Poorva Joshipura, Guardian (London), February 17, 2010
The demonstration by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) US outside the Westminster Dog Show—in which two Peta US members dressed up like KKK members to make the case that the KKK and the American Kennel Club (AKC) are in some ways two peas in a pod—understandably raised a few eyebrows. But it also raised a good point: the AKC is all about the perverted idea of a master race and so is the KKK.
Seeing people in white capes is deeply uncomfortable. But only someone with an axe to grind about Peta US’s work to stop animal exploitation in all its forms, or someone with no idea about its principles, would dare suggest that it set out to offend people of colour. As an Indian woman who grew up in the American south, I’m well aware of the very real struggles that minorities face, and as a long-time Peta Europe staffer, I can assure you of Peta US’s abiding support for all struggles and its courageous position in going beyond what is comfortable to those who wish to preserve the status quo.
We want people to see that if they are outraged—as they should be—by the way the KKK arbitrarily labels certain people “inferior” simply because of the way they look, they should also be outraged that the AKC does the same thing to dogs.
In its quest for “pure bloodlines”, the AKC requires breeders to put twisted ideas about what they think dogs should look like—when traits are deliberately exaggerated by breeding—before dogs’ health. As a result of inbreeding and breeding for distorted physical features, about one in four purebred dogs is afflicted with serious congenital defects. For example, Labrador retrievers—America’s most popular dog—are prone to bone disease, haemophilia and retinal degeneration, and nearly 60% of golden retrievers suffer from hip dysplasia. The British bulldog is prone to breathing difficulty, hip problems, skin problems and premature death.
In response to public outcry, the AKC’s British counterpart, the Kennel Club, has at least issued new breed standards in an attempt to stop “encouraging features that might prevent a dog from breathing, walking and seeing freely”, but breeders are fighting this. Yet the AKC continues to encourage breeding for features that cause dogs pain and, often, early deaths.
The AKC’s standards also require many breeds to endure painful, unnecessary cosmetic mutilations that are condemned by the American Veterinary Medical Association, including having their ears and tails cut off. Some breeders even kill puppies that are born the “wrong” colour.
Worst of all, the AKC and the Kennel Club knowingly contribute to the millions of dogs who are dumped and/or euthanised in shelters every year for lack of homes by encouraging breeders to keep producing litter after litter of puppies in hopes of winning show titles. Many of the dogs breeders produce will go on to have litters of their own, further contributing to the overpopulation crisis. Every single puppy born to a breeder takes away a home that could have gone to a dog in an animal shelter. And when shelter dogs aren’t adopted, they pay with their lives—or sometimes worse, like lifelong confinement in a cage or kennel.
Perhaps Alice Walker said it best when she wrote: “Blacks aren’t made for whites, women aren’t made for men, and animals aren’t made for humans.”
Like humans, all dogs are created equal, and all dogs deserve good health and loving homes, regardless of their “heritage”. Please, say “No” to breedism. Boycott breeders and save lives by adopting homeless dogs from an animal shelter or rescue group.
Original article
(Posted on February 26, 2010)
Comments
However, the fact still remains: Salukis are still the fastest runners, bloodhounds have the most acute sense of smell, and border collies round up sheep the best. You can’t expect a saluki to round up sheep very well, can you? It’s not that either a saluki, border collie or bloodhound is a “master breed,” it’s just that they’re bred as dogs for different purposes.
Does this mean that my half black lab/half staffordshire terrier is an oppressed minority?
I hate PETA. Nothing but a bunch of psycho, self serving, hypocrites. They have euthanized more than their fair share of animals, going so far as to buying a large walk in freezer to hold the corpses. Also the president(or whatever they call her), a diehard anti animal medical testing advocate, uses insulin produced in pigs to survive.
But as a dog lover I have to agree a little with this, a lot of breeds produced have all sorts of problems from inbreeding. I’ve lost a couple of good hunting dogs to these inherited problems.
