They're Killing Pigeons Again

Tyrants end up killing pigeons; I don't know why, but they do. Franco almost made the traditional old- fashioned competition "thief" pouters of southern Spain, like the Rafenos I keep, extinct. The Taliban's mere sixteen "Commandments", including ones against sorcery and NOT growing beards, include one, the fourth,"To prevent keeping pigeons and playing with birds. Within ten days, this habit/ hobby should stop. After ten days this should be monitored, and the pigeons and other playing birds should be killed."

It worked- there are more Afghan highflyers in Salt Lake City than in Kabul today.But all kinds of totalitarian and even just Nannyists ar e tempted.Even before they tore out the hutongs, the remnants of an older city, Beijing's pigeon flyers were harrassed by fanatical Maoists.And Chicago bans them as totally as the Taliban did, along with foie gras and at least until recntly, handguns...

But the Islamic "State" goes them one better; notoriously, they kill the OWNERS too, even if they are teeneaged boys. Syria, along with Turkey, has the most fine ancient breeds; it is where, if you beie the Turkish legends, and I do, the nomads  stopped and took the pigeons they took in their horse carts out, and settled.What is sure is that they have more genetic  diversity, and more breed "roots, than any other place. So now the crazies are desrtroying an ancient genetic heritage as well.

Look at these "refugees":

They are Bagdads, the first letter carriers, now show birds, kept and illustrated by Darwin (above) and me...

THey are also ancestor to the German, or Nuremberg Bagdad, or Scanderoon (from "Iskander", Alexander), which looks different from the English bird today-- but the old type is like both...

It may not be a crime like killing humans, but it is certainly on a level with destroying art.

Important Reminder

... for anyone who breeds dogs or cares about the Old Ways: please write to oppose the new federal APHIS regs! Jess sums it up well:

"The comment period is to let APHIS know that there are problems with this new rule. It should be abandoned completely. Tell them. Do you plan to purchase a puppy that will be shipped to you? Tell them. Do you have a rare breed that depends on easy shipping to maintain genetic diversity? Tell them. Do you want to be able to buy from the breeder of your choice, whether that breeder is local or across the country? Tell them. Do you know breeders that will not be able to comply with the AWA regulations? Tell them."

This post is an essential example of the blog category "Read The Whole Thing". If these regs had been in place when I brought my three breeders back from Asia, the whole Querencia tazi family and strain would be nothing but imaginary, unfulfilled potential in Asia. Jess, who has a few more dogs than we do, would not be legally able to let her dogs sleep in her bed any more (seriously), by sudden and utterly arbitrary federal fiat.

Whether driven by a sinister conspiracy or "merely" invincible ignorance (I think chance determines more disasters than conspiracy but also that well- organized fanatics can move faster than the complacent majority), these regs must be stopped. Someone on another blog thought my use of the challenge or outright dare "Molon labe!" ("Come and take them...") was over the top. How would you feel if the government planned to casually destroy over a decade of your work and love, your intentional and careful breeding of a unique domestic animal in a tradition thousands of years old? Now multiply throughout the nation...

In support of Daniel Richards

I hate to see the pressure that California Game & Fish Commission President Daniel W. Richards is under for participating in a hunt he had every right to undertake. Although hunting mountain lions is illegal in California, Richards traveled to Idaho for a successful lion hunt. Richards is not only a hunter, but reportedly is a life member of the National Rifle Association – two things that gall animal rights activists (led by the Humane Society of the United States) who are now seeking his removal. A report in California media quoted a California assemblyman who may seek a legislative resolution that would remove Richards from the commission. It’s my hope that Richards will prevail, because state wildlife commissions need to be filled with people like Richards, and by that I mean hunters and those who view hunting as a wildlife management tool.

Disregarding how it enrages me that agenda-driven activists are seeking to penalize an American for something he has every right to do – in Richards’ s case, traveling to the Northern Rockies to participate in a legal activity, and supporting local economies in doing so – my main concern is the need to retain hunting options for managing wildlife. Mountain lions are not endangered – they are a common, widespread large predator. They must be managed, and Richards gets that.

Why should I, a Wyoming rancher, be concerned about the California game commission? I don’t know Daniel Richards, but I am firmly in his corner. I am terrified about the spread of anti-hunting agenda and how that endangers human life when predators are involved, and keeping people like Richards in positions with decision-making authority for wildlife management is critical to stopping this nonsense.

Changing social attitudes towards predators appear to be one of the factors leading to the increase in predator attacks on humans. Wildlife conservation and preservation campaigns emphasize the need to conserve or save species, but provide little support for actual management and control of predator populations. Increased tolerance for wild animals near humans can cause a chain reaction of a wild animal losing its fear of humans, eventually leading to attacks on their human neighbors.

