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San Francisco Considers Ban On All Pet Sales
Hugh Pickens writes "The LA Times reports that the Humane Pet Acquisition Proposal is on its way to the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco. It would ban the sale of any animal that walks, flies, swims, crawls or slithers — unless you plan to eat it. Representatives of the $45-billion to $50-billion-a-year pet industry call the San Francisco proposal 'by far the most radical ban we've seen' nationwide and argue that it would force small operators to close. Animal activists say it will save small but important lives, along with taxpayer money, and end needless suffering. 'From Descartes on up, in the Western mindset, fish and other nonhuman animals don't have feelings, they don't have emotions, we can do whatever we want to them,' says Philip Gerrie, coauthor of the proposal. 'If we considered them living beings, we would deal with them differently.'"
What lives will it save? Without the pet industry, these animals would never be born.
Plans change. Look at those adorable eyes! How can I eat it now?
Totally unenforceable.
(And whats to stop people from buying their animals in another town/state, or online?)
Perhaps they can zone them out next, just like minorities are zoned out of most of the good areas of San Fransisco.
So basically what we have is your typical people in power mindset, I was going to say liberal but conservatives in power do it to, they will all be for freedoms they want (in the case of this city same sex marriages) but damn if you dare buy Spot in a local store, why that is inhumane. I am surprised you can't buy dogs to eat in SF but you can buy live fish and poultry. What is that? Are laws based on ick factor?
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
A guppy has feelings but a fetus doesn't? And I am not for making abortion illegal but I am a fan of truth and logic. What about sea monkeys? Will people with fish now still have the option to buy live life food for them like brine shrimp?
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Fuck off.
Sincerely,
Animal Lovers.
Seriously, I get really tired of these dumbshit activists that think that pets somehow have a horrible life and if all animals just roamed free they would be so much better off. I think the problem is they watch Disney movies and believe that is how the wild actually is: Animals living together in harmony and having the best of time. I think these people need to take a trip to Africa and see nature in all its brutal Darwinian glory. Nothing dies of old age there, they just get older and slower until something eats them.
Sorry, but I think my house cat has a much better life. He gets to lay around all day, safe from weather and predators, he eats when he wants, gets attention lavished on him, and has access to medical care to handle his problems (asthma in his case).
Pets bring a lot of joy to humans, and it isn't bad for the pets. They have their needs met in a way they'd never get in the wild.
With purchase of any dog leash. Only $499.95.
They're going to outlaw gerbil sales in San Francisco?
"and spoiler her mercilessly"
She probably didn't appreciate when you told her that Darth Vader was Luke';s father, before "The Empire...:" came out.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
In San Francisco, and other so called 'liberal' bastions, laws are not created to give people the freedoms to live the life that they choose, they are created to radically socially engineer a population according to specific mores that the 'elites' prefer. So if the elites are tree-hugging PETA members, then they want to fashion society in that image, regardless of the hypocracy and stupidity it causes. One could say that all social engineering is applying a first order linear model to a chaotic system and then crying about how the results don't work.
How this is different than theocracy, I don't know.
hoooooly apostrophes, batman
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More PETA gubbish.
I really wish they would go away, and I'm a vegetarian myself.
upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
Dear AC. Please be sure to use contraception, as I'm not sure that you know what the word circumcised means.
Nullius in verba
I was imagining a cat with a big wing over her hind legs.
All that pet stores need to do is give away cooking instructions with every pet sold. Not their fault if you happen to decide not to eat it after you get it home. Sheesh.
Why stop there? Just ban pet ownership and take care of the whole problem.
"Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish"
Albert Einstein
How is it not crazy and silly? More importantly, what problem is this supposed to fix? Are pets sometimes mistreated? Then legislate and prosecute that. Are pets bred for sale under crappy conditions? Then legislate and prosecute that. Or are all pets bred and kept under horrible conditions? In that case, just ban pet ownership. But I will go so far as to call this proposal crazy and silly indeed.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
OK, I plan on eating my dog. Sell me a dog. What, are they going to make an additional law saying that you must eat your pets if you say you will? How about a law saying that pets must be stamped with a "best before" date? Or here's one, make it so you have to eat your pet in public or better yet, slaughter the animal when the credit card is swiped.
These legislators are stupid. Their state is completely broke, yet they have time to dream up bullshit like this. Congratulations on putting pet stores out of business (although surprisingly I'm sure that big-box pet food/supply retailers will be just fine) and causing people to travel out of state to buy their animals. Here's a tip. If puppy mills are a problem (and they can be), then GO AFTER THE DAMNED PUPPY MILLS.
I bought my dog at a pet store because no breeder currently had her breed. Yes, perhaps she came from a puppy mill. But she's the happiest dog in the world now (despite my sig) and I certainly wouldn't exchange her for any other dog now that we've gotten to know each other.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Those advocating the ban need to speak with some archeologists and evolutionary anthropologists before making their decisions. These experts now believe that cats and dogs adopted humans as companions, and not the other way around. With cats, agrarian life led to grain storage, which attracted rodents, and some kitties evolved to play nice with humans in order to access all the tasty mice in human settlements. For dogs I don't remember the whole story off-hand.
It was a valid evolutionary step for many animals to prefer and enjoy the company of people; banning pet "ownership" merely leaves dozens of cat and dog sub-species without their proper habitat and social environment.
I read this aloud to my wife, and our 10lb yorkie-poo dog just walked over to me and said "If those goddamn animal activist hippies think they're going to make me live outdoors, they're fucking crazy."