Reputable breeders work to improve the breed, not just looks, but also health, temperament and intelligence. They breed only the very best dogs together after careful research into each potential breeder’s heritage and based on how well they match the breed standard. They will not breed dogs with congenital diseases such as hip dysplasia or retinal atrophy, nor will they sell puppies who carry the genes for those diseases, unless the pup is neutered/spayed before sale.
I knew that PETA was full of idiots, but I never knew they’d think certain breeds of animals could be racist.
Just when we think their common sense and intellect couldn’t get any lower, they just keep at it.
There’s a huge contradiction in her piece. She rails against dogs having genetic difficulties and then says, in fact, makes it her main point, that she against ‘master racism’ genetic tinkering with dog breeds. If you don’t want dogs to ever face genetic problems, ‘hemophilia’, ‘retinal degeneration’, and ‘hip dysplasia’ you’d need to make sure dogs with these traits don’t breed or don’t breed so prodigiously. You’d need to be practicing Eugenics.
I support Peta and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and it even seems they’ve gotten the AKC to amend their practices here for the better, however, the only way to properly husband our favorite companion and man’s best friend, and make no mistake we are responsible for this, is through the proper application of Eugenics
I love it when these goofs do these things. The more average everyday people see this sort of illogical behavior on display the more they will recognize that all anti-racist rhetoric and ideology is wrong. Sooner or later they will need to reevaluate the entire concept of racial equality and diversity.
“Like humans, all dogs are created equal.”
Like the human species, the animal species known as “canines” are comprised of various races or “breeds.” And like the human races, canine breeds possess unequal degrees of intelligence, socialization, aggressiveness, impulse control and curiosity.
Poorva Joshipura writes: “As an Indian woman who grew up in the American south, I’m well aware of the very real struggles that minorities face, and as a long-time Peta Europe staffer…”
Here is an Indian woman who complains about life in the West. Incredible!
The only believable words she could say would be praise and thanks to her Western hosts for allowing her to live among them.
“Like humans, all dogs are created equal.”
What will it be next? Flowers, trees? Should all trees be interbred and made the same? How dare a rose be lovelier than a dandelion! That’s pure biological bigotry. Down with floral elitism! All flowers must be made equal!!! None should be more beautiful than another.
Will this Marxist mania extend next to cows and chickens?
I agree with them with regards to dogs.
The breeds of dogs come from humans forcing the same breed to mate, and are only a couple hundred years old.
The breeds of humans, on the other hand, come from nature, and are a hundred thousand years old.
By the way, my previous 2 dogs, and 1 current one, were mutts from the pound.
Anonymous wrote: Reputable breeders work to improve the breed, not just looks, but also health, temperament and intelligence.
“Reputable breeders” should be on the FOREFRONT of legislation requiring sensible breeding laws, instead they only fight laws intended to stop the slaughter of millions of healthy sane dogs every year in this countries “shelters”.
With modern technology dog breeders could be licensed the same way other professions are licensed, with microchipping those that breed and sell puppies that end up being killed in shelters could be punished. There is a sensible solution to the problem but those “reputable breeders” never want to find the sensible solution, they only fight every idea or bill suggested.
“Breeders” say they care about the millions of dogs killed in shelters but in fact they don’t, in reality they only care about their own lines and if that means millions of other dogs have to die because of the “rights” granted to puppymills and backyard breeders well they are fine with that.
This Hindu is making our case. By declaring that “breedism” is the same thing as “racism”, she is claiming that the differences between races are as real as the differences between dog breeds. It’s a matter of biology.
Good one, browser! That’s great. :)
To 4 — Anonymous, I have to take issue with you saying breeding mutts is unethical. What the heck is wrong with a labradoodle? They seem to be very nice dogs. Do they have any genetic problems, or does this mixed-breed have any good qualities not found in either of its parental lines? My sister has a labradoodle-like dog and he has been health, happy and well-tempered.
Peta can be very hypocritcal..but intentionally breeding certain dogs in ways that cause pain or health problems falls on the shoulders fo the human beings who do so. It is moronic to intentionally hurt an animal in which you are responsible for its very existence. If you cared about the animal you would want it to be healthy.
