Take this paragraph from The New York Times article on Proposition B, the puppy mill responsibility law on the ballot this week in Missouri:
“I am an American; I have a right to raise dogs,” said Joe Overlease, president of the Professional Kennel Club of Missouri, who owns a large breeding operation of cocker spaniels in southern Missouri that was cited by the state this year for overcrowding and inadequate shelter. “I have a right to bark at the moon if I want.”
How come it's so hard for people to recognize that in the world of dogs, rights flow from responsibilities?
You have rights only to the extent you provide food, shelter, water, sanitation, heat, cooling, exercise, room, mental stimulation, and medical attention for your charges.
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Interesting - from the NYTimes article it seems that the issue is whether or not dogs will continue to be treated in Missouri as livestock, even factory-farmed if that produces the best profit. Mr. Miller and the other "farmers" seem to believe that they treat their livestock (cattle, dogs, whatever) well enough. The HSUS guy says, "most people don’t think that dogs should be treated like livestock.” Missouri apparently has already plenty of livestock-care laws on the books (and a serious enforcement problem, someone once commented that 'every chicken coop in Missouri houses a puppy mill' or something like that, don't remember who it was.) Seems once again the bigger issue - whether a dog is the same kind of possession as a couch or a refrigerator, something you can do whatever you want with, or something unique that should have a special category of protection - is not addressed.
ReplyDeleteThe AKC, predictably, is coming down on the side of the puppy mills - Oh OK, "responsible" puppy mills. Link:
http://www.akc.org/news/index.cfm?article_id=4233
Isn't this the case with so many of today's citizens?
ReplyDeleteThey feel they are "entitled" to particular rights and privileges. They search frantically for every reward or pleasure and from these pleasures they claim their rights.