_________________________________________________________________________
PETA Calls On TransUnion, Memory Bridge to Pull Ads From Westminster
Dog Show
Chicago-Based Credit-History Company and Alzheimer's Support Group Are
Helping to Promote Dangerous and Unhealthy Breeding Standards, Says Group
For Immediate Release:
January 27, 2009
Contact:
Danielle Katz 757-622-7382
Chicago -- PETA has sent letters to a credit-history consultant and a
charity that supports people stricken with dementia--both based in
Chicago--urging them to pull the plug on advertising their companies on the
Web site for the American Kennel Club's (AKC) Westminster Kennel Club Dog
Show. In its letters to TransUnion (the parent company of online credit
report provider FreeScore) and Memory Bridge, PETA points out that the AKC
promotes dangerous and unhealthy breeding standards that result in one out
of four dogs being born with physical problems ranging from allergies to
epilepsy.
Debilitating health problems plague purebreds. Depending on the breed,
these include hypothyroidism, demodectic mange, cataracts, ear infections,
allergies, and many more. Because of breeding, Labrador
retrievers--America's most popular dog--are prone to bone disease,
hemophilia, and retinal degeneration, and nearly 60 percent of golden
retrievers suffer from hip dysplasia. Also, procedures such as ear-cropping
and tail-docking--which are outlawed in other countries--are common in the
U.S. because of breeding standards.
Despite these problems, the AKC encourages people to buy purebred
animals, even though almost half of the nearly 8 million dogs and cats--many
of them purebreds--who are taken in by U.S. animal shelters every year must
be killed because of a shortage of homes.
PETA has asked USA Network to stop broadcasting the Westminster show
in light of the BBC's recent announcement that it will no longer televise
the Crufts show--Westminster's counterpart in the U.K.--because of harmful
breed-standard policies. PETA has also asked Pedigree to pull its
sponsorship of the Westminster show after Pedigree U.K. broke its ties with
the Crufts dog show last year.
"Because of the AKC's inhumane policies, countless dogs endure painful
cosmetic surgeries and millions of wonderful dogs die in animal shelters,"
says PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. "TransUnion and Memory Bridge
can help take a bite out of the cruel treatment of dogs simply by ending
their sponsorship of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show."
PETA's letters to TransUnion and Memory Bridge are available upon
request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.
------ End of Forwarded Message
First e-mail
PETA is lobbying the USA Network to drop its coverage of Westminster, citing
the BBC's decision to drop its coverage of Crufts. It is imperative that
all of us take a minute to contact USA Network and let them know how much we
appreciate their coverage of Westminster and the pleasure it gives those who
own dogs.
The contact information can be found at this link:
http://www.usanetwork.com/feedback/
If you scroll down the page, there are tables where you can choose the
programming you want to leave feedback on, and Westminster is one of the
choices.
Take a minute to help support the sport of dogs, and more importantly this
frontal assault by these radical groups to eliminate the ownership of all
pets.
Please pass this on to all your pet owning friends- the time has arrived
when we can no longer let 'others' ensure that pet ownership will be an
option or available for future generations!
Thanks!
, I had just googled the Michael Vick incident--and oddly enough CNN says both HSUS and PETA recommended putting the dogs down. I wonder how PETA justifies that stance with all the wacky things they've done in the name of animal rights.
