dobermannpinscher.org

If you prefer to e-mail or fax what is requested below, here is the contact information for each of the three individuals listed.

1. Lew Ebert. NC Chamber
lebert@ncchamber.net
225 Hillsborough Street, Suite 460
Raleigh, NC 27603
Phone: 919-836-1407
Fax: 919-836-1425

2. Steve Troxler, Chairman
Steve.Troxler@ncmail.net
Commissioner of Agriculture
N. C. Department of Agriculture
1001 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1001
(919) 733-7125
Fax: (919)733-2120

3. Governor Michael F. Easley
governor.office@ncmail.net or governor@ncmail.net
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0301
Fax: (919)733-2120
(919)733-4240 or (919)733-5811

When I was a child somewhere between 3rd and 6th grade, I remember my mother sending me to bed early. This was somewhere in the late 60′s if not the very first years of the 70′s. We had a black-and-white television as I remember her watching it. It was early in the night, and I asked her why I had to go to bed before my usual time. She told me she wanted to watch a program, and it was about the shelters and how they put dogs and cats to sleep, and I shouldn’t see it. So I went to bed.

My curiosity, though, led me through the hallway, and from there, I peeked at the horrific show. I saw the tube that was opened and someone shoving in a dog, stuffing inside the already filled death tube with other terrified dogs. I heard the man’s voice, the voice we all heard on those old 16 mm films we would watch in our classrooms. He described what was about to happen through the release of gas and death. I watched the shelter worker man shut the door of that death tube, and knew the dogs inside were suffering through a horrifically terrifying death. I ran back down the hallway to my bed. No matter how much I cried and how much I held my pillow, the scene in my mind wouldn’t relent and to this day, I haven’t had a reprieve from that scene. I couldn’t believe adults were so mean. How could someone do that who was all grown up and smart and knew dogs were good and deserved so much better than a torturous death?

This nightmare about all the beloved dogs I wanted to save at that young age is one of several I’d seen throughout my life. Perhaps that film started a change back then. I’d like to think so. But the change hasn’t gone through all parts of our county yet, and we who read this and know of this practice must complete that change. We must put a bold punctuation point to end these practices.

Today, I received an e-mail that rekindled that nightmare. I wasn’t going to read it after seeing the title. It would be so much easier to delete and let “other people” take care of the request. But I didn’t delete it. I read it and relived the whole nightmare about the death tube. And now I share that nightmare and the e-mail below and beg you to please call as requested and speak for the voiceless. Help those animals, those dogs and cats who cannot speak, who have no one to hold them and love, but who are shoved in a death tube and forced to die slowly and frightfully. Speak for them. Ban together and call. A call isn’t painful. It’s our right as American and necessity as pet lovers to demand that this nightmare for the innocent be changed. It’s bad enough they have to die because irresponsible people were not caring enough to spay and neuter. But to kill like this 40 plus years later from my first nightmare? Have we not gotten any more civilized? It’s a slow process, but those of us who can speak up, need to. All these years have put millions of dogs through the same horrific process. So please, read this and if you can’t watch the video, then follow through with the call. Ban together and make a change. If you can watch the video, you will have a nightmare to file away as I do.

Helen
P.S. Think of your rescue dog. Someone could be shoving him/her in a death tube, but for the grace of God, s/he’s in your loving home.
——————–
SUBJECT: LIVE TV SHOW SHOWS GASSING OF DOGS TOMORROW

Dear Friends of Animals,

North Carolina Governor Mike Easley has failed to request the introduction of legislation which would override the Commissioner of Agriculture’s recent removal of the state’s own board’s recommendation to end the killing of pets by carbon monoxide gas under the excuse that “aggressive dogs are safer to kill by gas.” Most of this country uses
injection to euthanize even aggressive dogs, including 67 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, but the Ag. Commissioner’s people appear to be claiming that aggressive dogs in the 37 counties which DO use gas are more vicious than those in the 63 which do not. It is not worth commenting. This kind of false excuses by politicians is what has caused so many voters to not vote.

