PETA recently launched two inflammatory ad campaigns that were timed to be viewed while the rest of America was enjoying the second oldest continuous sporting event in the country, The Westminster Kennel Club dog show. In one of the commercials, a member of the Ku Klux Klan sits in at a mock meeting of the American Kennel Club, and surmises that he will “fit right in here.” In the other, a young girl and her parents agree to buy a puppy from a gentleman who then hands over the carcass of a dead dog as he explains that for every purebred dog that is purchased, a shelter dog is killed. The ads are as repulsive as they are inaccurate.
These spots were intended to run on the USA Network during the two-day airing of the Westminster Kennel Club show. While I never saw these ads on television (and it’s unclear whether or not USA refused to air them or if indeed they made it onto national television), I did manage to view them on the internet, on PETA blogs, and on the Web site www.youtube.com. What I did see during the Westminster telecast were lots of commercials for Pedigree® dog food and its ‘adopt a shelter dog’ campaign. All 12 of the dogs featured on the Pedigree® ads found homes and some $750,000 was raised for its adopt-a-dog-a-thon. These Pedigree® ads were well conceived and achieved their objective, if falling somewhat short of the million-dollar donation mark that was hoped for. Whether or not the PETA ads were a success is hard to establish, although I doubt they scored any points with the NAACP.
Some 35,000+ viewers have watched the “AKC as KKK” ad on www.youtube.com, while the 3.23 million average viewers (up from 2.6 million last year) of the Westminster show on the USA Network watched the Pedigree® ads. I mention the effectiveness of the Pedigree® ads in helping to raise awareness and funds to find homes for dogs because they may seem out of place during the airing of what many consider to be the most prestigious purebred dog show in the country. But purebred dogs and mixed-breed shelter dogs can co-exist in the eyes of the public, as well as in the eyes of the AKC, despite what PETA says. The AKC is considering opening performance events such as Rally and Obedience to non-pedigree dogs and the advent of a mixed breed registry may be on the horizon. In fact, a lot of what PETA says is short on facts.
In a press release announcing the “AKC as KKK” commercial, PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch says, “When it comes to contempt for ‘mixed breeds’ and a fetish for ‘pure bloodlines,’ there’s not much difference between the KKK and the AKC...Not only does the AKC promote breeding as a ‘sport,’ it also opposes spay-and-neuter laws that would save the lives of hundreds of thousands of animals.”
Really? There’s not much difference between a group that’s responsible for some of the worst atrocities in American history, which committed heinous crimes against mankind including murder, and a purebred dog registry that donates millions of dollars to find cures for canine health problems, sponsors Responsible Pet Ownership Day events throughout the country and provides necessary food, shelter, services and equipment to humane efforts in the wake of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina? Where was the KKK when New Orleans was under water? I didn’t notice any Klansman among the AKC members that championed DOGNY, which honored the heroic work of dogs in the wake of 9/11, either. It’s a ridiculous comparison.
As for PETA’s contention that the AKC opposes all spay-and-neuter laws, consider this item from an AKC press release dated March 14, 2008: “The American Kennel Club supports and encourages all such groups and individuals, after exhausting all possible means to contact the breeder of such animals, to spay or neuter all adoptable purebred dogs prior to placing them with a responsible owner.”
The PETA KKK commercial ends with these messages flashed across the screen: “Fight Breedism.” and “All dogs are created equal.” Yet, PETA supports breed specific legislation. ‘Breedism’ and breed specific legislation are one and the same. This is the hypocrisy that defines PETA, which contends to be an animal rights organization yet it reportedly kills more than 95% of the dogs it brings into its Norfolk, Va. shelter.
In addition, the AKC doesn’t consider ‘breeding’ a sport, as PETA claims. Dog shows - not pageants, as PETA calls them - are sport, not the act of breeding. The AKC is all for responsible breeding and dog ownership while PETA seems to be all about irresponsible smear campaigns. The AKC denounces puppy mills and promotes the bloodlines of responsible hobby breeders that do background checks on prospective pet owners and require their pet-quality dogs be spayed and neutered. Approximately 75 percent of owned dogs are spayed and neutered in the U.S., according to the American Pet Manufacturers Association, while shelters across the country are being filled with puppies imported from other countries to fill the public’s demand.
Unfortunately, PETA has an annual operating budget in the tens of millions of dollars and it (mis)uses those funds to disseminate attacks on an organization that seeks to better the purebred dog and enhance the lives of both dogs and their owners. How should the AKC react? Does it stoop to the level of PETA and paint its president, Ingrid Newkirk, and her followers, as Hitler and the Nazi regime, intent on eliminating purebred dogs and their breeders? No, it should resist the urge to counter with a similar, inflammatory attack and take the high road instead. But the AKC and its constituents must be aware that they’re facing a well-funded, celebrity-backed band of extremists that are hell bent on acts of domestic terrorism and will make extraordinary, offensive claims to get a rise - and hopefully a donation - out of ill-informed people.
PETA claims to be an animal rights group but all of its wrongs don’t add up to any rights. PETA would like to abolish the rights of citizens to own pets of any description and these vicious, cruel campaigns don’t do anything but spread fear and hate. These libelous and slanderous attacks should be examined by the AKC’s legal department, as should the use of the AKC’s logo and banner in the ‘AKC as KKK’ commercial. Let a judge decide if this is PETA’s attempt at parody. There’s nothing funny about the KKK, nor likening the AKC to a lynch mob.