PeTA & Grey2K

I'm sure ya'll remember the Grey2K video of the kennel at Tucson Greyhound Park (TGP)? You know which one...  the one that was taken in the dark at one of the kennels...  the one where the 'videographers' told the watchman to not turn on the lights because the cameras worked better in the dark?  That video was so "scandalous"...  After all, the greyhounds had beds, in which they were laying, and were in the dark - at night - so they could sleep!  How dare the Grey2K goons disturb their good night's sleep!

Anyway, some of those "abused" greyhounds from Tucson have gone into adoption.  Those dogs have been making the rounds and they are beautiful! One, Tonic, is a lovely boy and he came from the very kennel that they filmed.  I have come to know Tonic and I can pretty much assert that he was sleeping in his condo when the goons came in with their flashlights to film their epic contribution to the film world. Tell me, if things are so horrible for the dogs and they have been so abused, why is this boy one of the happiest dudes anyone has ever seen?  Why is he so generous with his kisses and why does he have such a giant greyhound smile?  Tell me...  please tell me...  this is something I really, really do not understand....  Would a dog which has been beaten and abused, as asserted through the years by Grey2K and its minions, would a greyhound that has, in general, been grossly mistreated be this friendly?   Uhm... not only NO, but HELL NO!  I'd expect the dog to run as if his tail is on fire at the sight of a human!

You know, I always get comments on how friendly, calm & peaceable my dogs are. All of them have always been Momma's "kids" but the girls are the most confident and outgoing dogs I have ever seen and that includes peoples' much loved pets, show dogs, all of them.... The girls really like to work the crowds. I'd hate to see how the average Joe treats their dogs if these dogs are abused. Why?  Because, you simply don't get temperament like this by poor and abusive handling.

This is something that I've been preaching ever since before Grey2K came out with this stupid video. The only thing that that "investigative team" did was narrate the video in such a way as to make it sound bad. You know, a couple of amateurs with a video camera does not make an investigative team. However, that is the Grey2K tactic learned from her PeTA mentor, Ingrid Newkirk.

PeTA is known for using such tactics. Back in 1994, PeTA hired Michele Rokke (founder of Animal Protection New Mexico) as an “investigator.”  Here's a for instance...

Between June 1996 & April 1997, Rokke was in the employ of Howard Baker, DVM in New Jersey and conducting an undercover PeTA "investigation."  Two months after her employment ended, June 1997, Rokke filed charges against and accused Baker of 16 counts of animal cruelty, beginning with a dog that was treated at the clinic two days after she started her job in June 1996 and ending with a dog seen by Baker in April 1997.

The case was based on the uncorroborated testimony of Rokke, who surreptitiously videotaped the doctor and shot as much as 200 hours of tape with a camera hidden in her handbag. That tape was edited to about three minutes by PeTA and sent to national media.  The edited videotape was played before and during the trial on local and national news programs, tabloid shows, and syndicated talk shows. Throughout the nearly three-year ordeal, Baker and his wife were harassed and received death threats.

Baker was convicted in lower court in July 1999 but the conviction was overturned in April 2000 on appeal. Howard Baker DVM was exonerated of all charges of cruelty by New Jersey Superior Court, and the New Jersey Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners reinstated his license to practice 12 days after the court's April 14 decision.

The appeals court ruled that:

1. the testimony of the state's star witness was not believable;
2. the testimony of the defendant's witnesses was believable;
3. Baker's actions did not amount to cruelty under the law; and
4. the connection between the witness and PeTA tainted her testimony.

This is not the only case in which this has happened. Rokke has been involved in other illegal investigations including actions against Boys Town National Research Hospital, Huntingdon Life Sciences, and a North Dakota horse ranch. There are more.

Anyone who is really into dogs knows & understands that much of dog temperament is genetic, so behavior is not really proof of anything. There are spooky dogs that have never been abused, while some dogs from truly horrific environments and conditions still wag their tails and solicit attention from every human they meet. I hate when people see a nervous or shy dog and assume it means abuse. Genetic temperament and early socialization are huge influences. Even fears of things like loud voices, raised hands, fast movements, NONE of that is "proof" of abuse.

I take my dogs, my pets, for walks.  On one such walk, with a couple of them, I was stopped by several people that we came across.  One, in particular, assumed that my shy girl was abused at the track.  She was associating it with her being beaten and "tortured".  Standard comment, "Oh you poor BABY!  You were so abused that you are TERRIFIED of people!  You POOR, POOR, THING!"  and then continuing to me, "Isn't it criminal what they do to these poor dogs at the track?"

Imagine her shock & surprise when I told her that the shy girl never raced and that I had had her the longest and that her running mate had only just retired a couple of weeks earlier. The woman did not know how to respond.  It blew their race track trauma theory right out of the water. I told her, "The dogs just have different personalities... that's all."

Anyway, if you take nothing away from most of this post, I would hope you'd think about this...

1. Grey2K USA and its founders are very closely aligned with PeTA & Ingrid Newkirk.  
2. PeTA and its followers are not above extreme propagandizing to achieve their goal and neither is Grey2K, up to & including editing to present an very distorted and most inaccurate representation of "the truth".  In fact, their edits are so extreme that the resulting information is as far from the truth as the earth is from the sun!
3. Both Grey2K & PeTA are for the extermination of the working animal, the animal with a job.
4. Both Grey2K & PeTA interchange "animal welfare" and "animal rights" descriptions, intentionally confusing the public.
5. Grey2K & PeTA are NOT animal welfare groups.  Neither operate as shelters & both are LOBBYING groups.
6. PeTA cares so much about animals that it kills 98% of the animals it takes into its supposed shelter in VA.

I'm sure there's more that you can take away, but this is just the beginning...

Yours in greyhounds