HSUS Gloats Over Illinois Task Force
John Yates
ASDA Petition Asks Gov. Quinn To Intervene
by JOHN YATES
American Sporting Dog Alliance
http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org
as...@csonline.net
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SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is
gloating over its political success of turning certain defeat into
probable victory in Illinois.
HSUS has successfully used a series of political maneuvers to override the
voices of the vast majority of Illinois dog owners, sportsmen and farmers,
who have expressed clear opposition to legislation that would take away
many rights of dog owners without any proven reason, in order to further
an extremist animal rights agenda.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance (ASDA) is asking Illinois Gov. Pat
Quinn to intervene. We are asking Gov. Quinn to use his power of executive
oversight over the state Department of Agriculture to halt this dangerous
task force in its tracks. The Department is part of the Executive Branch
of Illinois state government, and Gov. Quinn thus has direct control of
its activities.
We also are asking Gov. Quinn to investigate the role of HSUS in Illinois
politics, which is to try to take away animal owners’ most basic rights to
live as they choose without unnecessary interference from government.
ASDA is asking all Illinois dog owners, cat owners, farmers and sportsmen
to sign our petition asking Gov. Quinn to intervene. We also are asking
you to contact Gov. Quinn directly. It is vital for us to let Gov. Quinn
know the positions of Illinois dog and cat owners, farmers and sportsmen
about the animal rights movement and the laws they are attempting to use
to cancel out our basic rights as citizens.
Last month, dog ownership rights advocates had effectively neutralized two
pieces of onerous animal rights legislation, when it became clear that the
HSUS agenda contradicted the will of the citizens of Illinois to continue
to responsibly raise dogs as they choose. The legislators and senators
were flooded with an outpouring of opposition to the HSUS-inspired
legislation by dog and cat owners, farmers and sportsmen.
We regard animals as private property, and also believe that dogs in
America live the best lives of any time in human history. This is because
virtually all dog owners love, respect and provide the highest possible
quality care of the animals they own.
HSUS has failed to provide even a shred of evidence that a problem exists
in Illinois that is not completely addressed by current state kennel and
animal cruelty laws, which are among the toughest in the nation, and also
by federal laws that regulate commercial kennels.
The strong and vocal opposition of dog owners toward repressive and
intrusive breeding legislation, and a truly draconian bill defining tail
docking as animal cruelty, had effectively prevented either bill from
passing. They were essentially dead in committee.
We were lulled into believing that we had successfully defended our rights
from the HSUS attack on them.
Then, we saw our victory fade from our grasp when HSUS skillfully
exploited weaknesses within our ranks. HSUS lobbyist Jordan Matyas began
to work privately with a handful of self-appointed spokespersons for dog
owners, whose clubs hired a lobbyist to advance their own private agenda.
HSUS and its apologists deliberately mislead the Legislature into
believing that dog owners’ organizations supported the task force. In
fact, most dog owners staunchly oppose it.
The result was the creation of a task force that is designed to call for
new, unfair and burdensome laws next year, and HSUS is ebullient over the
results. HSUS has succeeded in turning the task force into a stacked deck
that undoubtedly will recommend repressive legislation, and a recent press
release gloats over this political victory.
These self-appointed people, inaccurately claiming to represent dog
owners, agreed behind the scenes to support and participate in the task
force.
In public, these people say that dog owners have no choice. If we don’t
negotiate, they claim, we will get worse legislation next year. They say
that a negotiated compromise is our only choice.
In private, however, they may have had other motivations.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance has received reports from informed and
reliable sources indicating that some of these very few people have been
promised seats on the task force, in return for being willing to work with
HSUS. We also have spoken directly with one of these people, who clearly
and repeatedly showed support for some HSUS positions on animal rights
issues, including restrictions on people who raise dogs.
Moreover, we have documentation that these HSUS apologists have had access
to much insider information about the task force, even before the
resolution was approved, such as the names of proposed members and the
locations of three public hearings (which are in addition to the three
meetings in Springfield called for in the Senate Joint Resolution to
create the task force). This information also has been shared with HSUS,
intercepted emails show, but yet has been denied to other prominent
Illinois activists who are fighting to preserve dog owners’ rights, and to
the public.
An HSUS news release unabashedly brags that the task force is meant to
accomplish the purposes of this extreme animal rights organization.
While HSUS and the HSUS apologists have been given insider knowledge about
the task force, long-established and highly respected Illinois dog
ownership advocates have been kept in the dark. For example, one of the
people who reportedly has been kept in the dark officially represents
71,700 Illinois dog owners through two major organizations, and has earned
a national reputation for her dedication to fighting for dog owners’
right. In contrast, the HSUS apologists represent only a very small number
of people who belong to two local dog clubs.
We strongly believe that the task force is a deliberately stacked deck
designed to reach a foregone conclusion favoring many of the positions of
HSUS. Dog ownership advocates will be placed on the task force only to
create the illusion of fair representation, even though the deck will be
stacked completely against them. Token membership is not fair
representation.
Thus, ASDA urges Gov. Quinn to put an end to this sham task force as
quickly as possible.
The Governor has the power to stop this task force, as he directly
oversees the state Department of Agriculture, which has been assigned to
form and administer the task force through Senate Joint Resolution 56.
At the very least, we see the membership of this task force as inherently
biased against animal owners, and believe some of the nominees clearly
will lack the expertise and experience to fairly evaluate these issues.
We also are asking Gov. Quinn to restore major budget and personnel cuts
to the Department of Agriculture that were made by his predecessor. The
former governor crippled the work of the dedicated professionals in the
Department of Agriculture. The American Sporting Dog Alliance is fully
supportive of restoring those budget and staff cuts to help the Department
to do its job.