Animal advocates often promote legislation or ballot initiatives that result in bans or severe restrictions on predator hunting – that’s what’s happened with California’s Proposition 117, which banned lion hunts in California. Regardless of where ballot-box wildlife management is initiated, the result is often the same: a predator population that has lost its fear of humans, and eventually becomes a threat to humans. The areas where most of the fatal predator attacks on humans occur are within or near areas where hunting of predators is not allowed.

California has certainly had its share of mountain lion attacks on humans. Researchers have discovered a pattern of lion behavior that indicates such attacks may be imminent. High mountain lion populations close to urban areas, increases in lion sightings, lions showing little or no fear of humans, lion attacks on pets, and any other pattern of close encounters with humans indicate that there is an increased risk of an attack on humans. Mountain lion experts have determined that most mountain lion attacks on humans are predatory in nature.

Researchers in Canada point out that it is most likely that hunting of mountain lions has helped to significantly reduce interactions between mountain lions and people, but restrictive mountain lion hunting regulations, combined with increasing mountain lion populations, and increases in prey populations, have come with an increase in attacks on humans.

Voters in some states have banned the sport of hunting mountain lions with hounds in attempt to protect the big predators. But such efforts can come with unintended consequences, such as that experienced in Washington after the hound-hunting ban was passed in 1996. State officials found that instead of the selected lion harvest practiced by hunters who used hounds to tree their lions, hunter harvest was much more indiscriminate. Hound-hunters tended to take trophy-sized adult male lions, but hunters harvesting lions on their big-game package tags tended to take any lion they were lucky enough to encounter, so the number of female, reproductive-aged cats increased in the harvest.

Walter Howard of the University of California, Davis, has advocated that mountain lions must be hunted to be managed properly: “Mountain lions are normally quite shy, wary, solitary animals not commonly seen by hikers, hunters, or other people in the mountains. The absolute number of lions present is not very important, for when lions suddenly become very visible … and livestock, dogs, and other domesticated animals are attacked, the lion population has become too abundant.” Howard suggests that in order to show true compassion for lions, wildlife agencies should use licensed hunters as predators to maintain healthy populations of lions in suitable habitat.

Delwin Benson of Colorado State University notes that the historic pursuit and persecution of mountain lions by humans and dogs has helped to reinforce the cat’s secretive and elusive behavior, thus encouraging their desire to keep their distance from humans. Mountain lions that encounter humans with no negative consequences learn to tolerate people, and the lion’s desire to retreat is dulled. Benson suggests mountain lions should be subject to “aversive behavioral conditioning” such as being pursued with hounds to the extent the lion flees, in order to reinforce the lesson that humans are threats and should be avoided. Lions would thereby learn that humans are not intruders, and neither are they prey species.

That’s the kind of lion management I support. And I encourage hunters to come to Wyoming and other states that allow for such lion harvest (and bear harvest, and wolf harvest, etc).

And to Daniel Richards: Hang in there, sir. Some of us really appreciate your efforts.

Added note: The photo I used with this post is of a captive lion. He’s appeared in numerous nature shows. The snowy tundra he’s often filmed in is an Idaho potato field.

Some "Country" Music Videos: Nostalgia and Chills...

Not all "country" music is unsophisticated or even American. Here I give you a bunch of stuff I have been working through and following. Let us start with Tom Russell's classic "US Steel"-- a straight- up traditional country lament complete with sweet pedal steel, but set in Pennsylvania rather than on the border or even Appalachia, full of sad images of decaying industry. I sent it to Marty Stupich, who worked in and documented that mill in the 80's and now is photographing the abandoned smelter in El Paso, and to Retrieverman in West Virginia, who has been musing on such things. (I also suggested he look at a pre- doctrinaire Steve Earle in the stirring if slightly sinister "Copperhead Road" -- a mini- movie with echoes of Thunder Road. Rednecks strike back...)

Which suggested in turn Show of Hands' poignant "Country Life". No jobs... no pubs... even in the American west, are we following England down?

The next jump almost leaves the tradition-- Show of Hands provides the soundtrack to a traditional, rhyming poem turned strange, a very dark contemporary Christmas tale by Charles Causley, but the images in this version are adopted from Anime! I think it works. Causley changed Herod, the archetype of an arbitrary wicked king, into a more contemporary bogeyman, a sort of supernatural child molester, and put him in the English countryside. SOH gave him a soundtrack that stands at least MY hair on end. And the animator covered all this and added an apocalyptic edge-- look at the sky and feel the wind over the line "...melt in a million suns".

