HSUS At It Again

Heard about the recent dogfighting/breeding bust in Wilkes County, NC? Authorities removed 127 pit bull terriers (60 of them puppies) belonging to Ed Faron of Wildside Kennels in Wilkesboro, and on the recommendations of the not-so-humane Humane Society of the US (HSUS), euthanized them without assessment. ALL of them. Despite offers of assistance from Best Friends Animal Society, one of the rescue groups now successfully rehabilitating Michael Vick's rescued fighters in Utah.

The HSUS argues (like they argued about Michael Vick's dogs) that pit bull terriers bred to fight are incapable of recovery and, according to John Goodwin, the so-called expert of HSUS' Animal Fighting Campaign, "difficult and expensive" to re-train. He also pointed the finger at animal rescue activists who "raise no fuss and offer no assistance for the other 3,000 dogs put down in [Wilkes] county each year." Well, yes, John, you might have something there except that that YOU'RE COMPLETELY MISSING THE POINT. Good lord. This is breed genocide we're talking about here – an extraordinary situation that might have been – should have been – prevented. This wasn't your average euthanization day at the local shelter. And do you really think, John-Boy, that the animal rescue people ignore those 3,000 dogs all the other days of the year when they're not having to rally against breed bigots like you?

Blanket euthanization like the one in Wilkes County is clearly the easy way out and fuels public misconceptions. It is wrong, and we can do better.

Oh, and the picture above? That's Halle, one of Michael Vick's rescued and rehabbed pit bulls in her new adoptive home.

Court Order Issued to Euthanize Seized Dogs
The Death of Hope at HSUS
Worse Than Vick
The High Cost of Being a Victim