Here's a great article that I thought I would pass on...hope you find it interesting! –Kim
Here's a great video that I thought I would pass on...hope you enjoy it! –Kim
Here are some great pictures that I thought I would pass on...hope you find them entertaining! –Kim
Petey, or Pete the Pup, was the constant sidekick in Hal Roach's Our Gang & The Little Rascals comedies during the 20's and 30's. The original Petey had starred as the Buster Brown dog and had a unique quality that got him the job – there was part of a ring around one of his eyes. A then unknown makeup artist named Max Factor used black hair dye to paint the rest of the ring. Hal Roach had to take the dog as is for his Our Gang shorts and couldn't wait for the dye to wear off, so he continued the look which proved to be an invaluable decision. He could use different pit bull terriers and no one would know the difference due to the fact that the audience only focused on the ring around his eye! If you watch any of the Our Gang & The Little Rascals shorts, you will notice how almost every dog is different with exception of that iconic ring. Thanks to legendary Max Factor, Petey is one of the most recognizable dogs in history! Petey is a Pit Bull...
Petey (from Our Gang & The Little Rascals) in the makeup chair with Max Factor (1)
Petey (from Our Gang & The Little Rascals) in the makeup chair with Max Factor (2)
Helen Keller with her Pit Bull, Sir Thomas
General Patton and his Bull Terrier, Willie
Jimmy Carter with his Pit Bull, Bozo (1937)
Sergeant Stubby served with the 102nd Infantry, 26th (Yankee) Division in the trenches in France for 18 months and participated in four offensives and 17 battles. He entered combat on February 5, 1918 at Chemin des Dames, north of Soissons, and was under constant fire, day and night for over a month. In April 1918, during a raid to take Schieprey, Stubby was wounded in the foreleg by the retreating Germans throwing hand grenades. He was sent to the rear for convalescence, and as he had done on the front was able to improve morale. When he recovered from his wounds, Stubby returned to the trenches. After being gassed himself, Stubby learned to warn his unit of poison gas attacks, located wounded soldiers in no man's land, and — since he could hear the whine of incoming artillery shells before humans could — became very adept at letting his unit know when to duck for cover. He was solely responsible for capturing a German spy in the Argonne. Following the retaking of Château-Thierry by the US, the thankful women of the town made Stubby a chamois coat on which were pinned his many medals. There is also a legend that while in Paris with Corporal Conroy, Stubby saved a young girl from being hit by a car. At the end of the war, Conroy smuggled Stubby home. After returning home, Stubby became a celebrity and marched in, and normally led, many parades across the Country. He met Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge and Warren G. Harding. Starting in 1921, he attended Georgetown University Law Center with Conroy, and became the Georgetown Hoyas' team mascot. He would be given the football at halftime and would nudge the ball around the field to the amusement of the fans. In 1926, Stubby died in Conroy's arms. His remains are featured in The Price of Freedom: Americans at War exhibit at the Smithsonian. Stubby was honored with a brick in the Walk of Honor at the United States World War I monument, Liberty Memorial, in Kansas City at a ceremony held on Armistice Day, November 11, 2006. Sergeant Stubby is a Pit Bull...
Buster Brown & Tige (a Pit Bull Terrier)
Here's a great article that I thought I would pass on...hope you find it interesting! –Kim
The Myth of the Humane Society of the United States
Feb. 4, 2010
By: John Dillard University of Richmond Law School
I recently viewed a commercial for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). It contained footage of pets suffering from abuse. The footage of dirty cats with split ears to dogs visibly suffering from neglect and malnourishment was intended to tug at the heartstrings of anyone with half a heart. In addition to the animal footage, the commercial featured the lady from Just Shoot Me asking the viewers to commit to a $19 monthly pledge to help save these animals from abuse and neglect. The funds raised by the ad campaign would ostensibly be used to fund animal rescue efforts and animal adoption services.
For less than a dollar a day, it seems like a common sense move for a pet lover with disposable income to contribute to the HSUS. Who doesn't like the idea of an organization dedicated to rescuing animals from neglect?
There is one minor detail left out of these commercials. The Humane Society of the United States is not a large network of animal shelters, as it would have you to believe. In fact, the HSUS does not own, operate, or lease a single animal shelter in our country. Instead, it is primarily a special interest lobby that is clever and shrewd enough to capitalize on the good name of local "humane societies" which actually do the good work of taking in strays and finding suitable adoptive homes for unwanted pets.
While most local animal shelters scrimp and scrape to collect enough funds to cover overhead, the HSUS has a healthy budget of well over $100 million. According to their most recent annual report (2008), $6.7 million, or 5.4% of their $125 million budget was spent on animal shelters. The bulk of the balance was spent on fundraising, campaigns, lawsuits, propaganda, and those people that stand outside the D.C. Metro who stop you and ask "Do you have a minute to talk about saving animals?"
2008 HSUS Expenditures Deception notwithstanding, the HSUS has cornered the market on the animal rights movement. It has wrestled the lead in the animal rights world from PETA and does not appear likely to give it back. PETA is highly visible, yet it is destined for the fringe due to its radical approach. Throwing red paint on fur coats or having B-list bombshells pose nude save a few leaves of lettuce is sure to garner attention, but it is not enough to open the hearts and wallets of middle America. To be sure, HSUS shares the same goals as PETA, namely the eradication of animal agriculture in the United States. However, HSUS learned valuable lessons from PETA's radical approach, thus we have the lady from Just Shoot Me pleading for donations.
The HSUS' calculated approach is largely successful. Unable to gain traction in state legislatures and Congress, it has taken to ballot measures and referendums. This method of legislation suits their mass-appeal approach much better than lobbying legislators who must analyze facts and balance the interests of their constituents. HSUS can frame the issue and develop a campaign that gives the casual voter an impression that voting "Yes" on a ballot initiative is the right thing to do. This was the case with California 2008's Proposition 2.
Proposition 2, widely overshadowed by Proposition 8, was a ballot initiative that would impact animal husbandry practices for swine, poultry and dairy farms, with most of the burden resting on egg layers and pork producers. HSUS poured millions into PR for the ballot initiative and attracted the support of all manners of celebrity, including a special on Ellen. The measure passed with 63% of the vote and will take effect in 2015. HSUS declared it a resounding victory and vows to move on to the next battle.
Herein lies the problem with the HSUS. As a national lobbying organization with a large war chest, they are able to successfully lobby for mandated changes in animal rearing practices from afar. After their victory, they can pop the champagne and move on to the next adventure. Meanwhile, their targets are left to deal with the consequences. The majority of California egg and pork producers will not change how they raise their animals as a result of Prop 2. Instead, they will cease to raise animals as a result of Prop. 2. California farmers will have to scramble to pay down the millions in debt they owe on expensive, sophisticated and safe housing for animals they will not be able to raise after 2015. California consumers will pay more to have pork and eggs hauled in, increasing the food miles of their breakfast and moving their food dollars further away from their community.
Perhaps, if the Humane Society of the United States used its resources towards the animal shelters it would like you to believe it operates in the communities it seeks to regulate by fiat, there would be a more collaborative and productive dialogue on issues of animal welfare.
Source: http://petpac.net/news/headlines/the_myth_of_the_humane_society_of_the_united_states/
© 2010 PetPAC
This is cute! –Kim
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Five ballot-wielding puppies weigh in on the U.S. Senate race in Illinois (2:35 minutes).
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