Enough doom! End your tour with "Longdog", a merry tale of a merry poacher and his lurcher, also by Show of Hands; a hunter- gatherer, a "Municipal Paleolithic Man" in action. If dogs are outlawed only outlaws will have dogs...

More Dog Morons

Sari from our Asia Group sent me a link to this (nearly) unbelievable story about New Guinea singing dogs.

It begins: "The New Guinea Singing Dogs are the rarest in the world. Just 150 were known to exist before the bust at Randy Hammond's home. Now there are 235."

So they "rescued" and neutered them.

Was their owner abusing them? Even the idiotic story suggests not:

"The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture describes Hammond as a hoarder, and he's been charged with animal cruelty, among other offenses. Despite the 85 dogs living in 27 small enclosures, Wendt describes these fox-like canines who can climb trees as "pretty healthy...In the last two years, Hammond turned all his attention to care for his wife, battling cancer...Wendt says Hammond has been very cooperative with his group and law enforcement, and that he truly cares about the dogs, who are attached to him... The number of dogs "just exploded. It went from 50 to 85 dogs in two years," Wendt says. "That's when it turns into chaos."

First they were going to rescue them by-- what else? -- putting them down. (Vicki Hearne used to say ARists preferred all animals to be either cute or dead). But (the "caring" warden who arrested the owner, one Georgia) "...Martin wouldn't allow that. As Wendt writes in a note of thanks on the New Guinea Singing Dog International Yahoo site: ...(She) realized that these rare and special dogs needed a chance to survive..."

With no descendants-- genetically and evolutionarily dead. Sorry, I don't buy "too inbred" either-- why not breed out to some of those other rare dogs?

But the fix is in. No dissent mentioned in the story. Four "choices" to make about it-- "This story makes me happy/ inspired/ laugh/ intrigued"-- why not disgusted, appalled, murderous, depressed? And you can only comment on (Evil) Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg being a private arm of Big Brother...

When Big Nanny, AR, and moronic institutionalized "compassion" meet there are no civil rights and no fertile dogs. (Re)read Vicki Hearne. Me? I'll defend my own genetic gold. Molon labe.

Breeder Issues

No; though there will be fun stuff today, I will not stop beating this drum, because it needs saying/ beating.

Jess from DesertWindhounds, in a comment at Retrieverman's on why "can't we just all get along?"

“Tell you what. When I stop getting harassed by total strangers for my breeding decisions, we’ll all get along. When people stop making false reports to animal control as a way to intimidate and harass breeders they don’t like, we’ll all get along. When small purebred breeders stop supporting legislation that would make it illegal for me to own an intact mixed breed dog, we’ll all get along. When breeders stop ganging up and plotting to get a man’s dogs away from him for no good reason, we’ll all get along.

“When people stop denying that the science does, yes indeed, show that inbreeding, close breeding, and not breeding enough individuals in the population is bad for the population as a whole, we’ll all get along. When purebred breeders stop denying that statistically, mixed breed dogs are healthier, we’ll all get along. When breeders stop denying there’s something wrong with using popular sires, we’ll all get along.

“When breeders stop acting like total idiots (looking at you, Dal club), we’ll all get along. When breeders stop insisting that a crossbreeding would definitely bring in ‘new diseases’ (gosh, can’t you buy healthy, tested stock in other breeds?), we’ll all get along. When breeders stop confusing genetics involving THEIR dogs as opposed to POPULATION genetics, we’ll all get along.”

Grrrrr... shout it from the rooftops.

Modern Fears

From Schneier on Security: the winning entry in contest he suggested, a litany of modern fears, in the style of the late great Edward Gorey:

The Gashlycrumb Terrors, by Laura

A is for anthrax, so deadly and white.
B is for burglars who break in at night.
C is for cars that, with minds of their own,
accelerate suddenly in a school zone.
D is for dynamite lit with a fuse.
E is for everything we have to lose.
F is for foreigners, different and strange.
G is for gangs and the crimes they arrange.
H is for hand lotion, more than three ounces;
pray some brave agent sees it and pounces.
I is for ingenious criminal plans.
J is for jury-rigged pipe-bombs in vans.
K is for kids who would recklessly play
in playgrounds and parks with their friends every day.
L is for lead in our toys and our food.
M is for Mom’s cavalier attitude.
N is for neighbors — you never can tell:
is that a book club or terrorist cell?
O is for ostrich, with head in the sand.
P is for plots to blow up Disneyland.
Q is for those who would question authorities.
R is for radical sects and minorities.
S is for Satanists, who have been seen
giving kids razor blades on Halloween.
T is for terrorists, by definition.
U is for uncensored acts of sedition.
V is for vigilance, our leaders’ tool,
keeping us safe, both at home and at school.
W is for warnings with colors and levels.
X is for x-raying bags at all revels.
Y is for *you*, my dear daughter or son
Z is for Zero! No tolerance! None!


