PETA: Obama Puppy Should Be Neutered (But He Already Is)

Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to the White House today asking President Obama to neuter Bo, the first family's new six-month-old Portuguese Water Dog puppy. In the letter, obtained by U.S. News, the PETA president writes she is sending a "coupon good for one free sterilization at PETA's SNIP clinic."

"...Money alone, unless you pour in as much as the Iraq war has cost us, cannot 'fix' the overpopulation problem.Please show that you understand this by making the first dog the last dog of his line and having Bo neutered. Sex in the White House has been the topic of past scandals, but with a simple 'snip,' the first dog can set a new tone and a great example."

However, according to U.S. News, the puppy is already fixed.

An entry in PETA's blog says the organization is "disappointed" the Obamas accepted the purebred puppy from the Kennedys over a rescue or shelter dog, and worries that not all Portuguese Water Dogs adopted from breeders will have the opportunity to be "re-homed," like the Obama dog, ending up in shelters instead.

Let us be clear: The new first dog, Bo, is not a rescue. While he was returned to the breeder by his first owners, that subtle point is missing from or buried in most news reports and is no doubt lost on the masses of people who will be lining up at pet shops and demanding "Obama puppies." These puppies will eventually lose their appeal, once people get tired of taking care of them, but because most pet shops and many breeders don't take "returns," guess where those unwanted "Obama puppies" are going to end up? At extremely crowded, overworked shelters like D.C.'s Washington Humane Society.

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Comments

[Balzac]

Re: Ingrid Newkirk's letter to President Obama:

"Dear President Obama,

Now that you have brought a dog into your family, we urge you to take a most important action—have Bo sterilized­."

Mind your own business, you wild-eyed, testicle-obsessed, angstivist!

Ingrid continues:
"However, money alone, unless you pour in as much as the Iraq war has cost us, cannot "fix" the overpopulation problem."

China had a problem with too many dogs. They sent government workers who killed lots of dogs one day. It didn't cost as much as one day of the Iraq War.

Ingrid Newkirk continues condescendingly:
"Please show that you understand this by making the first dog the last dog of his line and having Bo neutered."

She has no sympathy for this dog, it's owners or breeders.

Ingrid continues:
"Sex in the White House has been the topic of past scandals, but with a simple "snip," the first dog can set a new tone and a great example."

She refers to Bill Clinton's infidelity, implying that castrating a puppy will correct it.

Ingrid continues:
"Bo will be the happier for it."

How would she know? She's not a dog and doesn't have balls. Does she really care?

Why not give a dog a vasectomy instead of neutering him?

I'd rather be put down than neutered by Ingrid Newkirk or her testicle-hunters.

[Seaglass]

Some PETA reality, posted today on www.petakillsanimals.com :

April 23, 2009
Exclusive: PETA’s Pet Killing Program Set a New Record in 2008
Public Records: PETA Found Adoptive Homes for Less than 1 out of 300 Animals

Animal lovers worldwide now have access to more than a decade’s worth of proof that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) kills thousands of defenseless pets at its Norfolk, Virginia headquarters. Since 1998, PETA has opted to “put down” 21,339 adoptable dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens instead of finding homes for them.

PETA’s “Animal Record” report for 2008, filed with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, shows that the animal rights group killed 95 percent of the dogs and cats in its care last year. During all of 2008, PETA found adoptive homes for just seven pets.

Just seven animals -- out of the 2,216 it took in. PETA just broke its own record.

-----

(There's a petition on the website at the conclusion of this article.)

[Balzac]

Ingrid Newkirk is "angstivism" is concerned with castrating the Obama's puppy.

Reactionary pseudo-feminist doctrine against testosterone has found its way into PETA's anti-dog-testicle campaign.

For Ingrid Newkirk vasectomy isn't good enough, male dogs need to be neutered. Somehow, gleefully castrating the President's puppy is presented as People Ethically Treating Animals.

[Jezreel]

I think that most of us know that PETA consists of a bunch of NUT JOBS with a hidden agenda to eventually do away with ALL private ownership of animals and ALL hunting.

The unfortunate thing is that even NUT JOBS can band together, raise money and convince corrupt non representing "representatives" to pass bogus laws that infringe on our Constitutional rights. Take, for example, the case of Linda Brown, the East Coventry kennel owner who had the (mis)fortune of selling V.P. Biden his beautiful new puppy in December '08

After the news became public that Mr. Biden bought his dog from Brown, she was vilified by PETA and People for the Ethical Treatment Animals. The animal rights activists placed phony complaints against Brown with the State Department of Agriculture and local dog wardens. They accused her of not providing proper care for her dogs. Her business was inspected 4 times due to bogus complaints and she received death threats from animal rights groups.

The groups also ran controversial ads in Biden's home state under the heading "buy one get one killed" alleging that people who buy pets from breeders cause the deaths of sheltered animals.

After that awful incident, Mr. Biden adopted a second dog from a shelter.

