I am writing this in hopes to bring awareness to the public of what is going on. Many people have heard of PETA and HSUS. Animal rights activists. Many people think that they only want to help animals in bad situations. But the truth is shocking and sad for all of us pet owners. Whether we own a dog, a cat, a bird, or a fish. These groups are trying desperately to get rid of pet ownership completely. And they are succeeding! The sad part is people, like myself, hear that they want to do this and just laugh at the idea thinking they could never possible get away with it. But having done more research I discovered how wrong I really was. They are doing it right now.

They have passed a law in many states FORCING dog owners to spay or neuter their dogs at 4 months old. NO breeding of dogs is allowed except for licensed breeders, purebred show animals, police dogs, service dogs, or pets that a licensed veterinarian says shouldn't undergo the procedure. Anyone else caught with a dog that is not neutered gets fined and forced to neuter the dog. This sounds good... almost. Except for taking away a few of our rights and creating more devastating puppy mills! On top of that, veterinarians state that spaying/neutering at that early stage in development is bad for the animal. Veterinarians state: Growth-related problems, urinary incontinence, and behavioral problems have all been reported in higher numbers in animals neutered at such an early age. On top of other problems like cancer. This is still happening. They are working on Texas now and a few other states. They are trying to get it to pass in the whole USA. Where are our rights?

Dogs and cats are not just the only animals at stake. They are now passing the same law for rabbits! If they can bring rabbits in to it what is next?! They are also working on a bill to stop bird ownership. One article I read from PETA was a complete lie to try and get people to think that the people who breed the birds you buy are horrible to the birds. I, myself breed birds. And I know MANY people all over the USA that breed them for a living. And what they said was so far from the truth. They stated that bird breeders will LOCK the female in the nest box forher whole life just to make a profit. The bird will never be allowed to come out of the nest box. Now really, how in the world do you lock a bird in a nest box? They have to eat and drink, mate, and on top of that the bird would go nuts trying to escape. They would not lay eggs or care for them either. But they tried it anyways hoping gullible people would believe this. They also state that breeders take the eggs away from the parents and incubate them so the birds lay more eggs. That is bad for the birds health laying that much. The truth is, most breeders would be upset to have to take eggs from the parents. The cahnces of eggs surviving and hatching out is so slim that it is not worth the risk and would be a far greater loss. The only reason a breeder would take the eggs is if a health problem came up with the parents, or they parents did not care for the eggs. And most breeders will onhly let thier birds breed a few times during the year and then give them a break so they do not get health problems.If breeding birds is what you do for a living, then you must care about your breeders health to make things work. PETA also talks about over crowding cages, breeding thousands of birds that are all terrified and in cages too small. etc. I have only seen two breeders do this. The birds were not terrified, but I agreed the cages were too small and there were no toys. Two in the whole USA. All the hundreds of other breeders in the USA spoil their birds rotten with large flight cages and toys.

My budgies personally have a 9x9x9ft flight cage, toys all over, and are fed high quality foods. Most breeders give high quality seed mixtures, pellets, fruits and veggies. Some even make a birdie cornbread to feed every day! PETA will tell you NOT to buy from breeders or pet stores because they support this horrible pet trade. Sure, don't support them. Some day you can tell your children what it was like when you had a dog, or cat, or bird, or fish for a pet. And maybe they can see a picture. Someday you can see them in a museum. I think there should be laws on how an animals should be treated. Perhaps better enforced. But I do not believe our rights and animal ownership should be taken away. On top of that, yes they want to ban fish and any other pets we may be able to have. They want to close down the zoo's. Even though the zoo is eventually going to be the only places left where Polar Bears (their home is melting and numbers dropping fast) and many other animals disappearing from the wild will survive. During the Hurricane Katrina evacuation PETA refused to help the animals. They stated the animals were better off dead than back with their owners. They state that sometimes you have to kill them to help them. This is the mind of our animal rights activists. They have also created a new movie called "Your Mommy kills animals". You should check out their music video. They really are scary people.

Please be warned if you read articles from PETA or HUSA or anywhere else, they make it sound like they are doing a good thing. Like pets are all treated horribly. When the truth is only a small percentage of animals are treated badly compared to the millions that have wonderful happy homes. Children are abused far more than pets. Should we make a law that we cannot breed either? My husband made another great point. He stated "What is really sad, is that the only country that they could possibly pass these laws in and eliminate pet ownership altogether, is the country where pets are treated the very best."

I am writing this in the hopes that more people become aware of what is going on RIGHT NOW. We all need to do what is best for our pets. Take the best care possible. A clean place to live, shelter, love, good food, fresh water, and more love. Perhaps together we can do something to stop this before it is too late.
You can find relating articles online:

Letter from a veterinarian: http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/06/05/former-cvma-head-speaks-out-against-mandatory-spayneuter-law/
Letter stating the many reasons the dog bill is BAD: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/11/19012/9666
PDF file with legislation pending information on pet ownership/guardian information: http://www.ca-biomed.org/xx4520XXXAwxvGRepp/advocacy_2.2.pdf
Campaign to end bird ownership: http://www.idausa.org/campaigns/exotic_birds/index.htm