Don't ignore the (prolific) original writer- artist either; here is a link to one appropriate work, The Gashlycrumb Tinies: "B is for Basil, eaten by bears". Betsy, Libby, and I were all separately Gorey fans, and I still have some first editions from Betsy. Peculiar grew up on these as well as outdoor adventure, but I don't think our odd ideas about children's lit warped him too much...

Pigeon Slander

Apparently there is to be a "reality" show about pigeon racing starring Mike Tyson. While he might not be the perfect spokesman I'd pick, the once- great Audubon Magazine sees this show as an opportunity to link the Horror of Tyson to the Horror of a sport of which the only characteristic is that some pigeon men kill raptors.

Think I am exaggerating? Their lead is "Mike Tyson to Star in Reality Show on Pigeon-Racing, A Sport Linked to Raptor Deaths". And it goes downhill from there. Is Audubon now a PETA affiliate?

Meanwhile, in a linked action, PETA wants to sue in NY to stop pigeon racing, a sport which has connected more humans to the natural world than PETA ever will. "District attorney spokesman Jonah Bruno says the office is looking into the allegations." What a world... (HT David Williamson, who says " SLUG 'EM, MIKE !!")

More Idiots-- and a Brave Dog

They always exceed your direst fears. The Lady with the Black Dogs sent me this link to a story about how Tesco, the huge British supermarket chain that buys most of New Zealand's lamb, will no longer allow shepherds to use herding dogs. You couldn't make it up:

"The supermarket chain has told its major supplier of lamb to stop using dogs, which it claims cause stress to the animals.

It means shepherds at the farm may need to use methods such as beating the ground with sticks and waving their arms to control the flock."

Oh, THAT should keep them calm.

"Outraged staff at Silver Fern Farms in Fairton, New Zealand may now have to get rid of up to 60 dogs to comply with the orders, meaning several of the animals will be destroyed.

Shepherd Mick Pethram told the Telegraph newspaper: 'New Zealand sheep are used to dogs, they know dogs.

'There's more stress in a human herding and manhandling them, waving their arms and beating sticks. Dogs are part of a sheep's life. This is absolute baloney.'

He continued: 'We'll be desperately trying to sell them, but most of us will end up putting down three or four each.

'These are good dogs. Taking away our dogs is like taking a hammer away from a builder; we can't do our job without them.' "

The worst thing is that these can't even be vegetarian animal rights-ists-- just people so utterly out of touch with the world that they think they can rewrite its rules.

On a vaguely related topic, here is a video of a flock guardian dog somewhere in the east-- Bulgaria?-- successfully taking down a wolf that attacks his flock. Great peasant celebration afterwards too.

A True Tale of Bureaucracy and Individuals

I posted this as a comment below but decided it could stand as a post.

Re "individuals" and beaureaucrats.

When Libby was in Bozeman an INDIVIDUAL woman who disapproved of Libby's keeping company with a hunter (really) got the town to go after our then third dog, as no one could keep three without all neighbors' permission. The town actually told us to put down one, our choice.

A law firm took us on pro bono, thank God. We won, but the bill, to the town, was $27,000. The town then appealed to the Montana State Supreme Court, who found again in our favor, costing thousands more. At the time Libby couldn't leave and we couldn't have afforded to pay the lawyers.

One of the low points was the neighbor's husband's perjuring herself by saying in court that my Goshawk's screaming was keeping him awake. I was able to prove that his hearing was remarkable; the Gos had been in NM for 6 months.

After it all one of the city councilmen told me: "You beat us on dogs. Now we are coming after your hawk. And if you beat us on that we'll come after your pigeons."

Now in Bozeman you must have all neighbors' permission for ANYTHING. I believe the regs say "if your neighbor has a problem you have a problem". As the feed store owner sadly told me: "This used to be Montana".

I see no reason NOT to fear such monstrous violations of freedom, unless perhaps you have millions to fight them. That is why I consider bureaucrat- free zones like Mongolia, Kazakhstan (yes), Wyoming (outside of Jackson perhaps) and Catron county (guns mandatory, no other bureaucracy wanted). Albuquerque, with virtually no public input, rushed in the most stringent AR regs in the country.