“The breeds of dogs come from humans forcing the same breed to mate, and are only a couple hundred years old.”
Not so. Even the Romans were breeding dogs to do various jobs. And probably the Egyptians and the Greeks too. Even the Japanese.
I bet mutts are some of the best dogs in the world, but its a ridiculous concept to say maintaining different lines of breeds is somehow immoral. This is the madness that stirs up trouble where it doesn’t exist on its own. Marxist diversity freaks are pathological. I would however, like to see more people prepared,* before bringing new life into this world, whether beast or animal. It is a Divinely beautiful world*, if we could only take the middle road between extremes.
It is moronic to intentionally hurt an animal in which you are responsible for its very existence. If you cared about the animal you would want it to be healthy.
Far to many people DON’T care as evidenced by the shows such as “Animal Cops” from Miami (CUBA!)now Haiti.
Check THIS out… http://www.jillstanek.com/archives/2010/02/black_children.html
That’s a billboard around the Atlanta metro area that literally had me laughing so hard I almost wrecked my Vehicle!
Take a look at it. Its all over the area.
The only problem with is that they are not showing/telling the ‘birthrate’, only the aborted rate.
20 Grafted Devil:
Not long after the Federal law that included the endangered species list was enacted, some black civil rights group wanted to add black men to the list of endangered species. (Interesting that the only chose one gender and one race, while all along they say there’s no such thing as race and we’re all one big happy species, or are supposed to be.)
Since the number of black men is increasing, the request was denied, but nobody thought to tell these people that it’s racist to be put in the same league as an animal. They wanted to be on the EDL for more police protection and money, but they can’t see the obvious hypocrisy, for they scare away their extra police protection by calling it racist and asking for civilian review boards and filing civil rights lawsuits against it. Money? Don’t even get me going.
As an aside, I am sure that some people thought that the epidemic of black crime of a few decades ago would result in black auto-genocide. Or rather, they were hoping that it would result in auto-genocide.
Not happening.
Let’s say there are ten human beings in this world, one man and nine women. All the people are functional adults, and all births are single children only, no multiples. This means that every nine months, there can be nine new humans, raising the population to 19. In a year and a half, the population is 28. In two and a quarter years, the population is 37. In three years, the population 46.
Reverse the situation, ten people, nine men and one woman. In nine months, the population is 11. In a year and a half, the population is 12. In 2.25 years, the population is 13. In three years, the population is 14.
Therefore, the higher percentage of your population that is fertile women, the faster your rate of population growth can be.
Black gang violence has almost entirely been at the hands of older boys and young men, killing older boys and young men. Ergo, no auto-genocide. There would have to be a pandemic of black girls and women, ages 13-35, being murdered. And it doesn’t seem to be happening, because I think people are programmed and hard wired against it, for the very obvious reason.
Keep in mind, this idiotic article was published in The Guardian, which is the most extreme, left-wing newspaper in all of Britain. And as for Poorva Joshipura, she is just another minority race-hukster who probably would never have had the opportunity to grow up in the American south if it hadn’t been for the immigration act of 1965. I wonder, if she were living in the country whence her ancestors came, would she be writing articles about her culture’s caste system and how in its hierarchy of humanity the “Untouchables” are frequently shunned and regarded the lowest ‘breed’ of all Indians? Of all people in the world to criticize the West of ‘breedism’, an Indian like her is least qualified.
19 — SKIP wrote at 6:10 AM on February 28:
“As an Indian woman who grew up in the American south, I’m well aware of the very real struggles that minorities face,”
Please, what struggles? As an Indian growing up in the American South, you benefited quite well and were favored. It’s amazing that all these non-Whites complain of “racism” but yet come and stay in the South. As someone else said, another “race-hustler”, whom coming from a country that has had a very strict caste system like India, who is she to talk.
“What the heck is wrong with a labradoodle”?
Improving a breed is one thing, but it’s wrong to breed an animal that is entirely dependant on man?
I always get my hackles up when I hear or read the undefined term, “backyard breeder.” Yes, I have bred two litters of German Shepherds, and yes, I have a back yard, but the idea that I just stuck two dogs together to make a fast buck is ludicrous.
