by JOHN YATES
American Sporting Dog Alliance
http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org
PALM BEACH, FL Animal rights activists in many parts of the
country are proving the adage that paranoia doesn’t necessarily mean
dog owners are crazy.
Cities and counties that have enacted repressive ordinances
targeting dog owners are increasingly using volunteers as a major
tool to enforce the law. Not surprisingly, only animal rights
activists are likely to be accepted as volunteers. Many of these
activists are opposed to the private ownership of animals in any
form, and most of them are willing to accept what they term
animal “guardianship” only under strict government regulation.
The vigilantes are coming!
That is true in Los Angeles, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. It
also is true in several states where volunteer animal rights
activists are routinely sent undercover to investigate allegations
of animal cruelty and even to check out people who advertise a
litter of puppies in local newspapers.
But Palm Beach County, Florida, has made vigilantism into an art
form, and Los Angeles may be preparing to carry it to the nth degree.
Volunteer activists in Palm Beach County have been sworn in, given
badges and uniforms, and granted the authority to enter private
homes to check for violations of a new mandatory spay/neuter
ordinance, animal cruelty and other possible dog law violations.
These members of the “Palm Beach County Citizen Animal Patrol” are
empowered to issue formal written warnings for noncompliance and
turn in the information to regular animal control officers for
official investigation and prosecution.
According to a county announcement of the program, search warrants
are not needed for these volunteers to inspect private homes or
privately owned pets. The county’s official position is that “The
hobby breeders who have a permit from the county have already given
implied consent to these people to enter their homes by signing the
permit.”
That is the little known fine print of dog and kennel licenses in
almost every state: If you buy a license, you sign away your right
to privacy. If you don’t buy a license, of course, you are breaking
the law and can get busted.
Catch 22!
In many other areas of civil law, such as with zoning and building
permits, obtaining a license has been viewed in court as prima facie
permission for government officials to inspect private property.
This precedent is now being extended to dog laws, and citizen
patrols to “rat out” noncompliant neighbors are being seen as
important enforcement tools.
Spying on their neighbors and intimidating dog owners is only one
part of the job description of the Palm Beach County Citizen Animal
Patrol. Other duties include answering newspaper ads placed by
people who advertise puppies for sale, contacting dog clubs for
breeder referrals, and even setting up surveillance at dog shows.
If they see anything they consider suspicious or a possible
violation of the law, they are told to report the information to
animal control to start a full investigation.
In the world of crime, they would be called snitches. In the world
of animal law, they see themselves as on a mission to save helpless
animals from exploitation.
According to an article in the Palm Beach Post newspaper, citizen
patrols will help increase enforcement without adding to municipal
costs.
Local officials stress the “public education” aspect of the citizen
patrols, but are noticeably quiet about the surveillance and
enforcement aspects of the volunteer positions.
This pattern is apparent in Dallas, San Antonio and Houston, which
passed draconian pet sterilization ordinances within the past year.
Volunteers are being actively recruited in those Texas cities to
help “educate” people about the new laws. As in most places, these
citizens groups are comprised almost entirely of animal rights
activists, and each application must be approved by a quasi-official
advisory board that consists of animal rights activists. People who
advocate the right to own dogs need not apply.
Dog owners are convinced that these volunteers also will be used to
find and turn in people who do not follow the laws.
Los Angeles appears to be adding its own twist.
The Los Angeles Department of Animal Services, directed by animal
rights extremist Ed Boks, has set up a program of Directors of
Animal Welfare, nicknamed DAWs. The city has been divided into 86
different “neighborhoods, ” and thus far a reported 44 of the
positions have been filled. According to an announcement from Boks,
some of these appointees do not live within the City of Los Angeles.
The DAWs website profiles the backgrounds of many of the appointees,
and they read like a who’s who of the animal rights movement in Los
Angeles. Many of the profiles tout the appointees’ close ties to the
radical Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the ultra-
radical People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Many of
the profiles also tout radical vegetarian activism, opposition to
the use of animals in circuses and other darling causes of the
animal rights elite. Overall, it is clear that the vast majority of
these people oppose the private ownership of animals, and are
totally opposed to the right to breed dogs.
Please read some of the profiles for yourself:
http://www.dawprogram.org/.
The DAWS Board also has several committees, including an “Animals
Are Not Property Committee,” whose members are listed as Andrea
Boyington, Adele Langdon, Tina Reynolds and Patti Sugarman. Each of
these people has published ties to radical animal rights groups.
None of the profiles indicate that the appointees breed dogs, show
dogs, compete with dogs, or belong to any organization that works to
protect the rights of dog owners. Not one.
A very ominous sign is that DAWs has gone underground since Los
Angeles passed an exceedingly restrictive spay and neuter mandate
this year. The DAWs meetings used to be advertised on their website,
agendas used to be published, and minutes were displayed online.
Since August, all public accountability and openness have been
removed from the DAWs website.
In addition, the DAWs volunteer manual has been withdrawn for
complete revision, and is no longer available to the public.