You are not paranoid when they are after you.

Naturally

I have been simply flabbergasted by the controversy I’ve been reading about dog husbandry and the nit-picking crap described by Steve and our blogger friends in several recent posts. After reading the animosity represented, I suspect that some folks would have me put behind bars since our lifestyle doesn’t conform to their rigid standard for animal treatment. But it also became apparent that there seems to be two underlying differences in our thinking.

The first is that some of us have working partnerships with animals – they aren’t simply “pets” here to enhance our lives. We live with and depend on one another, in various ways. My relationship with my dogs isn’t just about me. I live with livestock guardian dogs, which are by their very nature very independent animals, so they “get a vote.” More often than not, the dogs decide. I try to influence, but then what I get is given to me by an animal that has survived for thousands of years by making its own decisions.

The second involves the reality of risks and death. Life on our ranch involves risks, and the knowledge that the cycle of life includes death. Death isn’t something we’re afraid of, but is part of our lives.

The risk of death occurs daily. West Nile Virus killed one of our sheep last week; my dogs kill coyotes fairly routinely; wolves kill our dogs on occasion; and on occasion, we have dogfights that result in injury and even death. We humans on the ranch experience daily risk as well, be it from lightening strikes, hazards of working with machinery, being charged by mother moose, horse wrecks, and certain hormonal cattle who want to kill us for touching or coming within a half-mile of their babies – just to name a few.

We have a waiting list of other sheep producers who want our pups. Our dogs are a mix of Akbash and Anatolians and now, we’re adding Central Asian Ovcharkas. The males that win breeding rights, in the process of natural selection, get to breed. The females pick where they will den up – we build hay houses and other whelping boxes, but the females decide. The result is some of our litters are born in dirt dens dug out of a hillside, others in culverts, others underneath buildings, and even a few in the hay houses. The females that use the hay houses seem to know what we’re doing as soon as we construct it. We feed the female atop the house for several weeks before whelping, and they usually begin nesting and making it their own just before having their pups. The females always have the pups by themselves, and I’ve only lost a few from being rolled on during the birthing process. Most of our litters include 8-11 live pups.


The pups are never locked in, and I simply can’t resist touching them from the time they are born. If it’s a real big litter, I supplemental feed with a bottle of milk replacer. Within a couple of days of birth, the bitches usually wait for me to arrive for babysitting duty before they exit at a run, headed for water and to empty their bladders/bowels, then hurrying back to the pups. I try to line the natal dens with wool, and some females allow that, while others kick it back out as many times as I put it in. No matter – mama decides and the babies do just fine. We provide hard dog food, soaked in milk replacer, before the pups ever open their eyes.

The babies start coming out of the den as soon as their eyes open, meeting their first sheep and getting butted when they try chewing on ears that don’t belong to them. They grow and venture out further, tangling with porcupines, digging up prairie dogs, harassing moose for better or worse, chasing off magpies and hawks, and meeting up with their first coyotes and fox. The pups have wild adventures and seem to be truly happy animals. They usually have their first coyote or fox kill while they still have puppy teeth. And mercy, but they are proud when that happens. Coyotes challenge our herds nearly every day, so the guardian job is a big one.

The pups bark and growl all night long, roll on dead things, and stink to high heaven sometimes. They swim in the river when and if they want. They steal fish from ospreys.

Most pups survive, but some don’t. We had a moose kick a pup in the chest and break its sternum a couple of years ago, and another died of the infection from a deep wound down its back that was inflicted by a bobcat that tried to enter the herd. We spray for fleas often because with our prairie dog populations, we have an unlimited source.

I socialize the pups by getting them to come to my voice, or to my whistle. I play with them, get them used to collars, leashes and cables, take turns taking them for rides in the cab of the truck to the house. That way, it’s not so traumatic when they have to go into the vet’s office in town. They slobber, and puke, have stress-induced shedding, and survive civilization, but gleefully jump out of the truck and back to their herd.

The dogs don’t live in doghouses, even in the bitter cold of winter. They will not leave their sheep, no matter the condition. They curl up to the wool bodies they protect, fan their tails over their faces, and wait out the storms. The sheep don’t use buildings, but seek out the shelter of sagebrush and natural landscape contours for protection, and the dogs stay with them.

These livestock guardian dogs live very active, adventurous lives. I feed them well, providing good dog food and meat on the bone. The dogs love me, but prefer their herds. They rarely die of old age. Wild animals rarely do. They live lives of bravery and I am privileged to get to share in that life with them. I mourn their passage, and am thankful for the time I’ve had with each one. Animals such as these are good for my soul.