I urge you to watch the video at: http://www.companionanimalnetworktv.org/Videos/yadkin_county.mov and see the gassing being done TODAY in Yadkin County and 36 other counties in N.C. (63 use injectable). It takes 2-3 minutes to load. This video will be shown tomorrow night in NYC on Time Warner Queens Ch. 34 at 8 PM, and in
Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Nassau and Suffolk counties and the Hamptons in Long Island where the move stars live. It will then go into reruns for many years to come, airing twice every year on all our cablesystems. Our television program is carried by Cablevision, Time Warner, and RCN Cable. Though this video is on our website, I had chosen not to watch it until last night, in preparing it to be broadcast on the show. IT SHOOK ME TO THE CORE !! IF YOU REFUSE TO WATCH THE ATTACHED VIDEO YOU WILL NOT BE MOTIVATED TO DO WHAT YOU WOULD OTHERWISE DO, AND YOU WILL BE JUST AS MUCH TO BLAME FOR THE CONTINUATION OF THIS MONSTROSITY !!

After watching the video please call N.C. Gov. Easley at 919-733-4240 and 919-733-5811, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler at 919-733-7125, and Chamber of Commerce Pres Lew Ebert at 919-836-1407 and tell them that you will boycott N.C. goods and will spread the word about the practices of N.C. If Gov. Easley’s office tells you that the Agriculture Commissioner is a separately elected office, tell Mr. Easley that the governor can cause the introduction of state legislation banning gassing. In Georgia, even though a law was passed banning gassing of animals, the State Assenblyman who passed that law has sued the state for refusing to enforce it 10 years after enactment. States which still allow gas must be federally banned from doing so. I have spoken with the attorney doing that law suit. Also, please ask the Democratic and Republican Platform Committees to include a ban on all gas killing of animals. I, for one, an uncommitted voter, have decided to NOT vote for Obama nor McCain unless and until one or the other addresses this issue by agreeing to nationally ban gas killing of animals. I intend to reach both campaigns.

This email needs to be mass distributed nationally, being sent to blogs, other media, yahoogroups. Please forward it to everyone you know. The power of the internet and television to force change has been proven over and over. Please help us end this monstrous practice NOW! If this was happening to you or me, every day which passed by would matter. Just think of the southern summer heat inside those kill boxes, with dozens of pets stuffed in them like toys, pinned against one another unable to move even a paw. Just think of the horror, the anguish, the fear, the TERROR !!!

Garo Alexanian
Companion Animal Network

TO: GOD
FROM: THE DOG

Dear God: Why do humans smell the flowers,but seldom, if ever, smell one another?

Dear God: When we get to heaven, can we sit on your couch? Or is it still the same old story?

Dear God: Why are there cars named after the jaguar, the cougar, the mustang, the colt, the stingray, and the rabbit, but not ONE named for a dog?
How often do you see a cougar riding around? We do love a nice ride! Would it be so hard to rename the ‘Chrysler Eagle’ the ‘Chrysler Beagle’?

Dear God: If a dog barks his head off in the forest and no human hears him, is he still a bad dog?

Dear God: We dogs can understand human verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, clickers, beepers, scent ID’s, electromagnetic energy fields, and Frisbee flight paths.
What do humans understand?

Dear God: More meatballs, less spaghetti, please.

Dear God: Are there mailmen in Heaven? If there are, will I have to apologize?

Dear God: Let me give you a list of just some of the things I must remember to be a good dog.

1. I will not eat the cats’ food before they eat it or after they throw it up.

2. I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc., just because I like the way they smell.

3. The Litter Box is not a cookie jar.

4. The sofa is not a ‘face towel’.

5. The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.

6. I will not play tug-of-war with Dad’s underwear when he’s on the toilet.

7. Sticking my nose into someone’s crotch is an unacceptable way of saying ‘hello’.

8. I don’t need to suddenly stand straight up when I’m under the coffee table .

9. I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house – not after.

10. I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt.

11. I will not sit in the middle of the living room and lick my crotch.

12. The cat is not a ‘squeaky toy’ so when I play with him and he makes that noise, it’s usually not a good thing.

P.S. Dear God: When I get to Heaven may I have my testicles back?

Socks are only for bowling…

You never use an umbrella because you know the rain will be over in five
minutes…

A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but
everything to do with shade…

Your winter coat is made of denim…

You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites…

You’re younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65…

Anything under 70 degrees is chilly…

You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls…







You’ve driven through Yeehaw Junction…

You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix…

Every other house in your neighborhood had blue roofs in 2004-2005…

You know that anything under a Category 2 just isn’t worth waking up
for…

You dread love bug season…

You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren’t
Hurricane Charley or Hurricane Frances. You know them as Andrew,
Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne…

You know what a snowbird is and when they’ll leave…

You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average…

‘Down South’ means Key West…

Flip-flops are everyday wear. Shoes are for business meetings and
church, but you HAVE worn flip flops to church before…

You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt…

A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level…

You know the four seasons really are: hurricane season, love bug season,
tourist season and summer…

You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee, Withlacoochee and Micanopy…

You understand why it’s better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself…

You were 25 when you first met someone who couldn’t swim…

You’ve worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas and New Years…

You recognize Miami-Dade as ‘Northern Cuba’…

When giving directions in South Florida, you should always start with the words, Take I-95 . . .If you’re a snowbird or a non-working retiree, you absolutely cannot drive between the hours of 6 am and 10 am or 4 pm and 7 pm. This is considered to be rush hour and you’re not in any rush. No exceptions.

