Oprah show

[Bo Peep]

Dog Owners' Oprah Alert

 

 

by JOHN YATES

 

The American Sporting Dog Alliance

 

http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org

 

 

Dog owners might be in for another bashing on Friday, when ultra-liberal talk show host Oprah Winfrey does a special program on "puppy mills." Winfrey's star reporter, Lisa Ling, went

 

undercover in commercial breeding kennels to do an expose on the pet store trade.

 

 

Although the commercial trade in pet store puppies has nothing to do with the vast majority of dog owners and breeders, sensationalistic news coverage tars us with the same brush. To the liberal animal rights mindset, all breeders are either "puppy mills" or "backyard breeders," and this always translates into more laws that harm only the innocent. Moreover, the hidden agenda of the animal rights movement is the ultimate elimination of animal ownership, and their strategy is to pick us off one group at a time.

 

 

The American Sporting Dog Alliance (ASDA) does not know how Winfrey and Ling will approach the topic, but we are not optimistic that it will be a fair, balanced and reasonably objective report. Based on the normal biased reporting we see about dog breeding, and Winfrey's close personal ties with animal rights groups, we would expect them to take their cameras into a couple of "worst case" kennels, and then by inference say or imply that all kennels and breeders are bad.

 

 

Expect to take a thumping from one of the wealthiest and most powerful animal rights activists on Earth. According to a report in Women's Day magazine, billionaire Winfrey feels that leaving a cool $30 million to her own five dogs in her will is not even slightly extravagant. Inflation, you know.

 

 

Winfrey was partners with the radical Humane Society of the United States in a movement aimed at destroying cattle ranching because of alleged food safety issues from eating beef, and they were codefendants in a lawsuit brought by the industry.

 

 

This month, Winfrey has been giving serious consideration to an invitation to appear in nude photographs sponsored by one of the most extreme animal rights groups in America, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, pop tabloids report. The nude photos would be for PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign. Winfrey's concern reportedly is not about endorsing PETA. The tabloids report that she is worried that nude photos might offend voters and harm the presidential campaign of Barrack Obama, whom she has strongly endorsed.

 

 

On Friday, we can expect a thumping with no opportunity to defend ourselves. The Winfrey/Ling style of journalism is to exploit highly emotional topics and sensationalize them to twang the heartstrings of a predominantly middle class audience of liberals who are looking for the next "do-gooder" cause to embrace. It looks like saving the whales or feeding starving people in Somalia aren't fashionable this year. Pity the poor whales. Pity the poor Somali refugees.

 

 

And pity the poor dog owners! A campaign against dog owners and breeders has become the latest fashionable cause for the glitz and glitter crowd of celebrities.

 

 

The question is, what are we going to do about it?

 

 

For myself, I'm just plain sick and tired of being unfairly bashed. I guess I just wasn't raised to be a punching bag.

 

 

But, you might be asking, how can we fight back against the wealthiest and most powerful media mogul in America? How can we fight that kind of power? How can we fight someone who wills $30 million to her dogs when we're trying to figure out how to pay last month's electric bill?

 

 

I think we can do it, if we get off of our butts and actually do it. There are hundreds of thousands of people who breed dogs because they love them – show dogs, performing dogs, hunting dogs, obedience dogs, field trial dogs, companion dogs and just plain dogs. In addition, there are millions of dog owners who love their animals and thank breeders for doing the fine job that they know we do in improving temperament, genetic soundness, utility, beauty and health.

 

 

If we join together in this, we can be a formidable force.

 

 

My thoughts are that a boycott of Winfrey's advertisers would be the most effective strategy. If several hundred thousand dog owners and breeders were to contact advertisers on the Oprah show and refuse to buy any of their products, they would be forced to take notice.

 

 

Please understand that I am not talking about censoring Winfrey's opinions. I would fight for her right to express any opinion she chooses, and also for her right to present and endorse the views of animal rights groups on her program.