Another AR Outrage

In Philadelphia, from David Zincavage at Never Yet Melted.

He quotes from the Border Collie Bulletin Board:

"The local SPCA raided Wendy’s Willard’s kennel where she keeps her Murder Hollow Bassets on Monday night. They arrived with seven trucks and two police cars & informed her that one of her neighbours had complained about noise.

"Neither the neighbour nor the SPCA had previously complained to her, yet she has been there for 22 years.

"As it turns out, Philadelphia County had recently passed an ordinance where no more than 12 animals may be kept on any property. The Murder Hollow kennels contained 23 bassets, less than the requirement to obtain a (US) Department of Agriculture kennel licence, but the kennel is just inside the city limits.

"Under this law, the local SPCA have managed to acquire the power to seize people’s dogs without warning, by force and by night, and then to take them away to an unknown destination without any accountability.

"The police took 12 hounds and delivered them to an SPCA animal rescue “shelter” in Philadelphia. From there the hounds were dispersed amongst other “shelters”.

"Basset packs in the area have contacted a Mr. Little who runs the SPCA shelter, seeking to place the hounds before they are put down or neutered (thereby destroying 20 years of Murder Hollow’s breeding programme). After a week, Mr. Little has failed to respond to any of these contacts."

Read it all, especially the comments. This CAN happen to you, despite what some of my rural friends think. It makes me feel like moving to Mongolia-- or at least Catron County.

Controversial Pups

Our Asian dogs are capable of causing fits among more conventional dog breeders. Lately cyber attacks and threats were unleashed against litters by Vladimir Beregovoy and Jes and Brett at Demonpuppy's Wicked Awesome Dog and Art Blog. Jess explains in great detail:

"...it is so incredibly disappointing for me to find out that an acquaintance of mine, Vladimir Beregovoy, has actually been the target of a campaign of intimidation by the so-called fancy. This occurred on a mailing list that I am on. I saw a conspiracy among several people to bring pressure to bear on this man, to get his dogs taken away from him, seemingly through any means necessary, by members of the fancy. Don't think I'm exaggerating. I read the messages myself, and I'm being pretty restrained in my analysis. I was, to put it bluntly, gobsmacked.

"So what caused this brouhaha? Did he beat his dogs, starve them, make them live without shelter in the snow?

"Nope. He allowed his healthy Saluki bitch to whelp in her wooden dog house. Horrors! Worse, she removed the blanket so the pups were on bare wood. Could it be possible that the bitch knows best? After all, the weather is warm, there's no danger of the pups getting chilled. They are sheltered from the sun and rain, and their mother is there to clean them, feed them and keep them warm if they need it. But no! A truly responsible breeder would make her keep the blanket. Screw her instincts. She should be locked in the house in a sterile whelping box with a heat lamp and blankets! That's the way it's done! Get that man's dogs away from him before he can do more damage! The control issues and desire to dictate behavior behind the entire incident would have kept a whole college of psychologists busy for a year."

RTWT. Somehow the outcome is win/ win; the forces of evil are at least temporarily routed, and now we are not only dog- in- laws with Vladimir; Jess and Brett are getting a pup to add to their diverse Asian sighthound pack, and old friend David Zincavage of Never Yet Melted is also, as is master hunter Mark Churchill in Scotland. Dog - in-laws everywhere! Long live aboriginal hounds!

Puppy Mills?

Gail Goodman sent this interesting essay from the UKC on "Puppy Mills" What are they? Should we even use the word?

"Twenty years ago, animal activists created the phrase “puppy mill”. Back then, it was only applied to commercial breeders, and then only to those who were breaking the law by neglecting their dogs. In a futile attempt to placate activists, many hobby breeders adopted the term “puppy mill” and used it to separate “them” from “us”. It was a mistake then, and it’s rapidly becoming fatal today. Every one of these so-called “anti-puppy-mill bills” has a definition that could easily include breeders of hunting and show dogs. Every time you use that phrase, you’re contributing to the idea that dog breeders need to be regulated out of existence."