Some roads just stop for no reason and then start again: Congress Avenue, Lyons Road, Jog Road .

Freeways can only go north and south. Not east and west..

A1A and ALT A1A are the same streets.

Traffic Lights aren’t timed and never will be.

We measure the distance you travel in time not miles.

If you travel more than 5-10 miles on any road in South Florida without seeing an orange Bob’s Barricade, you’re lost!

If you miss your exit on I-95, its perfectly acceptable to back up.

Once the light turns green, only 3 cars can go through the intersection. Eight more go through on yellow and 4 on red.

Know the difference between Sun Pass, Sun Fest, Sun-Sentinel, and Sun Trust.

Flip flops, tank tops and baggy shorts are also known as business casual.

Your blinker means nothing.

English is our second language.

It is perfectly acceptable to brag about the size of your generator.

It is totally acceptable to be living in South Florida but not root for the Dolphins, Marlins, Heat or Panthers.

We have alligators here in South Florida and they WILL bite you. Don’t be stupid and try to feed or pet one.

Clematis is a street not a disease.

When a hurricane is headed our way, even though you have advanced warning and you are told to be prepared, you’re not a true Floridian unless you wait until the absolute last minute to go to Home Depot to pick up plywood or go to Publix to stock up on water, ice, beer, and potato chips.

You know how to spell Okeechobee.

Do NOT buy a boat. Make friends with someone who already owns a boat That way you don’t have to deal with the headaches.

There is an Okeechobee blvd, street, avenue, town, lake and county.

You weren’t born here. If you were, you’re angry that everyone else moved here.

There’s always a Walgreens across the street from a CVS on almost every corner – with more being built every day.

When picking up a woman on South Beach ,always look for an Adams apple.

It’s normal to sweat when you are putting up your holiday decorations.

Jupiter is a city, not a planet.

Seniors have to do their errands during the weekdays. Not weeknights or weekends – that’s for the working folks.

There are three types of dolphins: Mahi-mahi, flipper, and also one called a football team.

You can’t say; “this is how we did it up north”, if you think that way, then go back.

No matter what they decide in Tallahassee you will never be able to figure out your property taxes.

Learn how to dress in layers. It will be 95 degrees outside but inside any restaurant or business it’s 65 degrees.

There are three things you will need to survive a south Florida winter: A long sleeved T-shirt, sunscreen and restaurant reservations that you make at least three weeks in advance.

The same neighbor who smiles at you every day will be the first one to rat you out if you are violating water restrictions.

Helen

This arrived in my e-mail box. It’s good enough to share.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Average Pet Owner:

Thank you for contacting us animal rescuers, shelter volunteers, and foster-homes about your inability to keep your pet. We receive an extremely high volume of inquiries and requests to accept surrendered animals (and none of us is getting paid, OK?). To help us expedite your problem as quickly as possible, please observe the following guidelines:

Do not say that you are ‘CONSIDERING finding a good home’ for your pet, or that you, ‘feel you MIGHT be forced to,’ or that you ‘really THINK it would be better if’ you unloaded the poor beast. Ninety-five percent of you have already got your minds stone-cold made up that the animal WILL be out of your life by the weekend at the latest. Say so. If you don’t, I’m going to waste a lot of time giving you common-sense, easy solutions for very fixable problems, and you’re going to waste a lot of time coming up with fanciful reasons why the solution couldn’t possibly work for you. For instance, you say the cat claws the furniture, and I tell you about nail-clipping and scratching posts and aversion training, and then you go into a long harangue about how your husband won’t let you put a scratching post in the family room, and your ADHD daughter cries if you use a squirt bottle on the cat, and your congenital thumb abnormalities prevent you from using nail scissors and etc., etc. Just say you’re getting rid of the cat.

