Do not buy a puppy from Wizard of Claws. Poos R Us and other breeders of designer dogs. Some people are fooled into thinking they are getting a very special dog, hence the high price. What they are getting for hundreds of dollars is a mixed breed dog. There are plenty of these available in shelters all over the country. HERE are just a few. Visit PETFINDER to adopt pure and mixed breed dogs. to slaughter of baby pigs. Babe came closer to death than any other animal at OohMahNee Farms. A schoolteacher from New Jersey had recently watched the movie Babe with her second grade students. She thought that for a surprise she would find a baby pig and bring her to the classroom. The teacher and her husband drove through the countryside looking for a pig farm until they came to a sign that had a pig painted on it .The couple saw pigs in a pen outside so they decided to look around. The husband went inside a building to look for the property owner. When he entered the building he was horrified to realize that the building was a slaughter facility. Pigs were being forced through a narrow system of channel gates up to a stunning area. It was a smaller packing facility and there were men designated to strike the pigs heads with sledgehammers. "The pigs were screaming and trying desperately to escape." He saw several pigs hoisted by one leg hanging upside down who had already been stunned. They were covered with blood all over their faces and he describes them "kicking and visibly conscious." The owner came to ask what he wanted and still in shock the husband described that they were hoping to borrow a pig. The owner reached down and grabbed a pig from the kill line just several feet away from the stunning area. The owner said " bring it back tomorrow morning it has to be in the scalding tank by noon." Dazed and still in shock the man nodded and hurried out of the slaughterhouse holding the trembling piglet. When he got to the car he shared the horrifying experience with his wife. They had no idea what they were going to do with the small pig but one thing was for certain, she was not going back. Click HERE for the rest of the story. American Kennel Club for opposing the Puppy Protection Act. Shame on you AKC! UPDATE April 10, 2002! AKC YOU HAVE FOREVER LOST OUR RESPECT! Source: Des Moines Register Ragsdale: USDA's promotion of dogs as a crop led to puppy mills By SHIRLEY RAGSDALE Register Columnist 04/10/2002 Wouldn't you know. When the U.S. Senate finally gets around to doing something about regulating puppy mills, the legislation is attacked by organizations believed to support the highest standards of dog breeding - the American Kennel Club and breed organizations. The AKC is supposed to be the Great Upholder of all things relating to bloodline purity and genetic soundness in dogs. It is the pedigree keeper and breed-standard authority. And it is standing shoulder to shoulder with commercial breeders who value dogs for their ability to produce litter after litter for sale. The Puppy Protection Act was passed as an amendment to the farm bill. It passed with no opposition. It was crafted by many breeder and animal-rights groups and created a three-strikes system within the Animal Welfare Act. Chronic offenders" kennel licenses would be revoked by the USDA. It limits the number of litters females can produce, mandates that female dogs be at least 1 year old before being bred, and requires that puppies be adequately socialized with other dogs and people. Those are reasonable regulations that have been decades in the making. It's likely few people remember that after World War II, the USDA promoted raising puppies for profit to farmers whose crops had failed. As the supply of puppies grew, so did the distribution network and retail outlets. Unfortunately, other than putting the idea of dog production in the minds of farmers, USDA did little to educate farmers-turned-kennel operators about providing humane conditions or selective breeding. These people were already broke, so their facilities were worse than substandard. They shunned veterinary care, largely because they couldn't afford to pay. The miserable conditions were exposed by humane organizations, and the Animal Welfare Act was passed. But the once-a-year kennel inspection by USDA has done little to repair the damage done by the dogs-as-livestock movement. It takes only one visit to one of these "kennels" to understand why Iowa Senator Tom Harkin supported adoption of the Puppy Protection Act. And even if commercial dog-breeding interests get this legislation stripped from the farm bill, he has promised to get some language passed to "get to the bad actors and get to the heart of the problem without overreaching or unintended consequences." Lack of oversight has fostered the ugly and inhumane dog-breeding industry. The treatment of dogs kept exclusively for breeding is the grotesque secret of the purebred-pet industry. You've likely seen the classified ads that offer AKC-registered dogs. These breeders seem to always have puppies for sale. And when you view the puppies by appointment - maybe in a supermarket parking lot or other public place - they sure are cute. But back at the farm or garage or back yard, the parents of the puppies live a dismal life. The kennels may barely comply with the definition. Adult dogs housed in barns or shacks may rarely see the light of day. The adult dogs rarely leave their cage. They may share the cage with one or two dogs. The puppies are weaned and sold as soon as possible. Wholesale brokers make routine sweeps of puppy mills, gathering a "load" to be offered to pet stores. Being groomed for sale may be one of the few times the puppies are touched by human hands. Brokers or individual buyers pick the best specimens. The breeder is stuck with the lesser puppies and may breed them, regardless of confirmation and behavior flaws. Iowa animal shelters and humane organizations are called to rescue these miserable creatures, usually when the owner accumulates so many dogs that the cost of care (such as it is) becomes overwhelming. Or there may be a complaint by neighbors about smell, noise or other disturbing activity. Often animals taken from such places must be destroyed because they are beyond help or cannot adapt to a normal life. Federal regulation is