Please inform Gov. Quinn that HSUS is the political arm of the animal
rights movement, which has the goal of the eventual elimination of animal
ownership in America. We support the rights of all Americans, including
members of HSUS, to freely express their opinions and act on them
politically.
However, we do not support allowing extremist groups to be nominated to an
official task force that is likely to attempt to ride roughshod over the
rights and lives of millions of Illinois citizens.
Allowing HSUS to sit on a task force about animals would be akin to having
the Nazi Party sit on a task force to promote racial equality. It is
patently absurd and offensive.
Please contact Gov. Quinn to express your opposition to this task force.
Here is a link to Gov. Quinn’s email contact form:
http://www.illinois.gov/gov/contactthegovernor.cfm. Here is his other
contact information: Gov. Pat Quinn, 207 State House, Springfield, IL
62706; Phone: 217-782-0244, toll-free 888-261-3336.
Here is a link to our online petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/asda3/petition.html
Our petition says:
We the citizens of the State of Illinois do hereby respectfully petition
Governor Pat Quinn to disqualify the task force created by Senate Joint
Resolution 56 to study dog breeding in the state and recommend new
regulations and laws.
We oppose the formation of The Joint Task Force On Breeders and Pet Stores
because:
1. The Humane Society of the United States, which is the political
arm of the radical animal rights movement, has been the driving force
behind new laws and regulations. The goal of the animal rights movement is
the eventual elimination of animal ownership in America, and this
philosophical viewpoint contradicts the beliefs and wishes of the mast
majority of the citizens of Illinois. Virtually all Americans support the
right of people to have pets and raise animals for companionship, hunting,
competition and food..
2. HSUS has failed to demonstrate that there is any need for new laws
and regulations, as not one shred of evidence has been presented to
indicate that existing Illinois kennel and animal cruelty laws have failed
to completely address actual problems that have been found. Illinois
already has some of the toughest animal welfare laws in America. In every
reported case that has been investigated, people who have violated
existing laws have been prosecuted and penalized for violations, and all
affected animals have been removed to safety. There is no evidence
whatsoever that this task force, or new laws and regulations, are needed
in Illinois.
3. This task force creates a dangerous precedent that is likely to
result in further legislative action that has the strong potential to harm
Illinois farmers and sportsmen. It sends a chilling message to pet owners,
farmers and sportsmen that their most basic rights as citizens – and, for
many people, their traditional way of life and economic lifeblood - are
subject to unprovoked assault by the government that represents them.
4. While we acknowledge that the Illinois Department of Agriculture
does not have adequate funding and staffing to implement its mission, this
is not a reason for passing new laws and regulations that are not needed
and will further burden the Department’s staff and budget. We support the
complete restoration of Department of Agriculture funding and staff.
5. Illinois taxpayers cannot afford an increase in unnecessary
government spending, especially during the present recession. Likewise, we
cannot support legislation that will harm many businesses in Illinois that
rely upon spending by pet owners. These include pet stores, retail chains
that handle pet products, veterinarians, manufacturers, pharmaceutical
companies, manufacturers, building material vendors, businesses that rely
on travelers with dogs, publishing firms and many service industries.
People who responsibly own and raise dogs add many million dollars a year
to the economy of Illinois, hundreds of jobs are at stake, and many
responsible kennel owners will be driven out of business by laws and
regulations that are impossible to follow.
6. As structured in S.J.R. 56, the task force totally fails to
provide adequate and fair representation to dog owners. We believe that
the composition of the task force has been deliberately structured to
place animal ownership advocates in a minority position. Thus, the outcome
of the task force has been predetermined to call for new laws and
regulations that will seriously and irrevocably harm the lives and
livelihoods of thousands of Illinois pet owners and businesses, and also
have a strongly adverse impact on the welfare of dogs.
For these reasons, we the undersigned residents of the State of Illinois
respectfully urge Gov. Pat Quinn to refuse to implement the terms of
S.J.R. 56 and act decisively to protect the rights, lives and livelihoods
of thousands of Illinois dog owners, businesses, workers, farmers and
sportsmen.
That is the text of the petition that we are asking Illinois pet owners,
farmers and sportsmen to sign. We also ask you to contact Gov. Quinn
directly through emails, phone calls, faxes and/or letters.
We ask dog owners to be aware that this petition probably will be attacked
by the small minority of dog owners who either believe the task force is
necessary, or who sympathize with or apologize for HSUS positions. We
expect them to allege that online petitions are ineffective, and that
elected officials find them offensive.
We must strongly disagree. It is our belief that, while online petitions
are not perfect, elected officials want to know the opinions of their
constituents and would not reject any means of expressing those opinions.
Moreover, we also believe that an American Sporting Dog Alliance petition
against new laws earlier this year, which was signed by 3,400 people,
played a positive and productive role in persuading legislators and
senators not to support proposed kennel legislation.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners, breeders and
professionals who work with breeds of dogs that are used for hunting. We
also welcome people who work with other breeds, as legislative issues
affect all of us. We are a grassroots movement working to protect the
rights of dog owners, and to assure that the traditional relationships
between dogs and humans maintains its rightful place in American society
and life. The American Sporting Dog Alliance also needs your help so that
we can continue to work to protect the rights of dog owners. Your
membership, participation and support are truly essential to the success
of our mission. We are funded solely by your donations in order to
maintain strict independence.
Please visit us on the web at http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org .
Our email is as...@csonline.net .
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