<<  The People's Republic of Boulder (24 square miles surrounded by reality
where the paper falls a little farther to the left every day) is at it
again, this time regarding animal rights.

Go to...
http://www.denverpost.com/news/news0606j.htm

In short, the city is looking at referring to 'animal owners' as 'animal
guardians', seeing as how those widdle furry cweatures have feewings just
wike we do and we can't OWN them, now can we? >>


This ordinance is about pet owners and companion animals (such as dogs and
cats), not farmers and livestock, although the AR folks' ultimate goal is
to not only eliminate companion animals thru mandatory spay/neuter laws
(thereby ending their "enslavement" to their owners) but also to allow
livestock and all domesticated animals to live "free" again (per PETA's
leader, Ingrid Newkirk).

The "hook" that the AR folks use to get the public's attention to their
cause is depicting the horrors of puppy mills, the shocking conditions in
factory farming.  Such terrible scenes are certain to stir up emotional
responses, thus creating interest in ordinances such as this one.  Boulder
is not the first community to consider this kind of AR-backed ordinance --
it's already been proposed in California (San Francisco) where as I recall
it failed.  Of course, what the public doesn't know is that not only do
they want to eliminate puppy mills (which is a goal most of us are
interested in achieving), they want to eliminate ALL companion animals! 
There have been reports on many of the canine breed/activity lists that
restrictive legislation relating to spay/neuter, breeder licensing,
ownership, etc. is being introduced in communities all over the country,
often thru the encouragment of AR groups.

I've had companion animals (dogs) for over 20 years so I know firsthand
that domestic dogs have the same need for sociability and pack environment
-- provided by their human family serving as the "alpha" leader (at least
ideally)  -- as  their wolf ancestors. The dogs we have today are a direct
result of human intervention in the evolution of the wolf by genetic
manipulation to create domestic dogs with as wide a variation from the
Chihuahua to the Irish Wolfhound.  The same is true for other domesticated
animals.  So humans are responsible for assuring that companion animals are
provided an environment that is best for them, as well as appropriate,
humane conditions for livestock and other domesticated animals to live and
thrive in accordance with their species' needs.  But that's called "animal
welfare" -- NOT animal rights!

Although other parts of the world consider dogs and cats livestock, the
newspaper article was published in the U.S., where the use of companion
animals as such would be considered repulsive by most citizens.  But make
no mistake -- while the AR folks are busily working toward eliminating
companion animals, they're also intent on eliminating that tasty sirloin
from your plate too!!



Lynda Bryson
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