Then he took his surgically-fixed knee, went back to his comfortable place on his knitted afghan in our predator free air-conditioned home, stopping by for a bite of nutritionally-balanced dog food and a sip of parasite-free drinking water, and proceeded to fall back asleep for his 20-hours-out-of-every-24 rest pattern.
-Styopa
From Descartes on up, in the Western mindset, fish and other nonhuman animals don't have feelings, they don't have emotions, we can do whatever we want to them,' says Philip Gerrie, coauthor of the proposal.
Hey, uh, Mr. Gerrie... that is the western mindset, yes, but, uh... look where you are buddy.
Multiple choice: In terms of which hemisphere it is, what the mindset is there, where it is in the US, and which coast it is on, where is San Francisco?
A. North B. South C.East D. West
Is this guy so loony that to him "Western mindset" is an indictment of some thought in and of itself? "Oh that's how we think in the UNITED STATES, so obviously that's the dumbest possible mindset." Is that what's going on here? "If we considered them living beings, we would deal with them differently." Yeah, but we don't, so why are you acting like we do or should?
That would be illegal as kittens without legs can fly. Only the landing is a bit difficult.
Why not just regulate the hell out of selling pets?
Spend some money in research, and find out how and what you should regulate? Maybe instead of keeping newly born cats / dogs in a 2'x2'x2' cage, you are required to have 25sqft per kitten, 50sqft per puppy, etc. Shared environments are ideal, as it helps foster an environment where the animal is in a group setting (try adopting a 3yr old cat that has never seen another cat or animal its entire life).
Toss in some regulations about food, water, etc.
Basically take the incentive away from the the "pet factories" but still allow the caring breeders to continue doing what they love.
(there IS a market for spending $2k on a puppy with good heritage, etc)
In San Francisco, and other so called 'liberal' bastions, laws are not created to give people the freedoms to live the life that they choose, they are created to radically socially engineer a population according to specific mores that the 'elites' prefer. So if the elites are tree-hugging PETA members, then they want to fashion society in that image, regardless of the hypocracy and stupidity it causes. One could say that all social engineering is applying a first order linear model to a chaotic system and then crying about how the results don't work.
How this is different than theocracy, I don't know.
Liberal bastions, eh? And how is this any different from those 'conservative' bastions that try to - for example - outlaw abortion?
"Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
The problem is that dog "breeds" are so inbred that they often have serious medical conditions. Besides things like epilepsy and hip dysplasia, there are pugs and other short snout breeds often have breathing problems. Bull dogs are often delivered via cesarean because their heads are too big. Shar peis often have skin problems. Great Danes and other large breads die young because of heart problems. Most herding breeds develop neurological problems when not allowed to follow the instincts for which they have been bred.
Mutts are often much healthier and smarter than pure breads.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
"Pretty much Everywhere, laws are not created to give people the freedoms to live the life that they choose, they are created to radically socially engineer a population according to specific mores that the 'elites' prefer"
There, fixed that for you.
Save the liberal rhetoric for the Rush Limbaugh call-ins.
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
Here's an idea. If you want to do that you could, you know, like, dude, ban factory farming of pets.
As a city legislature, you can only ban puppy mills within the city limits. That doesn't stop a pet store within your city limits from importing animals from out of state puppy mills (and in fact I'm reasonably certain there are no puppy mills within the 49 square miles of San Francisco, except perhaps pit bull breeding for illegal dog fighting). Most puppy mills are located in the Midwest -- Missouri, I'm looking at you. Similarly, a city can't pass laws regulating interstate commerce; in other words, there's nothing it can do to stop a pet store from buying from out of state puppy mills. The only thing the city can do that will prevent stores from buying from puppy mills is to ban pet stores, which is what the law proposes.
In my experience, few pet lovers in San Francisco buy purebred dogs as it is. There is a strong SPCA culture here, where I would say the majority of people adopt dogs and cats from shelters (or get kittens or puppies from friends).
If you really must have a specific breed, however, there's nothing stopping you from driving 20 minutes across the Bay Bridge to buy one. Hopefully, however, the law will make you think twice about whom you buy from, and that you'll be reminded to deal with breeders whose operations you've personally inspected and whose bona fides are sound.
Breakfast served all day!
The last thing we need to do is give them the ability to travel faster inside the house. When my cat comes in the front door at 60kph she deserves to slide across the tiles and down the two steps to the dining area, dammit!
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Thank PETA. If you've ever been stupid enough to support PETA you need to understand they want to ban pet ownership. Yes Ban it. It's one of their top priorities.
PETA collects unwanted pets from owners and immediately kills them in the van they drove up in. This first came to light when someone found PETA illegally dumping lots of dead animals in someone's dumpster.
The Truth about PETA
PETA Trial Day 5: Deception and Tears
Shocking New Crime-Scene Photos
PETA's Shame
PETA Kills Pets | Seattle Dogspot
It works much better if you say "People for the Edible Treatment of Animals". Ticks them off more.
Idiot. Liberal or 'conservative' bastions are all pretty much the same thing. Don't get stuck on the descriptor.
That was my point.
The OP pointed out how horrible these liberal bastions are... But whether they call themselves liberal or conservative is irrelevant. There are an awful lot of people out there who think they know how to live your life better than you do, and they're more than happy to pass legislation to make you conform to their beliefs.
"Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
Amen. If you're going to ban something, ban the breed organisations like the AKC who push breeders to choose dogs for appearance instead of health or function.
Log in or piss off.