so toothless that in Iowa prosecution is framed according to state animal-cruelty statutes. This sad state of affairs is what AKC (whose motto is "For the Love of the Purebred Dog . . . ") supports. The same Web page that offers to sell DNA test kits and pedigrees urges "Stop Puppy Protection Act!" The organization that offers breeder referrals, registration forms and suggestions about buying a puppy has been urging dog fanciers to inundate the farm bill conference committee with form letters that claim that the need for the legislation has not been established. "The PPA would, for the first time, inject the federal government into controlling the breeding of domestic animals," the form letter states. "The PPA sets a dangerous precedent for the intrusion of the federal government into new areas of regulation that should remain the province of breeders." Considering the fact that the federal government was the place where the commercial breeding of pet dogs got started, that seems immensely appropriate. Proctor and Gamble P & G tests on animals. They also own Iam's pet food. Iams is a sponsor of the Missouri Pet Breeders Association, an association whose members are puppy millers, and who does everything in its power to protect the commercial dog breeding business. Ohio Association of Animal Owners Fights to defeat Ohio bills that would protect animals. Their focus is to protect the rights of animal owners. Petland "To help bring an end to the millions of puppies callously bred in "puppy mills," In Defense of Animals (IDA) is calling for a boycott of Petland, Inc." NAIA - National Animal Interest Alliance The title is misleading. Look at their board of directors. It will become clear what their "interest" is. Huntington Life Sciences "The campaign to shut down Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) is fast becoming one of the most significant in the animal rights movement's history." Factory Farming On factory farms sows must nurse their piglets through iron bars. To learn more about factory farming of cow, pigs, and chickens click HERE. Animals In Circuses The truth about Ringling Brothers and other circuses. Disturbing Undercover Video of circus elephants in "training". TV news coverage of Ringling Brothers Korea "The International Federation of Soccer Association has called on South Korea to end the consumption of dog meat before hosting the World Cup finals in June 2002." Love 'N Care Pet Farm People like this stay in business because customers feel sorry for the dogs and buy them their freedom. As long as we keep buying, they will keep breeding. DuPont and Honeywell Accused of Unnecessary Animal Cruelty From Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Monday, March 25, 2002 WASHINGTON, D.C. — DuPont and Honeywell Accused of Unnecessary Animal Cruelty Doctors and Animal Protectionists Charge Companies of Violating EPA Agreement with Excessive Animal Poisoning Tests Washington, D.C.—A coalition of health, animal protection, and environmental organizations is accusing DuPont and Honeywell of unnecessary cruelty for planning to poison more than 1,000 animals in tests with cyclohexanol, a chemical used in nylon, plastic, and paint manufacturing. Long suspected of causing reproductive and other serious health problems, the toxic substance has already has undergone extensive tests. The newly proposed experiments violate an agreement the companies made with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the coalition in October 1999 to avoid duplicative animal testing. The coalition is headed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). The cyclohexanol debate is the latest development in an ongoing controversy over the EPA’s High Production Volume Challenge, a gargantuan program promoting toxicity testing on 2,800 industrial chemicals. “DuPont and Honeywell will put animals through shockingly cruel tests, blatantly ignoring the terms of an agreement they made to minimize unnecessary animal testing,” says PCRM staff scientist Nicole Cardello, M.H.S., who recently reviewed the companies’ proposed test plan. Ms. Cardello filed a criticism with the EPA on behalf of the coalition last week. “There is already strong evidence that cyclohexanol is a health threat,” Ms. Cardello said. “We can only surmise that DuPont and Honeywell want to retest this chemical in hopes of producing conflicting results—data that might cast doubt on its toxicity.” In the tests, experimenters will force confined rats to inhale massive doses of the suspected poison, and then kill and dissect them. DuPont has an especially poor record within the HPV program, says Ms. Cardello. Previously, it proposed painful animal tests on adipic acid, a food additive the Food and Drug Administration already deems safe for human consumption. PCRM argues that the HPV program, estimated to involve more than 100,000 animals’ lives, violates federal law because it doesn’t allow for meaningful public input. The organization will file a lawsuit against the EPA in April. Last year, PCRM published a comprehensive report proving many of the proposed animal tests are redundant and unnecessary, and will fail to protect the environment or public health. At a chemical industry conference on March 13, an EPA official corroborated some of these charges when she admitted duplicative testing is a problem and called the program “a mess.” PCRM believes that animal tests are not the best predictors of dangers to humans and that alternative testing methods are more reliable. Furthermore, significant human exposure information—more pertinent than that gleaned from animal tests—already exists for many chemicals as they’ve been in use for years. Despite this abundance of valuable data, the EPA has been slow to regulate risky products and has not banned a single industrial chemical known to be toxic in more than a decade. Founded in 1985, PCRM promotes preventive medicine, especially good nutrition, and higher standards in medical research, education, and practice. For more information, contact: Simon Chaitowitz Communications Director Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine 202-686-2210, ext. 309 simonc@pcrm.org Web site: http://www.pcrm.org Republican Sponsored Bills Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill Energy Bill No Warrants