The Last Dog On Earth


shared by Peggy...from the CanadianShowDogs list...
permission is given to forward and crosspost..

Stop BSL and PAWS they will all take us to this place.

The Last Dog on Earth

They were at the door. Her little dog was growling softly. She
tried to  hush the sound. She knew what they wanted.

 She felt as though her heart was  being ripped from her chest. She
had managed to hide her little friend for  years. She shared her food
and bed with her. She had bought her on the black  market. It had
cost her dearly but it was worth it. She had been so alone. Nothing
to love her or for her to love in return.

 Her children had grown up and forgotten her. Her husband had died
two years before she found Sweetie. Sweetie had been a tiny black and
tan ball of  fur showing her Yorkshire Terrier background. Of course,
she knew that Sweetie could not been purebred. There had been no
purebred dogs for years. There were few dogs since the breeders had
been slowly and methodically beaten down.

 When this first started, everyone sat back and said they could not
possibly be the breeders they were talking about. After all, they
loved their dogs and they were not puppymills. They would never let
themselves be overloaded with dogs. Some of them did not get
overloaded nor did they breed more than a litter or two a year. They
were smug and secure in that only the  puppy mills were being raided.
The raids were relentless. They would take place in one state then
another.

 The dog raiders got smarter with every raid. They learned about
warrants, the court system, the law in different states and they used
whatever means they could to eliminate the breeders of dogs. Some
people thought the raiders were dog lovers trying to save the poor
mistreated puppies.

 Some of them were dog lovers, at first. The well-meaning rescue
groups were used. The American Kennel Club was used. They would
revoke the rights of the breeder who was raided. Kennel clubs were
infiltrated and destroyed from within.

 The very fibre of the dog world was silently unravelled one string
at a time.

 Everyone would rise to arms against every breeder raided. Saying
things  like that terrible person mistreated those poor dogs; that
person had too many dogs; and that person is crazy. If the truth were
not provoking enough  they would lie and say that person should die.
They campaigned by e-mail, petitioned the courts, and used political
pull. Even when common sense  would tell them that they did not know
the facts or circumstances, they persist. They would see fat happy
tail wagging dogs and would say abused dogs. They no longer believed
their own eyes.

 The dogs tried to tell the truth but no one could hear them.

 True, there were cases of abuse, beaten, starved, and sick animals,
at  first. Then the tide shifted. Good, honest, dog-loving people
started to be raided. Any reason was used. Dogs were taken and the
owners refused rights to reclaim their dogs. The raiders started to
narrow the number of dogs which were in violation. Any person with a
dog became a target. Dog  grooming became a thing of the past.
Veterinarian services were performed out of  back room under the dark
of night until there were no veterinarians. Dog shows had long
disappeared along with the American Kennel Club.

 Children were  told tales of the days when every boy had a dog to
run with through fields. The stories of " Old Shep","
O'Yeller", "Call of the Wild"," Lassie" and all those wonderful
stories which would bring tears to the eyes of grown men were being
forgotten except by a few.

 But she remembered as a little girl the small dog who loved her,
followed her everywhere, and gave her comfort like no one on earth
could give. She just had to find her that special warmth, the
grateful lick-kiss,  something that loved her unconditional and a
reason for getting up in the morning.  She found Sweetie.

 Now they were at her door to take the life that she cherished. The
warm little black and tan 3-pound body that loved her as much as she
loved it.

 And there was no one to stop them.
**********

Oppose PAWS!

http://www.ncraoa.com/alerts.html
http://www.dfow.org/paws.htm
http://saova.org/1139.html

**************

Sheila Leonard