An announcement from Boks called the DAWs appointees “the eyes and
ears for the animals in their areas.”
In other words, being snitches is one of their duties.
The DAWs mission statement says: “DAWs provide a voice and a form of
political representation for nonhuman animals.” That line is
straight out of the PETA textbook.
Perhaps the most common use of animal rights activists as volunteers
has been for undercover work and surveillance in animal cruelty
investigations. Because these volunteers have no official
designation, the use of them is not subject to constitutional
protections against searches without warrants. They go under cover
as private citizens, and then file complaints with animal cruelty
police officers. They work with the officers, and their identities
are not revealed. The officers use these “complaints” as legal
grounds to obtain a search warrant.
The most famous use of undercover volunteers occurred at a
California slaughterhouse that was highly publicized this year and
led to a complete overhaul of federal and state inspections.
A large percentage of animal cruelty cases in several states rely on
animal rights activists to go undercover into private kennels and
dog events, and their observations and opinions are relayed as “semi-
anonymous complaints” to humane police officers in order to obtain
search warrants. “Semi-anonymous” means that these people’s
identities are known to the officers and judge, but are not revealed
to the public or the person who is accused.
A common tactic is for these activists to pose as puppy buyers when
responding to advertisements in newspapers or online, or to appear
at dog events as a spectator. This tactic is so common that
virtually anyone who advertises puppies for sale in many areas of
the country can expect to be visited by undercover activists
pretending to be looking for a puppy. Usually they are easy to spot.
They are mostly college-aged people who know little about the breed
of the puppies that are for sale.
Sometimes it gets much more organized. For example, the toll of
animals from Hurricane Katrina has led to the formation of
many “disaster rescue groups.” They raise money locally to rescue
animals from disasters, and sometimes get contributions of tax
dollars.
Fortunately, disasters are rare in most places. But these programs
allow a well-funded team of animal rights activist/volunteers to
perform organized surveillance work. For example, a Venango County,
PA, disaster rescue group received newspaper coverage this year for
playing the key undercover role that led to the animal cruelty
prosecution of a “puppy mill” in West Virginia.
Another Pennsylvania situation that we reported this year was how
animal rights activists have begun to take over local zoning boards,
in order to require people who seek a permit to build a kennel to
meet impossible demands. In one case that would be amusing if it
hadn’t harmed a person who wanted to build a kennel, these activists
required an applicant for a kennel permit to promise that none of
his dogs would be mated naturally.
What can we do about it?
The first thing that dog owners must do is to understand that there
is a planned takeover of local boards and commissions by animal
rights groups, and that this has been happening behind the scenes
for many years.
Thus, vigilance is the first step. Find out what official or quasi-
official groups have been created in your town and county that work
on animal issues. Animal shelter or animal control advisory boards
are common examples.
Then, learn the names of the members of these boards and committees.
These names should be public records, and also may be found by
looking up the group’s website. Chances are an Internet search will
yield many connections to animal rights groups.
The next step is educating public officials about the real agenda of
animal rights groups such as HSUS and PETA, and, if possible,
showing verified connections to members of local boards. Letters to
the editor of local newspapers are another good approach, if you
have documentation.
However, the most important thing you can do is to volunteer to
serve on any board, commission or committee in your town or county
that deals with animal issues. Let your elected officials know that
you want to serve on these boards, and volunteer to fill any current
or future openings.
Our goal should be to have as many dog owners and people who support
the rights of dog owners as possible on any board, committee or
commission. It is vital for us to be able to begin to reverse the
animal rights strategy of taking over local boards.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance will assist local dog owners in
any way possible to accomplish this important goal.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners, breeders and
professionals who work with breeds of dogs that are used for
hunting. We welcome people who work with other breeds, too, as
legislative issues affect all of us. We are a grassroots movement
working to protect the rights of dog owners, and to assure that the
traditional relationships between dogs and humans maintains its
rightful place in American society and life.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance also needs your help so that we
can continue to work to protect the rights of dog owners. Your
membership, participation and support are truly essential to the
success of our mission. We are funded solely by the donations of our
members, and maintain strict independence.
Please visit us on the web at American Sporting
Dog Alliance.org Our email is
asda@csonline.net .
Raven (a black dog) is having fun running around in the snow covered hay field on a crisp December winter morning in north central Minnesota. Raven is a mix of German shepherd, Norwegian elkhound, and English setter.
Raven (a black dog) is sitting on a large round hay bale in a hay field. Raven is a mix of German shepherd, Norwegian elkhound, and English setter.
Raven (a black dog) has found something interesting in the snow covered field at sunset. The orange sky and tree line behind Raven adds color to this winter scene as does the orange rays from the setting sun on the snow.
Raven (the dog) sitting on a large round hay bale in the hay field. Raven is a mix of German shepherd, Norwegian elkhound, and English setter.
Raven the dog standing on a rock after wading around in the Mississippi river. She loves wading in the water and getting all wet. Raven is a mix of German shepherd, Norwegian elkhound, and English setter.
