ATTENTION ALL PET
PEOPLE!! DATE CHANGE FOR DOGS IN RESEARCH ON JACKSON, MI TALK SHOW!!
According to Comm. Wilson, on Michigan's Mark Daly radio show, animal
research/dogs will be the topic on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006 (Valentine's Day
and also Pet Theft Awareness Day) on WKHM News Jackson Talk Radio 970 AM
from 10:30am to 11:30am. Comm. Wilson (he is on most Tuesdays) will be on as
well as the dog dealer who buys pets from the Jackson County Animal Shelter. On
the phone will be a person from the research department at Michigan State
University explaining the value of animal research.
I don't know how far out their radio signal will go but the station number is
(517)787-2346. Their address is 1700 Glenshire Drive, Jackson, MI, 49201 in
case anyone wants to write to them.
I have been invited several times to debate this on the show--so far I have
refused as I have no experience in being on the radio. However, Comm. Wilson
told me they only want "locals" from our side to go on the air, yet neither the
dealer nor MSU are local. Obviously, Jackson county doesn't have many
professionals to debate this from our side like MSU has so right away that is
not fair. I don't believe in going into a situation where there is an unfair
playing field to begin with. By saying they only want locals on the show, that
eliminates a professional from AAVS or PCRM debating our side--but that doesn't
mean those from outside our county can't call in!! :) Update Note: After
I contacted him about the unfairness, Comm. Wilson now agrees that any
representative from our side can be on, even from outside our county. Two
people from the anti-pound seizure side should now be on.
If you choose to call in, please keep these things in mind:
1. Be cautious what you say--remember not to slander any person or
business. It's best to stay away from discussing any dealer or research place
unless you have "hard data" to back up what you say (hard data is from an
accredited magazine or newspaper, etc).
2. (also from a lawyer I spoke to) If you talk about animals in research--don't
use the word "torture" because it implies a lab would deliberately harm an
animal.
3. Our campaign to stop pound seizure in Jackson county is focused on staying
away from "animal rights" and animal research. The opposition wants to talk
about animal research and how it helps cure diseases because that is how they
have won these issues before--by playing on people's fear of diseases. Unless
you are a professional in this area, it's better to stay focused on the real
issue: the safety of our pets.
Please try to bring up one or more of these points if you make it on the air:
a) that one pet from Hillsdale county--Conan, got into our shelter and was sold
to research and killed in New York before his people could get him back so this
could happen to any pet in our county or from a county close by. Conan had tags
on him. (story was in the Jackson Citizen Patriot--hard data).
b) that Jackson county is not following the guidelines of the National Animal
Control Association whose official policy is against pound seizure
c) that only about 8 out of 83 counties in Michigan still allow pound
seizure--the majority of them are hunting/farming communities like Jackson.
There is pending federal legislation to stop pound seizure too.
d) that a whole community benefits when pound seizure is stopped--refer to the
study on our website done by a city in Canada which showed a 56% reduction in
dog bites which helps to protect our children. The reason is more pet people
will pick up strays if they know they won't end up in research--more strays are
taken off the streets
e) According to the American Anti-Vivisection society, a percentage of dogs are
not given pain medication during experiments--even though pain and/or distress
was caused. Ask would you be ok with your dog accidentally ending up in
research especially in one of those kinds of experiments where no pain meds
are given?
f) 15 states have a total ban on pound seizure and the East coast states are
where most of the biomedical research is done and stopping pound seizure there
has not affected research (source: Merritt Clifton, Animal People).
g) Both MSU and the dealer pay $10 for dogs and $5 for cats but when people
want to adopt a pet it costs alot more. If this is about money, why aren't MSU
and the dealer required to pay more especially since they don't pay taxes here?
h) relate the story of the Lab-mix puppies including Chance. Chance had a home
who wanted him on the East coast and his siblings had a rescue that wanted
them. Yet they were all sold to the dealer for $10 each--where's the fiscal
responsibility there? This story was picked up by the Associated Press last
year. The 4-5 month old puppies were deemed "unadoptable" because they nipped
at animal control officers and so were sold to the dealer. That policy has now
been changed but the story shows poor judgment and that pets are taken for
research that do have homes to go to.
i) point out that hunter's dogs could accidentally be sold to research if they
get lost and most hunters care about their dogs
j) nationwide, all county shelters make mistakes. Some months ago a Shar-pei
mix was in the quarantine room at our shelter and the owner came there looking
for him but the person he spoke to didn't know the pet was in quarantine so the
dog was sadly euthanized--the owner wrote a letter to the editor about it
k) since dogs and cats can be "grown" by research themselves, or bought from
Class A dealers, stopping pound seizure will not stop animal experimentation--if
they get them from either of those sources, it does not put our pets at risk
l) the purpose of a shelter is to reunite lost pets with their owners, not be a
supply house for the research industry
If you choose to call, please be sure you get your facts right! Be
respectful but firm. It will hurt our campaign here if you aren't. Please
contact me if you have any questions.
thanks to all the wonderful, caring pet people out there!
Judy Dynnik
Executive Director
Jackson County Volunteers Against Pound Seizure
P.O. Box 73, Rives Junction, MI, 49277
(517)783-1997 Best to call me at (517)783-3701
http://www.members.aol.com/Justice4them
"Our goal is to educate the public on pet issues including pet safety and
spay/neuter, help our shelter pets and to stop pound seizure. "Pound seizure"
is the selling of lost and homeless pets from our county, tax funded animal
shelter (pound) to places where they will end up in research. This puts all our
pets at risk and is against the guidelines of the National Animal Control
Association. Stopping pound seizure DOES NOT STOP ANIMAL RESEARCH and helps a
community in many other ways including saving money, reducing dog bi