Sunday, February 19, 2012

Oh What a Tangled Web...

Grey2K USA (Grey2K) and how they and other animal rights activists use gossip, lies, rumor, and propaganda to advance their cause - disinformation.
"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive..."  A famous quote by Sir Walter Scott.

Grey2K and minions are masters of deception. Their deceptions are presented as facts and they present them by means of gossip.

Gossip....  What image does the word conjure up in your brain?  Can you see the two biddies gossiping across the back fence?  Can you see the high school girls whispering to each other in the hall?  Can you envision Grey2K's minions blogging and sharing their dis-information across the world wide web?  If you can, congratulations!  All of them are forms of gossip and / or the closely related activity, rumor mongering.

In today's world, gossip is one of greatest and most popular forms of entertainment amongst people! For some reason, it is entertaining to hear about others' lives and drama.  The problem with gossip, however, is it is 1) the fastest way to spread untruths and partial truths (dis-information), 2) it cheapens a persons life and 3) it can and does destroy people and their lives. Make no mistake...  gossip is evil.  We have to wonder what is missing from people's lives for them to take such an exaggerated and superficial interest in others?

Gossip is one of the methods that the anti-racing faction and animal rights activists employ in their attacks against people who work with animals in any way. They've been known to attack guide dogs for the blind, ranchers, racing folks (both dog & horse), dog show folks and even people who just don't share their view!  According to them, if you use an animal in ANY way, it is evil. They spread their litany by gossip, rumor and innuendo, masqueraded as "sharing information."

Gossip is distinguished from "sharing information" based upon the following:
  1. Intent - Gossipers often have the goal of building themselves up by making others look bad and by exalting themselves as some repository of knowledge, and
  2. The type of knowledge shared - Gossipers speak of the failings and faults of others, and
  3. A gossip is a person who habitually reveals and spreads personal or sensational facts, rumors and/or reports about others regardless of veracity and/or resulting consequences.
It is very common for gossips to masquerade as "do-gooders" and they do not see their actions as immoral, but as a means to achieving their noble & just cause!  Face it, it is a lot easier to accept gossip when it is passed off as sharing info for a noble cause.  That fits Grey2K to a tee...  Grey2K and its minions aka "The Carey Nation" habitually spread sensational facts, rumors, and reports, whether or not they are true!  They do it for shock value.  The Carey Nation have been known to fabricate stories and to use reports from other countries to display the "inhumane treatment of racing greyhounds in the USA."

Common Untruths Spread by Grey2K



 
  • "20,000 to 50,000 greyhounds are killed each year"
FACT: Most retired racing greyhounds, estimated at more than 90% of retirees, find appropriate pet homes after their racing careers are over thanks to greyhound adoption efforts nationwide. 


  • "The dogs get no personal attention."
FACT: Greyhounds get constant personal attention from the day they are whelped. They are handled as puppies and taught to walk nicely on lead. Their feet are regularly handled. Their toenails trimmed. They get massages. They are groomed and they go to the vet. They are hand slipped to chase a lure. They are petted. They are fed. They get tummy rubs and their ears are scritched. Their people talk to them AND, at times, curl up with them in their crates.  If that's not personal attention, I don't know what is!
  • "Greyhounds are starved so they will be motivated to catch the lure and eat it." 
FACT: Greyhounds are naturally lean and athletic. While racing, they are kept in optimum condition. Greyhounds cannot win races if they are starved and in poor health.
  • "Greyhounds are fed a poor diet." 
FACT: Greyhounds are fed a diet of raw and/or cooked beef mixed with kibble and/or vegetables, rice, pasta, and nutritional supplements. They also get raw bones to gnaw on to clean their teeth. Greyhounds cannot win races if they are not fed properly or if they are in poor health and condition.
  • "Greyhounds do not like to race and are forced to chase the lure."
FACT: Greyhounds are not forced to race. They either will or they won't. Chasing the lure is an instinctual reaction for a greyhound, which is a member of the sighthound family. Prior to a race, they exhibit great excitement because they know they are going to chase.
  • "Greyhounds are trained with live animals."
FACT: Greyhounds are trained with artificial lures. State laws and racing regulations prohibit the use of live animals for the training of greyhounds. Those who violate these laws and regulations may find their licenses revoked and themselves banned for life from the sport.

There are many, many more sensational "facts" espoused by the anti-racing faction all spouted to show everyone all the good they do.  There are so many, this blog isn't big enough to expose them all!

