And so, it begins… the radical and long-awaited anti-breed, anti-breeder campaign has started!
By: Patti Strand Date: 10/24/2024 Category: | Animal Legislation | Animal Rights Extremism |
On Tuesday, the Ojai California city council passed an ordinance making it the first city in the nation to ban so-called “unethical breeding.” By their definition, “unethical breeding” encompasses all purposeful breeding of dogs, especially those breeds the activists have labeled as "too flawed to continue" - a Dachshund or French Bulldog, for instance. This is a huge win for animal extremists, whose stated goal is the eventual elimination of all dog breeds, and it will now be trumpeted nationwide as they advance their anti-breed, anti-pet agenda.
Ojai was definitely a soft target for this type of campaign: last year, the city council made headlines by voting to make Ojai the first city in the nation to grant habeas corpus rights to elephants. And earlier this year, they banned glue traps for mice and rats – something the city’s mayor, a committed vegan, took great pride in.
Some may take comfort in the fact that Ojai is a city of less than eight thousand people where fringe policies are “business as usua,l” – but they shouldn’t. Many of the most destructive animal rights campaigns that resulted in nationwide impacts started out just this way, in tiny municipalities led by animal rights zealots.
The problem is, such victories are soon joined by like-minded, deep-pocket groups such as PETA and the Humane Society of the United States, and by journalists looking for headline-grabbing stories. Together they concoct the propaganda necessary to move the anti-pet agenda forward, focusing media attention on the campaign’s misleading narratives, half-truths and black sheep examples.
One of the targeted breeds. Of course, you'd never see this dog featured in an animal rights campaign.
The extremists present themselves as authorities and the campaign as a noble cause – ostensibly as an effort to “save” the very dogs they are trying to eliminate.
Animal rights campaigns follow a well-practiced playbook guaranteed to generate sensational media coverage, negatively impact public perceptions of dog breeding and produce an ever-increasing number of copycat bills, some that snowball into statewide legislation. And this is the same playbook they will use to eliminate our favorite dog breeds if we let them.
Previous animal extremist campaigns have always resulted in weakening animal care and wellbeing, reducing the number of healthy dogs available to the public, and increasing the number of “retail rescue” dogs imported from other states and countries, from unlicensed, unregulated sources. In other words, they undermine half a century of animal welfare advances by expanding the black market in pets.
Please be assured that NAIA, along with many other groups that actually care about the welfare of dogs and our beloved breeds, are engaged, committed and prepared to fight to preserve our breeds. This Ojai win must be understood as the opening salvo of a long-term, well-planned campaign, and we must work together to defeat it.
We invite you to contact us if you have ideas or talents to share and want to join the fight. Start by signing up here, and please contact us directly at naia@naiaonline.org to get involved.
About The Author
Patti is a recognized expert and consultant on contemporary animal issues, most notably responsible dog ownership and the animal rights movement. She often appears on radio and television and her articles on canine issues, animal welfare, public policy and animal rights have appeared in major US news publications and in trade, professional and scientific journals. Patti and her…
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