Discourse and discussion on animal welfare

I have always had a tendency to read everything I can get my hands on about whatever subject I am interested in. This did not have much impact on my leanings toward subjects one way or the other before the creation of online articles.

When you have to either buy or check out of a library reading materials, you don't spend the money or the time to read opinions which don't agree with yours. Sometimes this creates a very one-sided view. Having the internet on the other hand, requires you to pick through many articles, some having your viewpoint and others not.

I came across this story from one of the online newspapers called the Examiner. I read through it quickly, and although there were many parts of the article I disagreed with, there were several things which I know to be correct. I posted this on my personal Facebook page and heard back from one of my friends who found the article to be abrasive, alarming and confusing. Before I address that, let me just say this happens quite frequently in the online world. Many, many people are blogging and writing for online journals and papers when they have absolutely no experience as journalists or writers. This spreads a lot of disinformation from people who are simply interjecting their opinion with no facts involved. I will tell you from the beginning, this blog is my opinion, but I do check facts, simply due to my career in the news business.

Now to address the article. If you check the byline, this is out of Detroit. Detroit has many, many problems with the treatment of their homeless animal population which is one of the issues in the article.

Detroit has many humane societies which do not allow the adoption of pitbulls. If a pitbull is turned into one of those agencies, it is destroyed. That is a fact. I don't believe this is done to create money for the agencies, but done because the problem of illegal dogfighting is so prevalant in the area, they have neither the time or the money to stop the flow of these dogs. There are rescue groups who try and get as many of these dogs out of Michigan as quickly as they can.

I am not a PETA fan. I believe in many areas they do more harm than good. I am also not a huge fan of the HSUS, but they are working towards a goal. It is not the same goal I, as a rescuer am working towards. They have lots of money. I don't. They can reach more people than I can, so if they can save one more animal, I am for them.

I don't believe, as this author does, animal rescue people are out to take away their rights as pet owners. I also don't believe humane societies and rescue groups disdain all adopters. I do believe there are people who work within these organizations who feel this way. They believe they are the only ones who can properly care for these animals because the general public is not good enough. I don't believe they make up the majority of people in the business.

I also believe there is a lot of corruption within larger agencies. I read too many headlines every day where an animal control person has embezzled money or been charged with animal cruelty. The animals cannot speak for themselves, so this happens.

The reason I posted the article is for discussion. We, as rescuers, must be able to read things we may not agree with and then discuss them with others. We are all working towards the same goal, which is the elimination of euthanasia of homeless animals. I, of course, always believe my thoughts and ideas are the best, but maybe I am wrong. Maybe someone else out there has a better way. I will never find it if I don't read it all, even the ones I disagree with.