There is a lot more here and you should read it all. It can happen anywhere. Just today Vladimir Beregovoy forwarded me a letter from a desperate Oregon breeder. In part:

"I'm mounting a campaign here in Oregon to file a class action lawsuit against the State for these laws as they take away both our Fourth and Fifth Amendments Rights. I found a non-profit group, Oregonians In Action, who fight for individual owners' rights, particularly in land use. I'm also getting one together in our county (Columbia) because of all the new changes plus their Land Use head, Todd Dugdale, told me I have to get down below 10 dogs by Jan 1, file for a $960 Type II Home Occupation permit, and pay $30 per dog per year in order to be able to keep over 3 dogs now. And I live in unincorporated county. I asked what if I had more than 3 dogs, he said they could all be confiscated, and if I did the rest (Type II etc) anything over 9 needs to be put to sleep. Plus I would be fined $500 per day plus have to pay for all the confiscated dogs' care at unreasonable fees if this happened. And my kennel wouldn't pass their new rules anyway as it now requires 5 acres minimum with a heated & airconditioned building at least 100 feet from my house and would have to have a separate kitchen/bathing facility in it, with concrete floors with a center drain with a separate septic system. This is for over 9 dogs and for a commercial kennel. There is no place for private breeders under these draconian laws.

"Mind you, I've been continually and duly licensed and inspected as a hobby kennel here at my current address for 20 years now. But there is no grandfathering allowed now."

To paraphrase Trotsky again (and it WAS Trotsky!): "You may not be interested in AR, but AR is interested in you."

Guns, Freedom, threats to...

According to David at Never Yet Melted the last elections had one mighty ironic effect:

"Americans responded to the election of a democrat-dominated federal government by buying enough guns in 3 months to outfit the entire Chinese and Indian Armies. We also bought 1,529,635,000 rounds of ammunition in the month of December 2008 alone."

That's one healthy part of the economy.

Meanwhile a boneheaded Republican from New York has introduced a bill that could take your guns away for-- well, hardly any legal justification at all.

"A new gun law being considered in Congress, if aligned with Department of Homeland Security memos labeling everyday Americans as potential "threats," could potentially deny firearms to pro-lifers, gun-rights advocates, tax protesters, animal rights activists, and a host of others – any already on the expansive DHS watch list for potential "extremism."

"Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., has sponsored H.R. 2159, the Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2009, which permits the attorney general to deny transfer of a firearm to any "known or suspected dangerous terrorist." The bill requires only that the potential firearm transferee is "appropriately suspected" of preparing for a terrorist act and that the attorney general "has a reasonable belief" that the gun might be used in connection with terrorism."

I am beginning to think that the present House of Representatives is more of a threat to liberty than any terrorists.

Latest AR threat

HB 669 is one of the worst proposed laws yet against the ownership of animals, and would totally outlaw the breeding and transfer of ANY species deemed"exotic". Ostensibly authored by representatives from Guam, whee they have a real problem with brown tree snakes, it would shut down the pet industry and much of falconry (NAFA is opposing it, though in my opinion in a rather lukewarm way). No parrots or finches or budgies; no non- native snakes (many natives are protected) ; no ZOO animals (though there is a proposed exemption for educational purposes). No aquariums; neither goldfish or "tropicals" are native. No frickin' HAMSTERS! Needless to say all good ARISTAS are for it-- anything to further restrict animal ownership.

Want to bet that if it passes HSUS or their like will sue over (theoretically exempt) domestic animals? None were in North America before Columbus except for the dog!

Patrick is on the case and has a link to a good video.

This could go under both AR and the attempt to extend the tentacles of the Octopus State everywhere.

Be Very Afraid

Obama's new "regulatory czar", Harvard law prof Cass Sunstein, is getting praise from both liberals and conservatives.

Maybe he shouldn't.

"In a 2007 speech at Harvard University, Sunstein argued in favor of entirely "eliminating current practices such as … meat eating." He also proposed: "We ought to ban hunting, I suggest, if there isn't a purpose other than sport and fun. That should be against the law. It's time now."

"Sunstein wrote in his 2004 book "Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions" that "animals should be permitted to bring suit, with human beings as their representatives … Any animals that are entitled to bring suit would be represented by (human) counsel, who would owe guardian-like obligations and make decisions, subject to those obligations, on their clients' behalf." "

We'd best get together on this one, if we care anything about continued realtions with our animals. He is PETA- level bad.

Dog News-- Good

No links, but AB 1634, the California Mandatory Spay- Neuter Bill, has been roundly defeated, at least for now.

Also just breaking: the AKC will allow basenji breeders to bring in new unregistered stock from its native regions--Northern Congo, Southern Benin, Southwestern Cameroon, and Central Congo, from 2009 to 2013. This is a GOOD precedent for genetic diversity, though just a beginning. Only basenjis and salukis even have a process for bringing in new genes, and both may be too restrictive-- a topic for another time.

