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Rodney- You said there is no board and Andrew takes in money himself and sets policy by himself. That was totally false. Now there's a problem with where and when they meet. Never mind it was open to the public. What's the problem with having a meeting ata large reptile show? We are reptile keepers!
HSUS lies and deceives donors to get their funds. The name itself is set to confuse people thinking it's an umbrella group for local shelters. Same thing with ASPCA and local spca. We do not need to follow their lead on anything. They even violate their own charter by lobbying.
1- I have been on the Humanewatch page for over a year now. They have their campaign and it's good. But guess how many times HW put up information on HSUS anti-exotic policy? None. They get into shelters, horses, dog breeder and agriculture areas. But they don't get into the exotics issues. If anyone here has watched their FB page for the past year they will see it is mainly 3 guys who post that information there in regards to exotics. Specifically reptiles. REXANO is another good place more our liking. That's not to say the enemy of my enemy is not my friend. HW is leading the charge against HSUS. But we don't reference them when using facts against anti-reptile keepers. We have our own scientific sources. You just have to go look for them.
2- Again, good idea. But I still see it as a HW campaign. Not an ARK campaign. It would drain resources from higher priority cases such as lobbying and putting people like Mr Barker in front of a regulatory affairs committee. (What was that about USARK doing nothing again?) We must focus on these efforts and not just a discrediting campaign against HSUS and Born Free. That would just make a civil debate with politicians intoa Jerry Springer episode with AR extremists. See what I mean?
3- What channel would run an ARK commercial. Heads in the right place, but it has been considered. Also considered was getting on radio or tv shows to talk about the issues. Again, money we don't have though. AKC has done okay in their fights and do not run commercials. Street teaming like I used to do for local and regional bands would be more efficient. Flyers not just for ARK but reptile radio shows that show insight to the industry. Raising awareness in any way is good but we have to stay within our means. I have friend looking into making new USARK stickers. The old ones faded fats if on a car.
4- Frank Losey is working on that 501c investigation involving IRS fraud and possible laundering charges seeing as they have to bail out HSI every year and have the HSLF and a school HSU. FBI is also looking in on RICO charges and where they paid the guy to testify against Ringling Bros. The heat is on them and it makes me grin like a possum eatin a yellow jacket!
5- USARK is showing a positive and responsible keeper to the ones that count the most; law makers. They are the ones that matter as they are the ones who decide to pass, veto or amend a bill. They are the ones we have to convince that the majority of us a good people and great keepers with concerns for human and animal safety. You and I can handle the public every day we go out with our "insert snake breeder here" bumper sticker, t-shirt or ball cap. When they ask, tell them the truth about keeping reptiles. Educating the public is our responsibility. Every keeper has done it when they tell family and friends about their passion. And it doesn't cost a dime. Hell, you get me talkin herps and I can't stop half the time!
6- Humanewatch. Not a lot of keepers watch Ellen anyway. I used to like Killswitch Engage and Rob Zombie. Once I found out they support PETA; no more. Same for Lamb Of God. But most of their stuff sounds the same anyway. Getting into boycotting is good. But I have heard fellow keepers say they will still buy tickets to Zombie's movies, shows and download albums because they like them so much. To that I reply "must like him more than your snakes huh?" Because ol Robby ain't gettin crap out of me. And I listened to White Zombie since '93. Hate it...but I like my snakes more than him.
On the contrary I would like to see more people like Kerry King from Slayer advocate for us, as he is a big snake keeper. Slash from GNR used to keep to, if he still doesn't.
The other 6- Humanewatch. I have been blocked form regular HSUS pages. But other support pages won't block unless FB TOS are violated. Trust me; they regretted that. But I never set up fake accounts as they do. I find any tactic of their s distasteful. I will mnot compromise integrity to get a rise out of them. Getting some of the supporters they suckered in comes with simply telling the truth. Others higher in the ranks and actually extreme always use the same cop outs when presented with facts "wild animals belong in the wild". To which I say 'True. That's why I buy only captive bred as we have advocated since the late 90s. And captive breeding decreases the pressure on wild species." Man they hate that. Truth is habitat loss endangers more species than the live trade.
I have kicked around the idea of a group with other similar to what you propose. Just to inform and fight AR lies. Reptile Owners Against Animal Rights, if you will. That's one thing we all are united on, (keepers, farmers, hunters) fighting AR.
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