 

 

However, journalistic ethics demands fairness, balance and objectivity if programming purports to be reporting the news. If Oprah wants to do a report on dog breeding, that's fine. But the report should be fair to us and give us the opportunity to balance the views of the animal rights groups with our side of the story.

 

 

I don't expect that Oprah will hold to the same standard of ethics that I did as a newspaper reporter. I expect that her report will be a hatchet job on dog owners and breeders. The promotional blog for Friday's Oprah Show gives us an idea of what we can expect:

 

http://www.oprah.com/community/thread/44908 . Read it for yourself.

 

 

A boycott of advertisers just might convince Oprah to undergo an ethical reformation. Most of her advertisers won't like the idea of losing several hundred thousand customers so that Oprah can preach sermons against dog owners and breeders.

 

 

When I worked on newspapers, there was a cynical wisecrack that my bosses sometimes told me when they didn't like something I wrote. "There is freedom of the press in America – for anyone who owns a press." That meant I didn't own the press.

 

 

It takes a lot of money to own a TV show. Oprah has that kind of money, and she earned it, but it has gone to her head. Now she sneers at the rights and lives of ordinary people who made her a pop star, and that includes dog owners and breeders.

 

 

The Internet is the great equalizer. One of the beauties of the Internet is that it allows everyone to truly have the rights of free speech and free press. The Internet has become the printing press of ordinary people, and now it reaches a reported 80-percent of

American households.

 

 

Television represents the past, when Oprah's kind of money and power controlled the right of a free press. The Internet has given us our voice.

 

 

The American Sporting Dog Alliance is asking all dog owners and breeders to watch the Oprah Show on Friday and form your own opinions. Then, if she does the kind of hatchet job we expect, please bombard her with emails expressing your displeasure.

 

 

Then, we need to get organized for a campaign to reach her advertisers. In order to get ready, ASDA is asking readers of this report to email us a list of every advertiser that supports the Oprah Show. ASDA is willing to organize this campaign. Also, please let us know if you are able to help with it. Our email address is asda@csonline.net.

 

 

The American Sporting Dog Alliance works at the grassroots to defend the rights of dog owners and professionals against the very real threats of animal rights activism. Please visit us on the web at http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org . We maintain strict independence and are supported only by the voluntary donations of our members.

 

 

While the Oprah segment may be about "puppy mills," the laws that her friends in PETA and HSUS are proposing really are targeting dog owners and hobby breeders, with the goal of reducing and ultimately eliminating animal ownership. These same radical groups also want to

eliminate hunting, ban the ownership of firearms, forcibly convert us to vegan vegetarianism and destroy American farming traditions.

 

 

"Puppy mills" are not the issue. Existing federal, state and animal cruelty laws already intensively regulate commercial kennels. You are the issue. These groups want to destroy the things that you love and believe in.

 

 

Does Oprah have a conscience? She is leaving $30 million to support five dogs that she loves and apparently believes she is doing something right by supporting animal rights groups.

 

 

But she is being suckered. She is supporting groups that believe that the only unexploited dog is a dead dog. The truth is that PETA slaughters 97-percent of the dogs that enter the organization's "shelter" in Virginia. They would rather kill those dogs than help them find a loving home.

 

 

Please forward this posting to as many people as you can, and also cross-post it on message boards. We need to reach as many people as possible quickly.

[ShoresDog]

Whew, I think I'd like to see the actual show before forming an opinion!

[diane allen]

What ShoresDog said.

diane

[Shetlander]

Whew, I think I'd like to see the actual show before forming an opinion!

 

[Bo Peep]

I just did what my trainer said to do- LOL. Re-post. I haven't seen it either.

[mbc1963]

I saw a quick teaser for this show yesterday, and it looked like it was going to be about puppy mills.

 

Most of my education about puppy mills has come from this forum, though I did previously know not to get my dog from one. I now have a pretty good working knowledge, now, of how to choose a "good" breeder over a bad one.