On the topic of closed studbooks, Luisa has what may be the best post yet. "Consider one of the people featured in the AKC Gazette's annual breeding issue a while ago: she described her efforts to get a live pup from a bitch [a Peke, IIRC] that couldn't carry a fetus to term, let alone whelp, without round-the-clock supervision and intervention. The pregnant bitch was the lone offspring of a dam that had suffered from the same problems. You may be thinking, "They call this a good breeder?" Ah, but both dogs were Champions. It reminds me of the breeder in Dog World who noted a photo of an early Peke — one capable of breeding normally — and remarked, "That was before we perfected the head." I kid you not."

Please RTWT!

Around the Web...

Back from a great weekend of wildlife watching, mushroom hunting, and eating and drinking with bloggers- more below (Or rather, above). But first let me catch up with the news, serious, unserious, amusing and distressing...

On our perrenial concern, AR, anti hunters and so on: the LAT does a fawning profile of Wayne Pacelle. Apart from the obvious two thing come to mind. First is his attitude to his girlfriend's cat. She says: "He just lets her be. So, of course, she just crawls on the counters and he lets her crawl up and sit on his chest. If he needs to work, he'll ask me to remove her."" I second Matt in finding that creepy!

Second: doesn't that whole crowd in the photo look like they are in dire need of cheeseburgers?

Anti- hunting: Vladimir Beregovoy sent a link to New York Post story on a proposed "Animal Rights" curriculum for New Jersey schools.

" "The Zargon Connection" is part of a free "Humane and Responsible Teachers" curriculum designed for grades pre-K-9. Created by the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance (NJARA), the package includes classroom exercises, activities and lesson plans. These documents include NJARA advice like discouraging field trips to zoos and aquariums because they "perpetuate the belief that it's acceptable to imprison animals."

"One of NJARA's issues is the killing of wildlife for management or sport, and the Zargon Connection is the educational tool they want teachers to use - on sixth graders. It is a science fiction story in which Earth is invaded by Zargonians-aliens that hunt and eat human beings for sport.

(Snip)

"Occasionally, in a technique known as baiting, Zargonians will set up a fast food restaurant or pizza parlor and burst in on us while we eat, with their street sweepers blazing." "

Meanwhile, another uncomprehending anti weighs in in the Seattle P. I. (HT Tom McIntyre.) It is one of the worst rants I have seen yet.

"Speaking of happiness, there are many things that make me happy: visits from out-of-town friends, unsolicited hugs from my daughter, Kozy Shack Chocolate Pudding. But one thing stands out from all those warm and fuzzies, and that's when hunters are attacked by the animals they hunt.

(Snip)

"Call me callous and hard-hearted, but I can't help but cheer on the animal that defends its life against the human dressed up in clothes that resemble shrubbery armed with the high-powered rifle, night-vision scope, GPS unit, tree-stand, animal scents and alcohol-fueled macho bravado.

"Recent headlines that have given me great pleasure include:

"Hunter injured by rhino," "Mountain lion pounces on local hunter" and "Swedish hunter attacked by elk."

(Snip)

"And you know how hunters are. Once they get the big green light to overhunt, they are eager and more than willing to do so. Hey, bring the kids! Junior's old enough for his first kill."

Yeah, she knows how hunters are. BTW, she is described as a comedian.

From the same paper, Wendy Parker sent this story on the roller pigeon breeders who killed raptors. There is now an amendment to the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty in the works to make killing a protected bird a felony. I think this is overkill-- it has been illegal for years. Rebecca has a better and more thoughtful idea.

"Pigeoners lose hundreds of birds a year to hawks. Some racing pigeons may be worth tens of thousands of dollars. Even the rollers, not worth much more than a couple of bucks a piece, constitute thousands of dollars in birds, feed and labor not to mention love. The pigeoners have no great solutions for how to manage their two greatest foes, Cooper’s hawks and falcons. USFWS will neither allow them to trap the birds for relocation nor do they offer help to figure out how to live with raptors in their backyard. It is a challenging quandary. It is, in fact the sort of problem-solving that would be a worthy challenge to some talented avian trainers. In the smallest component the behavior to decrease is the raptor grabbing the pigeon."

RTWT.

Veganism is bad for the environment, says Wesley Smith.

(And isn't it always the veggies and antis who sound intolerant? Ever hear a carnivore say something like the PETA supporter he quotes: " When actress Jessica Simpson recently wore a T-shirt bearing the words “Real Girls Eat Meat,” the animal-rights zealots pounced. “Jessica Simpson might have a right to wear what she wants,” a PETA spokesperson said, “but she doesn’t have a right to eat what she wants...")

Enough gloom! Next, food; then, fun & cool stuff...

AB 1634

Cute but concise: a "saluki" opposes mandatory spay- neuter in California.