More on Best Friends

[Rottweilerlvr]

I know some of you here like Best Friends, but each and everyday I grow more concerned about them... Here is another article about Best Friends, they are for BANNING BREEDS...

http://www.thedogpress.com/Columns/J...t.Pt.2._11.htm

[StarfishSaving]

I'm sorry, Rott. I respect you and your opinions greatly and I have very little faith in large organizations but the site that your info keeps coming from has its own agenda, is opinion only and the arguments they are trying to make just don't seem to have anything to do with the mission of Best Friends. If anything, there is a lot of religion-based slander and trash talking here.

"Because Best Friends put out a recent plea to private “pit bull” rescues asking them to please take those hurricane “pit bulls” off their hands. It appears the poor things have containment issues that Best Friends and their millions are not willing to accommodate. Duh!!!"

I'm sure that there were also boxer, border collie, lab, heeler, etc etc rescues contacted as well to take in their respective breeds in the aftermath. "containment issues" can be as simple as not enough room for such a huge influx of animals.

Where did you see that BF supports the banning of breeds? Their "3 point legislation" seems pretty well thought out and fair to me, not BSL.

All of this aside, it should be said that I am not a supporter of Best Friends nor am I a supporter of any large organization because I know what politics are like and that so much money is often spent on PR and paying the higher ups that the animals don't see a majority of it. I feel very strongly that their support for Tammy Grimes' dog theft recently is only proof of their want for attention.

I don't like to argue or debate but I just don't give credence to obviously prejudiced "articles."

[BelovedJuggernaut]

I think I have to agree with Starfish on this one.

An article about BF is not cold hard facts, and unless presented with those, I cannot judge the organization.

I am in the same boat as Starfish when it comes to their support though. I think I will stick to local rescues or small organizations that don't have so much of a political agenda.

[Rottweilerlvr]

The things that concern me about Best Friends are in bold and my responses in red.

What was the Best Friends Dangerous Dogs Summit? I’m glad you asked. Briefly summarized, their position was:

1) Because of breeding, some dogs have a higher percentage of bad than do most breeds. This is going to have people crying out spaying/neutering of ALL DOGS.
2) Dog “attacks are by no means all from pit bulls, but by dogs of many breeds who by now have been inbred with aggressive tendencies.

3) “Beloved pets” will “suddenly and inexplicably turn on their people”. This is going to cause fear. Ignorant people will tell folks that rottweilers will eventually turn on their owner... Well, I'm still here. This is a myth and am not aware of any studies to back this statement up.

4) The root cause of dangerous dogs is that “certain people” are deliberately breeding aggressive tendencies into dogs. Depends on what aggressive tendencies they are referring to.. The folks who fight pitbulls, yes, go after them whole- heartedly.

5) “the rest of us…are victims”



Don’t worry… Best Friends has a “three-point plan”. It includes:



1) Acknowledging “that there are dangerous breeds, and that aggressive tendencies have now been bred into their genes.” There are no dangerous breeds.
2) “legislation making it ILLEGAL to breed aggression into dogs” Then the dog will not be what truly makes him special for his breed... Every dog was breed for a job, taken away what they were breed for turns them into watermelon, all mushy inside.

3) Going “after the people who are breeding aggressive dogs, rather than simply the dogs themselves.”

In 1991 a crisis occurred: The buyer of the Arizona ranch went bankrupt and his monthly payments ceased, leaving The Foundation Faith in over their heads. A national S.O.S. went out to the family. Cyrus and Anne Mejia moved to Kanab from their home in Golden, Colorado. Faith Maloney had liquidated her Pennsylvania residence and she returned to the fold, as did other members.

”The group needed money, and getting it seemed to require a certain amount of begging, which the group called ‘tabling.’ They would go to Denver, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, set up tables outside supermarkets and pass out brochures about the sanctuary.” And the money kept rolling in from every side.

In 1993, Best Friends Animals Sanctuary was incorporated as a nonprofit. The Archives were supposedly destroyed and the Church dissolved. I sure would like to poke around their compound though… and contrary to popular belief, Mark Owens says the Process is still around.

The fact that the beginnings of how Best Friends started concerns me, to say the least. The fact that they were bankrupt, and started traveling around the country to gather money. Boy, I bet they are thinking the pet owners are suckers. The article is explaining the founders of Best Friends, their beginnings and it appears all of them are nut-cases. I am not aware of any agenda of The Dog Press, if you are please share. From what I gather, they are like a online newspaper.

[Rottweilerlvr]

Beloved, I'm not asking you to pick sides... Nor do I give my money to the big organizations, I do it on a local level... I also do not support PETA and the HSUS, as both of these organizations have made comments on BSL and how there should not be any PETS.