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When POLITICS become PROJECTS, we get RESULTS.  It was AKC's support of PAWS that made it a Project.   You will now decide the future of the AKC and of the purebred dog.  PAWS has divided the fancy more than ever before.  As a voting member of a member club YOU have the power to bring about the right  RESULT.  And remember, the uninformed owner thinks PAWS is a good thing so Send THIS PAGE To Everyone!

PAWS & Katrina Preparedness

Barbara J. Andrews, Journalist, AKC Master Breeder - October 2005

There’s a chasm between those who believe in AKC and those whose doubts increase by the day. While it seems unthinking to speak of PAWS and Katrina in the same sentence, there’s a lesson to be learned.
 
First, Katrina. We faced the undeniable: sub-humans who live off society, who instead of offering their youth and strength to save the babies and the helpless, reverted to the worst of what lives among us. They looked like humans as they were caught on camera with their booty-bags of $100 tennis shoes and electronics, but they are not. The authorities should have issued a “shoot to kill” order by the second day of chaos, when the gun shops had all been looted, rescue choppers were being shot at, victims had been raped and murdered, pharmacies were stripped of drugs, hospitals attacked...
 
Thank God we also saw the magnificent side of humanity. Rescuers facing risk inherent in what they do, but on top of that, braving the real possibility of horrible disease. Many of those who went into the aftermath of 911 suffer chronic disease. Katrina responders know that but did not turn away from honor and duty... They confronted the toxic chemicals and raw sewage that had once been New Orleans knowing many will pay the price.
 
Preparedness would have cut the loss of life in half. We must learn from what happens when we ignore the warnings, when half a city sits complacently over dinner, too determinedly lazy or too complacent to react. During the first 48 hours, it became horrifyingly apparently that hundreds of thousands had ignored the evacuation order. Most hadn’t even bothered to grab a jug of water or loaf of bread! Too many waited until all opportunity had passed, then sat on overpasses and complained that they were hungry and thirsty. I know it sounds callous and many of you will hate me for being the one to say it but even in the blazing sun, a relatively healthy person can get by for 36 hours with no water and for days with no food. So why did they not prepare???? They figured someone else would take care of them.  Maybe Dr. Hungerland has an answer for that mindset but it won’t reassure us.
 
So you know where I’m going. Why are so many of us complacent about PAWS?  We spend more time sorting and packing for shows than we do sorting out the facts, exploring alternative plans, and preparing for the unexpected! Who do we think will take care of us??
 
If, and that’s a big IF, the proposed amendment is changed to reflect exactly what Senator Santorum says it will say and what the AKC President and the CEO trustingly parrot, then what? It is only the first crack in the levy. Should we trust anything Santorum says? Do we know him? What’s his track record? Oh, right. He’s the same guy we fought and defeated over the AWA amendment. Well that sure makes us want to believe him now right? What about the other cool player here, the HSUS, what is it saying? Do an online search or just go to TheDogPlace.com and click on Library > Projects. Read what Public (pet) Enemy #1 - HSUS, the richest most powerful anti-animal organization, says about itself. And please quit calling them “animal rights” activists. Don’t buy the lie!
 
Then ask a logical question. Can we trust the AKC or could there be some hidden motive in such a complete turn-around? As AKC has itself said, it is big business, trying to get bigger. It is a mega-corporation that in the worst of times reports over $60,000,000 in income. Some say Dennis Sprung is an intern compared to Ron Menaker’s talent for making money and managing cash flow. That’s good, we all want AKC to be financially healthy so it can spend money to help dogs and protect the integrity of the stud book. You can see I’m behind the times.
 
Ask yourself, is it okay for AKC to spend such a high percentage of income in extravagant parties, round the world trips, settling lawsuits out of court, etc. Answer yes if you are comfortable with paying high taxes so the government can send trillions to other countries at the expense of not properly equipping our military or providing health care for our own desperate citizens. You kids out there need to know that seniors are taxed on social security “income” which is often less than the cost of prescriptions needed to sustain life. Another subject….
 
Katrina was the largest tragedy to ever hit this country. It could not be stopped but the after-effects would have been so much less had the people been prepared! AKC may be right, we probably can’t stop PAWS. As long as money-grubbing “animal rights” organizations flourish in this country, the storm surge will keep hitting us. We can’t stop a flood of legislation unless we expose the root of the problem.
 
The enemy isn’t AKC. It isn’t Santorum, unless he’s one of “them” and perhaps he is because it appears he would sacrifice an American way of life for political gain. PAWS proponents argue that animals are being abused, that there’s a flood of sickly imported animals, but they refuse to face the fact that puppy mills exist because AKC grants registration on the “abused” animals. And there would be no market for the grossly inflated import problem if there were enough of “us” left to produce healthy WELLbred pets for the public. Regarding the imports, remember, I have many international friends who are in positions to disprove the story we have been hand fed but in any case, who makes money registering them? I know, we’re told that legally AKC has to register them. What? If it spent as much money fighting that premise as it spends settling law suits and marketing half-truths, it could solve that problem.
 
You know what they say. Follow the money or the motive. The newly and correctly christened anti-animal people, perhaps sneakily and temporarily supported by the already USDA regulated puppy mills, have motive. AKC will take the puppy mill and import registrations and go on happily selling its name. Santorum will run for president and one leg of his platform will be the claim to have protected pets. Shamefully, voters will be none the wiser because our press presents only one side of the issue. Who stands to lose? We do and so does the uninformed and unprepared public that will lose access to generations of lovingly, carefully bred pets.
 
Can we learn from Katrina? Yes. Mother Earth sent a wakeup call and make no mistake, PAWS is a wakeup call. We must fight PAWS at its twisted roots. AKC is only one branch of a huge but strong root system. If we can’t convince AKC to join us again in fighting the current surge of anti-pet legislation, we better get prepared for the worst! PAWS will do damage in ways not yet perceived. It will change our sport as irrevocably as Katrina changed the Gulf States.