Do not waste time trying to convince me how nice and humane you are. Your coworker recommended that you contact me because I am nice to animals, not because I am nice to people, and I don’t like people who ‘get rid of’ their animals. ‘Get rid of’ is my least favorite phrase in any language. I hope someone ‘gets rid of’ YOU someday. I am an animal advocate, not a people therapist. After all, for your ADHD daughter, you can get counselors, special teachers, doctors, social workers, etc. Your pet has only me, and people like me, to turn to in his or her need, and we are unpaid, overworked, stressed-out, and demoralized. So don’t tell me this big long story about how, ‘We love this dog so much, and we even bought him a special bed that cost $50, and it is just KILLING us to part with him, but honestly, our maid is just awash in dog hair every time she cleans, and his breath sometimes just reeks of liver, so you can see how hard we’ve tried, and how dear he is to us, but we really just can’t . .. .’ You are not nice, and it is not killing you. It is, in all probability, literally killing your dog, but you’re going to be just fine once the beast is out of your sight. Don’t waste my time trying to make me like you or feel sorry for you in your plight.

Do not try to convince me that your pet is exceptional and deserves special treatment. I don’t care if you taught him to sit. I don’t care if she’s a beautiful Persian. I have a waiting list of battered and/or whacked-out animals who need help, and I have no room to foster-house your pet. Do not send me long messages detailing how Fido just l-o-v-e-s blankies and carries his favorite blankie everywhere, and oh, when he gets all excited and happy, he spins around in circles, isn’t that cute? He really is darling, so it wouldn’t be any trouble at all for us to find him a good home. Listen, we can go down to the pound and count the darling, spinning, blankie-loving beasts on death row by the dozens, any day of the week. And, honey, Fido is a six-year-old Shepherd-Lab mix. I am not lying when I tell you that big, older, mixed-breed, garden-variety dogs are almost completely unadoptable, and I don’t care if they can whistle Dixie or send semaphore signals with their blankies. What you don’t realize is that, though you’re trying to lie to me, you’re actually telling the truth: Your pet is a special, wonderful, amazing creature. But this mean old world does not care. More importantly, YOU do not care, and I can’t fix that problem. All I can do is grieve for all the exceptional animals who live short, brutal, loveless lives and die without anyone ever recognizing that they were indeed very, very special.

Finally, just, for God’s sake, for the animal’s sake, tell the truth, and the whole truth. Do you think that if you just mumble that your cat is ‘high-strung,’ I will say, ‘Okey-dokey! No prob!’ and take it into foster care? No, I will start a asking questions and uncover the truth, which is that your cat has not used a litter box in the last six months. Do not tell me that you ‘can’t’ crate your dog. I will ask what happens when you try to crate him, and you will either be forced to tell me the symptoms of full-blown, severe separation anxiety, or else you will resort to lying some more, wasting more of our time.

And, if you succeed in placing your pet in a shelter or foster care, do not tell yourself the biggest lie of all: ‘Those nice people will take him and find him a good home, and everything will be fine.’ Those nice people will indeed give the animal every possible chance, but if we discover serious health or behavior problems, if we find that your misguided attempts to train or discipline him have driven him over the edge, we will do what you are too immoral and cowardly to do: We will hold the animal in our arms, telling him truthfully that he is a good dog or cat, telling him truthfully that we are sorry and we love him, while the vet ends his life. How can we be so heartless as to kill your pet, you ask? Do not ever dare to judge us. At least we tried. At least we stuck with him to the end. At least we never abandoned him to strangers, as you certainly did, didn’t you? In short, this little old rescuer/foster momma has reached the point where she would prefer you pet owners to tell her stories like this:

‘We went to Wal-Mart and picked up a free pet in the parking lot a couple of years ago. Now we don’t want it anymore. We’re lazier than we thought. We’ve got no patience either. We’re starting to suspect the animal is really smarter than we are, which is giving us self-esteem issues. Clearly, we can’t possibly keep it. Plus, it might be getting sick; it’s acting kind of funny.

‘We would like you to take it in eagerly, enthusiastically, and immediately. We hope you’ll realize what a deal you’re getting and not ask us for a donation to help defray your costs. After all, this is an (almost) pure-bred animal, and we’ll send the leftover food along with it. We get it at Wal-Mart too, and boy, it’s a really good deal, price-wise.

‘We are very irritated that you haven’t shown pity on us in our great need and picked the animal up already. We thought you people were supposed to be humane! Come and get it today. No, we couldn’t possibly bring it to you; the final episode of ‘Survivor II’ is on tonight.’

Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Pet Owner, for your cooperation