) or barbara@bestfriends.org John Polis, (435) 644-2001, ext. 4858, or johnp@bestfriends.org

Animal Farm Foundation http://www.animalfarmfoundation.org Stacey Coleman, (845) 868-7559 or scoleman@animalfarmfoundation.org

BAD RAP http://www.badrap.org Donna Reynolds, (510) 441-6461 or donna@badrap.org

Downtown Dog Rescue http://www.downtowndogrescue.org Lori Weise, (213) 448-9961 or lori@modernica.net

Our Pack http://www.ourpack.org/ Marthina McClay, (408) 460-4244 or marthina@ourpack.org

The Sula Foundation http://www.sulafoundation.org Ken Foster, (504) 613-7370 or kenrfoster@gmail.com

Villa Lobos Rescue Center http://www.vrcpitbull.com/home.htm Tia Maria Torres, (661) 268-0555 or tiamaria@vrcpitbull.com

Let me say something else, specifically to those of you who come here ‘just to read about Frenchies’ (as a recent email I received points out), and who want to know ‘why I keep talking about PitBulldogs (sic)’.

This is not a ‘Pit Bull issue’. It’s an issue of morality, humanity, and perhaps more importantly, accountability. You do not get to raise money to ‘save’ dogs, only to then turn around and lobby for the death of the very same dogs.

You just don’t.

Above and beyond that, there is no such thing anymore as a “Pit Bull” issue. It’s a dog issue, and, last time I checked, French Bulldogs are dogs. More importantly, French Bulldogs are Bulldogs – or Bull Breed dogs, if you prefer. Whither goest Pit Bulls, goest Bull breeds – and goest French Bulldogs, eventually. That means BSL against Pit Bulls today, equals BSL against Bull Terriers, Boston Terriers, Bullmastiffs, and French Bulldogs tomorrow.

Wake up, Frenchie owners — before it’s too late. I’ve been singing this song since the 1990’s, and still some of you are whining about how ‘your dogs aren’t like those dogs’.  Your dogs aren’t ever helpless six week old puppies? Because that’s what got murdered this time – and by the group that the general public still believes stands for ‘Humane treatment for animals’.