In addition to being gossips, many of the people associated with Grey2K seem to be afflicted by Narcissistic Personality Disorder.  Why?  People with this disorder are very preoccupied with themselves and their energies are often devoted to shoring up their own fragile sense of self-esteem. They have a strong desire to feel special and to be admired by others. Therefore, they often use others as a sort of prop to bolster their ego - other people are frequently seen as an audience who exist to satisfy their need to feel good about themselves. When possible, people with this disorder will associate themselves with people who are famous, wealthy, or powerful. Their wish in assembling such a prestigious audience is that some prestige and glory will reflect back upon them; less important people who cannot reflect glory are not worth their while.

Grey2K Dis-information

Grey2K states "a few times a month, greyhounds are removed from their cages and taken to the racetrack where they compete"
A fit greyhound usually races two to three times a week.

Grey2K claims that "7 states have banned racing."
It is LEGAL to hold greyhound racing in 49 states. What is illegal in some states is parimutuel betting. The only state to have actually banned greyhound racing is Idaho.


Grey2K states that greyhounds are confined to their crates more than 20 hours a day.
If that were the case, these dogs would not be in shape to race. Like people, the dogs need exercise so they don't get fat and flabby. They need exercise to maintain their muscular condition as well as their overall physical condition to keep them fit for racing.

Grey2K is a tax exempt charity
Grey2K has posted on their FaceBook page that they are "A national, non-profit organization dedicated to ending the cruelty of greyhound racing. We are a network of humane-minded citizens who work to pass stronger greyhound protection laws nationwide."  This statement is somewhat misleading as  it leads one to believe that Grey2K is a non-profit, tax-exempt charity. It isn't. Donations to Grey2K are NOT tax deductible.

Grey2K presents itself as placing greyhounds in homes. 
Grey2K does NOT participate in greyhound adoptions. They do not place retirees in homes.  They LOBBY...  They are, more or less, POLITICIANS as they attempt to influence public policy.  They attempt to influence it so much that Grey2K was named in an election extortion and tampering case.

As previously stated, this blog isn't big enough to enumerate all of the questionable statements.  However, the ones listed should get people thinking.

Yours in greyhounds....

4 comments:

  1. I've often wondered, in the past few years, how things that used to be questionable and tacky (like gossip columns and tabloid magazines) have become mainstream and the subject of daily TV programs (EXTRA, Entertainment Weekly, etc.). Seriously, some people used to sneak peaks at the headlines checking out in the supermarket but wouldn't be caught dead buying and reading one of those things, now you can't get away from it.

    It's very possible that this mentality makes it easier to have your lies (if you repeat anything often enough, some people will start to believe it) accepted as truth. Its very damaging -- and even more scary.

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  2. Hey! Those are my lazy couch boys in the picture! Coolness!

    It's about time the Trolley of Truth rolled over these blatant lies. Thank you.

    La verdad vive.

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  3. Grey2K actively employs disinformation in its attacks against greyhound racing and the National Greyhound Asso. Disinformation is intentionally false or inaccurate information, intentionally passed and deliberately spread to convince someone of an untruth. The tactic uses deception and false statements.

    Grey2K uses several methods to convince people that they are telling the truth. They use propaganda, which engages emotional support; disinformation, which manipulates people at a rational level by discrediting conflicting facts and supporting false conclusions; and finally, they employ censorship.

    Now, to figure out how to effectively fight the untruths spread by this well-oiled propaganda machine. There has to be a way...

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  4. Sage is right. We are fighting an uphill battle here. We live in a time when "news" and "entertainment news" have become synonymous. Reality TV is mistaken for reality. G2K has the pity factor on its side -- people see an outdated shock-value picture of an abused dog (usually a Galgo in Spain, or a dog not even involved in legal racing) and write a check before they bother to do any research to see what they are actually donating to. These people MUST be good, they are helping dogs not end up in that picture, right?

    WRONG. The only thing these pity party proponents want is to stop people betting on greyhound racing in the US. That's all. They don't care one whit if the tracks close and the dogs go to South America. They don't care if the dogs start running on unregulated, un-inspected, poorly maintained tracks. They just want the legal tracks to close. They don't care if the tracks close all at once, flooding the market with dogs who need homes. And do they lift a finger to actually foster, vet, care for, and publicize these dogs to get them homes? NO. Should some of the dogs be killed because there are too few available homes, they would take pictures of the lifeless bodies and use them to shock the next round of unsuspecting donors.

    We have to find a way to get the truth into the right hands and get it out there to the public. Taking screen shots of message board comments that catch them in lies are a start. Photos of them engaging in unethical behavior is another plus. However, exposing them on the message boards alone only reaches those already aware of the problem. We've been preaching to the choir, and we need wider exposure. Here in NM we have Larry Barker -- an investigative reporter who works for a local TV station rooting out corruption in business. We need such a person who works in the cities where the tracks are. Any thoughts, folks?

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