I just did the math on what I have spent on obtaining and training one purebred, 6 year old, male German Shepherd Dog to earn a Schutzhund 3 title (the hardest and most desirable Schutzhund title, that adds value to a breeding dog).
Cost of the dog (from two fantastic dogs of proven ability)- $1800.
Private 15 minute obedience lesson per week - $20. Times the 312 weeks of his life - $6240.
Private 15 minute task-specific lesson per week - $20. Again, times the 312 weeks of his life - $6240.
Since my time has been shown to be worth $20 per 15 minutes, and I easily spend the other 45 minutes in an hour training on my own during the week, we could add another $18,720 ($60 X 312 weeks), as I could use that 45 minutes to do something that results in income rather than an expense (economics classes call this “opportunity cost”).
We’re up to $31,200 already, and the dog hasn’t taken a bite of food ($30 per month X 60 months = $1800 to date) or been to the vet.
That’s $33,000 spent for this dog and his food and training. For simplicity’s and discussion’s sake, I’ll say that he has been perfectly healthy (he hasn’t), and say that well checks at the vet’s office over six years have cost $1,000. We’re up to $34,000. (Okay, the figures are off a bit because he hasn’t been taking obedience lessons since the day I brought him home, but you get the idea - this is not cheap.)
Now, take that $34,000, and divide it by 6 for a per-year cost of approximately $5,667. Multiply it by 7 years and you get approximately $39,667, the cost of my OTHER, 7 year old female GSD.
$34,000 + $39,667 = $73,667 that I’ve spent in time, effort and money on these two dogs.
I had six puppies that lived out of my first litter, that I sold for $800 apiece (reputation is everything in the purebred GSD world, and I had no breeder’s reputation established.) The second litter had four puppies, one of which had a deformed ear that in no way impacted the dog’s health. But I couldn’t sell her, because nobody would pay the $1,000 I was now asking (the dogs turned out to be talented working dogs, so I raised my price a bit). She went to a family that was looking for a pet, and they are quite happy with her, but I had to give her away so as not to violate a city ordinance about keeping too many dogs. No income from that puppy.
But there was an income of $7,800. $73,667 minus $7,800 is a net loss of $65,867, which is why I no longer breed dogs.
The idea that I am a negligent person because I have bred two litters is preposterous, given the expenses I have incurred. And Mr. and Mrs. PETArd, if you come to my house and call me a “backyard breeder,” well, them’s fightin’ words.
I posted this one under the wrong topic originally:
14 — Jeddermann wrote at 10:39 PM on February 28:
Dogs can have greater variability than humans, as they have 72 chromosones as compared to a human who has 48.
Dogs of course breed much more quickly and in greater abundance so you can see the results of your breeding much quicker too.
These PETA folks are just plain goofy.
27 Jeddermann: You’re right about the speed of making changes in dogs by selective breeding. In Russia, beginning in the 1950s, they have deliberately bred domesticated dogs, floppy ears and all, out of silver foxes in about 40 generations.
28 Schoolteacher:
That is the genesis of the “trash dump” theory of dog domestication. Because wolves and foxes become fundamentally different animals after multiple generations of breeding for tameness, as the silver fox experiment from Russia showed, this means that existing domestic dogs had to have come from the same source a very long time ago. The best theory is that humans create trash dumps, and tamer wolves would have hung around them, scared wolves would have stayed away. Therefore, the tamer wolves around the dumps would continuously breed with each other, and this would eventually beget an animal very much like the domestic dog, that early humans would have taken in.
29 Q.D: The Russians were breeding these foxes on fur farms anyway, and they just started picking out the most docile and breeding them, as an experiment. 40 generations of the most docile dogs in a litter gives you Lassie. Well, maybe a dumb Lassie. No mention was made of the other qualities of these critters.
“A Master Race for Dogs Is Wrong”
Why? Just because Poorva Joshipura of The Guardian says so?
Sorry, Poorva. We’ll need a better reason than that.
