Peter Onruang loved his terrier mixes Wolfie and Bubble. How much did he love the two sisters? The Los Angeles Times will tell you how much:
Before Wolfie’s demise, Onruang took measures to preserve her genetic material and that of her sister Bubble in the hope that he could have them cloned at some point in the future.
First, Onruang had to raise the money to have the expensive cloning procedure performed on Wolfie and Bubble. He founded a company, Hollywood Paintball, with the express purpose of raising the money — to the tune of several hundred thousand dollars.
A few years later, Onruang says a South Korean company has been paid for the cloning procedure, and he now awaits the births of Wolfie and Bubble clones. (He plans to call the puppies Wolfie and Bubble, if you’re wondering.)
Mr. Onruang has a website explaining what he’s doing. This makes a great addition to the ethical debate — adopt, breed or clone (assuming you have a spare hundred thousand kicking around).
Puppy mill debate includes multiple voices: In 2008, the state of Pennsylvania took a major step forward in cracking down on their (at the time) enormous puppy mill industry. They passed a law to substantially upgrade the standards of breeding kennels.
Now, State Rep. Gordon Denlinger of Lancaster County is making new claims about the 2008 law costing the state millions in sales and tax revenue. The ASPCA isn’t buying it, and they’re not pulling any punches. They want HR 89 shot down, saying it would create the first step toward gutting the 2008 measure.
Who supports HR 89? The American Kennel Club. From Bill White of the Allentown Morning Call:
“The AKC encourages Pennsylvania responsible breeders and dog owners to contact the committee, and your state representative, and ask them to support House Resolution 89,” the AKC says in a press release that appears on its website. It repeats all the preposterous claims of the puppy mill shills who concocted this scheme.
[...]
Make no mistake about why almost 2/3 of Pennsylvania’s commercial kennels have disappeared. It’s because Amish/Mennonite farmers and other operators were unwilling to make the investment needed to upgrade their facilities. They profited richly by exploiting these dogs. Running a legitimate, humane business? Not profitable enough.
Despite the best efforts of their lobbyists and apologists, they lost that fight. The new state dog law passed overwhelmingly. And if some breeders won’t change the way they operate, I’m glad they’re out of business.
Lead sponsor Gordon Denlinger, R-Lancaster, claimed the resolution, which cleared the state House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Tuesday and now goes to the full House, is not intended to reopen the law but rather to study its impact on state revenue and jobs. That claim doesn’t jibe with the language and tone of his resolution — or for that matter, with Denlinger’s history as an opponent of the original legislation and de facto defender of puppy mill operators, many of them based in his home Lancaster County. And why “study” the impact of the law before all its provisions even have gone into effect? The last set of regulations won’t kick in until this July. Makes no sense, unless the goal is to derail it before it starts.
The AKC, as you might presume, has a whole different take on the issue.
HR 89 also contains a number of positive statements in support of breeders and the impact overly-restrictive breeder legislation has on the economy, including:
- Recognition of the “substantial investments” that breeders have made in land, buildings, veterinary care, etc.
- Estimating that the new laws have resulted in millions of dollars in economic losses for small businesses
- Recognition that the laws/regulations have resulted in the loss of numerous jobs.
- Recognition that there are many questions regarding the costs in implementing the new regulatory standards.
The AKC strongly supports this resolution, which recognizes the significant impact that dog breeders have on the economy and the significant resources breeders devote to their business.
The bill has made it out of the Agriculture Committee. If you live in Pennsylvania, make your voice known to your local rep.
Attention all cat owners with kids: There’s good evidence indicating that domestic cats do a great job calming people. Here’s the tricky part — why? Professors Ben and Lynette Hart of the University of California, Davis are working to gather data to furnish clues. Specifically, they’re interested in surveying families with children and cats. From the Daily Democrat:
The Harts, working with veterinary geneticist Leslie Lyons, have begun a multi-part study to tease out how those relationships benefit children and whether feline genetic traits can help identify positive behavioral characteristics in cats.
In their part of the study, the Harts are asking adult cat owners in families with children to respond to an online survey to help develop a picture of children’s relations with cats. The anonymous questionnaire asks about the family and the behavior of their cat around children, including its friendliness, aggression and fearful behavior.
A family member over age 18 may take the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ucdcatbehavior/. The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete. Respondents also have the opportunity to provide some personal details about the family cat in a special comments section.
Blind CKCS regains sight, loses best friend: From the Manchester Evening News, a great news, terrible news story. Ellie is a one year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who had been blind, but had her vision restored with successful cataract surgery. That’s the good news. The bad news is her faithful guardian, a big German Shepherd named Leo, passed away soon after Ellie’s surgery.
GWP Samantha and Shelby County: Please read this story from our friend Mary at GWP Rescue. The tale of a terrific Missouri shelter and a brave German Wirehaired Pointer named Samantha (and those who love her) makes you believe there’s hope for all.
Biodegradable options: It’s problematic when good points are made by people with issues. Another piece from the L.A. Times has merit, but the author is a bit, shall we say compromised. Let’s start with the observation that she clearly doesn’t have any use for pets. Also, she was allegedly bitten by a breed that doesn’t actually exist. Ms. Carpenter, there are Afghan Hounds, and there are Greyhounds. Two different breeds. In spite of that, the article on pet waste disposal is worth reading.
Reviews R Us: Recently posted product reviews from our intrepid tester Ericka Basile: IPad or IPaw’d, and testing the Halti.
Cats with thumbs: I love this video, (sent by four different friends) though it terrifies me something awful.
The face of freedom: It’s Monday, so you need a chuckle, right? Please, before you do anything else, go check out the photo on this Daily Mail page. You’ll smile, guaranteed, or your money back.
I always like to hear from readers, especially if you have tips, and links for interesting stories. Give me a shout in the comments, or better yet, send me an e-mail.
Photo credits: Terriers on the beach, myfriendagain.com.
Mike Fry of Animal Ark shelter in Minnesota (and also of Animal Wise Radio!) will be joining me this evening at 10:15 pm Eastern Time to talk about the fight against puppymills.
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