 

I think Oprah's doing a show to enlighten folks who don't know what we know about puppy mills is a good thing. It seems as though larger exposure to the problem of puppy mills is something we'd want.

 

Again, I haven't seen the actual show, so don't have anything to base my judgment on, but the commercials weren't startling at all. I did think I wouldn't watch the show, since I'm already educated and know the problems, and it will just make me sad.

 

The fact that someone somewhere is already trying to rally people against this episode is a bigger red light for me than the fact that Oprah would highlight puppy mills.

 

I think it's really important, on the 'net and in e-mail, to thoroughly research the facts behind what we post and forward - so much of what's sent around is inaccurate, one-sided, and propagandistic.

 

 

Mary

[painted_ponies]

Please understand that I am not talking about censoring Winfrey's opinions. I would fight for her right to express any opinion she chooses, and also for her right to present and endorse the views of animal rights groups on her program.

 

 

However, journalistic ethics demands fairness, balance and objectivity if programming purports to be reporting the news. If Oprah wants to do a report on dog breeding, that's fine. But the report should be fair to us and give us the opportunity to balance the views of the animal rights groups with our side of the story.

 

So Oprah has the right to express any opinion she chooses, as long as it includes Mr. Yate's opinion? Please.

 

"Puppy mills" are not the issue. Existing federal, state and animal cruelty laws already intensively regulate commercial kennels.

 

Riiiiiight.

 

I cannot imagine why anyone would call for a boycott of a show they have not yet seen. Unless they pretty much already know their ox is about to be gored. Or, as my grandma was fond of saying "the guilty dog always hollers."

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

I think it's a good idea for everyone to watch the show and form their own opinions. It's scary to think that Oprah is involved with PETA though. I don't agree with puppy mills, product animal testing or in-humane treatment of any animal, but to believe in total animal liberation is a completley different story and to think that Oprah is tied to an organization that has funded militant animal rights movements and kills more "rescues" than they do find good homes for makes me think this story is going to be one sided. But maybe not.

[MaryP]

Whew, I think I'd like to see the actual show before forming an opinion!

 

I think that sums it up!

 

I'd love to know the source of all of his information. One's own mind doesn't count.

[MaryP]

It's scary to think that Oprah is involved with PETA though.

 

Just because someone said this in a propaganda-laced Internet story doesn't make it true. Beware of what you read. I don't know if it's true or not, but I'm not going to take this guy's word for it.

[painted_ponies]

I'd love to know the source of all of his information.

 

Yeah, some "journalistic ethics". The rumor's been going around for several months that Alicia Silverstone asked Oprah to pose for a "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" photo, which apparently other celebrities have done. I don't see how that means Oprah supports PETA.

[sweet_ceana]

LOL. Way to jump the gun on this one Yates. I agree with the lets wait and see what happens on the show before we make our conclusions. I got an email from our local rescue to day letting us all know about it and asking us to support it. You have got to love contoversy that occurs before the event has offended anyone.

[SoloRiver]

That's what I call a paranoid manifesto. Black helicopters, anyone? Methinks Mr. Yates lives in something that he calls a "compound."

[sandra s.]

Gotta love him.

 

However, journalistic ethics demands fairness, balance and objectivity if programming purports to be reporting the news.

 

He may not be reporting the news, but he's very obviously an expert on fairness, balance and objectivity.

[juliepoudrier]

However, journalistic ethics demands fairness, balance and objectivity if programming purports to be reporting the news.

 

 

I agree that the news should try to be balanced and objective, but does this guy really think that Oprah's show is news? Last I knew it was a talk show, and unless I'm terribly mistaken I don't think one equals the other. I can't wait to watch Oprah tomorrow.

 

J.

[painted_ponies]

I can't wait to watch Oprah tomorrow.

 

I know, me neither - and I wasn't planning on TiVo-ing it cause stuff like that depresses me. But now I have to! Maybe Yates actually works for Oprah.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

Just because someone said this in a propaganda-laced Internet story doesn't make it true. Beware of what you read. I don't know if it's true or not, but I'm not going to take this guy's word for it.

