[Publib] Animal cruelty

[Mary D. Kraeszig, DVM]

I am neither for nor against dog sled racing, but must lend my comments 
here.  PETA can hardly be considered to be objective in its assessment 
of any animal-related activities.  If PETA had its way, no animals would 
be owned or used by anyone for any purpose.  We would all be vegetarians 
and liberated domestic animals would freely reproduce and roam the 
streets and countryside (at first glance, that might sound idyllic, but 
then think of the real long-term repurcussions).  Their animal "rights" 
position is not the same as animal welfare.  Ingrid Newkirk, President 
of PETA, is famous for her quotation, "A rat is a dog is a pig is a 
boy."  PETA's website states "PETA operates under the simple principle 
that animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for 
entertainment."

Yes, sled dogs can become sick or injured.  Human athletes also become 
sick and injured in high performance sports, but we do not ban those 
activities.  People are injured performing recreational activities all 
the time.  Dogs injure themselves pursing purely voluntary activities 
that they clearly enjoy, like chasing squirrels or balls.

Having worked as a small animal veterinarian for 13 years before 
switching to librarianship, the only blanket statement I can safely make 
is that the care of any animal is ENTIRELY dependent on the intelligence 
and ethics of its owner, whether it's a Yorkshire terrier or an Iditarod 
racer.  I think it's quite cruel for people to feed their dogs nothing 
but table scraps, so that the dogs develop terrible skin and digestive 
diseases. The owners complain about about the high cost of veterinary 
care, when the zero dollar cost solution is to stop feeding the dog like 
a person.

As librarians, we strive to be balanced and not monolithic in choosing 
information sources.  There are dozens of animal welfare groups that 
accomplish that balance with regard to animal cruelty.  PETA should not 
be used as an authoritative resource on any animal-related issue because 
it's views and agenda are so very extreme.  It would be very difficult 
to think of a source for information equally extreme in the opposite 
direction, other than perhaps the literature on sadists who torture and 
kill animals for "pleasure."

Mary D. Kraeszig, DVM

Michele Haytko wrote:
> While I, of course, am not Margery, here is a PETA factsheet on dog
> sledding, complete with citations.  It can be found online at:
> http://www.peta.org/MC/factsheet_display.asp?ID=130
> 
> Sled Dog Racing: Death on the Trails
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> 
> Imagine "racing your dog from Orlando to New York, depriving him of
> sleep to complete the course as quickly possible, mushing though
> waist-deep water and ice, with the dog losing about 10 pounds through