 

I didn't say I believed it....but it is a scary thought, that's all.

[bcnewe2]

Guess I should have read more carefully. I was all ready to watch Oprah today and all I got was some guy that was pregnant! What a let down!

 

Kristen

[diane allen]

Well, in the interest of full disclosure: I don't have a TV. But I'd love to hear what Oprah actually SAYS and "reports" (in quotation marks....). So, y'all who is connected out there in the real world - let's hear 'bout it!

 

diane

[Bo Peep]

Here's another e-mail I got from my trainer. Now she is an AKC judge, so her interests might be different than ours. I might also add, that both of her dogs are neutered as she only shows in obedience and rally.

 

 

Oprah seems to be causing quite a stir---and the show hasn't even aired yet! Here is what the AKC has to say to all of us dog fanciers:

 

**Permission to Cross-Post Granted**

Dear Fancier:

 

As you probably know, Oprah is airing a show tomorrow (Friday, 4/4) on the topic of "Puppy Mills." While the show was previously taped, we have been in touch with the producers about our desire for responsible breeders to be represented, and they have allowed us to submit a 2 line statement which they said will be incorporated into the show. They have also stated that there is no specific intention to malign purebred dogs or the AKC.

 

We will be watching the show along with you and, if warranted, we will respond publicly. However, it is our hope that Oprah's interest in animal welfare will help open up a dialogue on the issue and that AKC and the dog fancy will continue to be engaged.

 

 

Thank you!

AKC Communications

[Laurae]

Dianne, can you clarify why you keep forwarding these emails? Do you think the AKC's concerns mirror those of the majority of the members of this board? To be honest, when I hear the AKC's position on anything, my knee-jerk reaction is to support the opposite.

[toney]

Although I intend to watch the Oprah show before condemning or vilifying her (really who could vilify Oprah anyway? I like the woman!) I think groups, particularly those who have sporting dogs, such as bird dogs and retrievers, as well as well as working dog groups, are becoming concerned about the seeming proliferation of mandatory spay neuter laws being put up for a vote in diffferent areas of the country- another one came across the wire today out of a California district; I, for one, do not like the idea of the local government legislating whether or not my dogs can have reproductive organs. I want to know that there will be a steady, well bred pool of working border collies in the future that I can choose from. MSN laws could certainly put a huge dent in our working dog populations if it continues to spread across the country. I imagine the Sporting Dog Alliance feels threatened by MSNs for the same reason, and are just going on the offensive. Still, waiting to actually watch the show before panicking is always a better option.

 

Looking forward to seeing the show...

[SoloRiver]

It's enlightening to know that AKC is spending so much time and energy trying to protect the interests of puppy millers and high volume breeders.

[Redbirdie]

I swear I saw Oprah wearing a leather jacket in some photo a couple of weeks ago anyway. I doubt if they would let her speak for them if she's still eating meat and wearing leather.

 

Any time somebody wants to discredit some group working on an animal issue they tar them with the PETA brush. I've heard that there is a secret link between the US Humane Society and PETA, somebody told me the other day ALL humane societies are alied with PETA, the ALDF is supposedly a secret arm of PETA, etc etc etc. I want to pull my hair out every time I hear that S.O.S. It really is just like the little boy crying wolf to the point that PETA doesn't look so scary any more.

 

So, back to discussing the show. I think the bad breeders are gonna ruin it for the good breeders. Good breeders better figure out some way to regulate their industry. And people who want good puppies to be available without a lot of hoops to jump through better figure it out. Sorry to be so blunt but that is how I see it. Go ahead and fire away. Call me a member of PETA if you want, but I do eat meat and wear leather.

 

Robin

[MaryP]

I fail to see what is so scary to the AKC or any other dog club about Oprah doing a show about puppy mills?? How is that bad???