[greeneink]

PETA is a bunch of dipsticks who look and smell as bad as they think Michael Vick does.

That's exactly what I mean when I talk about people thinking President Obama needs to be hand-fed everything on every move he makes, like he's a two-day old baby.

The man's been around more than 40 years-full grown with his own family, money, home, business, books, et al--and has handled a lot of stuff, including winning this presidency.

Who the hay do they think they are sending him commandments and instructions like he's a little child that doesn't know any better? And what of it if the dog wasn't neutered and he decided not to.

And?

[Jezreel]

Amen! I logged in just to comment on your post, Greeneink.

[pbgv23]

PETA doesn't believe in the selective breeding of animals, probably because they don't believe in pet ownership, considering it tantamount to slavery. As Ingrid Newkirk once said, " For one thing, we would no longer allow breeding. People could not create different breeds. There would be no pet shops. If people had companion animals in their homes, those animals would have to be refugees from the animal shelters and the streets. You would have a protective relationship with them just as you would with an orphaned child. But as the surplus of cats and dogs (artificially engineered by centuries of forced breeding) declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship – enjoyment at a distance.” (Harper's Forum Book, 1989) So it's no surprise they immediately went on the attack here without bothering to ascertain the facts first, holding out an unnecessary gift in one hand while smacking the first family with the other for having the nerve to adopt an animal without clearing it with them first. (And making headlines at the same time, their favorite activity.) But then, they probably wouldn't have let them get a dog at all if it were up to them.

[DogTown]

If Malia was not so allergic to most dogs I'm sure that the Obama's would have gotten a shelter dog!
Malia comes first! Then a dog!

[ardeth2]

Kudos to PETA for the neuter coupon, even if it may not be needed, and for caring so much about rescue and shelter dogs. As for commenters who claim PETA is extremist, geez, I wish it were. In reality, for all it's in-your-fa­ce-chutzpa­h, PETA is a pretty darn conservative animal advocacy group, and quite disappointing to me with its middle-of-the-road welfarist approach to animal exploitation. Saying PETA is extremist is like claiming that Obama is a leftie when he's actually an aspiring centrist.

As for Bo, I lean toward the notion that he IS a rescue dog, if only because he has lived with one family and been rejected, then with two others, temporarily, as a kind of foster dog. Rescue dogs, after all, are just dogs who have been taken to shelters or given to breed rescue groups by dissatisfied pet owners in order to hopefully find them a more compatible home, so what's the big difference here? The distinction is merely technical. He's been born, and he's had a tough first six months. Give him a break. He's adorable.

Judging from the photos I've seen so far, I do think the Obamas will have to adopt another dog for the kids. This one has clearly imprinted on Papa Obama.

[EL Todd]

Okay, okay. Now pass me the nachos and get away from my remote.

[Crumbysmom]

I love PETA and think they do great work.

But that said they are way off base here. One of things that families have to do when getting a pet is to spend the time to research what pet is best for your family. If more families did that then there would be less pets in shelters and being put down. The crowding of shelters is a problem for many reasons. One of them being families rush to get a pet without finding one that works for their lifestyle and family. Lots of people get pets and then realize their kid is allergic, the pet is to hyper, needs to much space, etc and drop them off at the shelter. Instead of coming out against Obama why not spend your time highlighting the importance of taking your time to figure out what pet works best for your family before getting one.

[lsloan]

PETA's self-importance never stays hidden for long, does it?

The Obama family specifically chose this particular breed of dog because one of the girls is allergic to most dogs. This Portuguese water dog is supposedly hypoallergenic, and will therefore allow the entire family to enjoy the dog. Having adopted pets from shelters myself, I can say from experience that finding a specific breed at a shelter can be difficult. It might even be difficult to find one of any number of equally hypoallergenic breeds at a shelter, let alone a specific breed.

PETA should get off their high horses, because at least the Obama family is doing the right thing in picking their family dog. They apparently don't need the advice of PETA radicals.

[LaurieAnn]

The Obama's first consideration needed to be what is best for their daughters and that's what they did. PETA and other organizations have their place in animal advocacy and I support their spay/neuter efforts, ethical treatment public education, etc. Both ways can work together.

[patianneb]

PETA often tends to be a over the top and strident about some things...H­OWEVER, without their groundbreaking UNDERCOVER operations, a lot of the long overdue action on puppy and kitten mills, the treatment of farm/food animals, horse slaughter operations, and "medical"/military use and abuse of animals might still be unknown.
In these efforts they partner with other organizations such as the Humane Society, animal rights PACS and legal arms, such as In Defense of Animals.
It is because of their success in these areas, by the way, that so many corporations, in pharmaceuticals, food processing, the fur and exotic animal trades and so on hate them and spend a lot of money convincing people to do likewise.

[lunarmagpie]

yeah, it's too bad they keep on counteracting all that by butting into everybody else's business and shooting themselves in the foot about stuff like this...

[paganmist]

Peta is based in Norfolk, VA, where I lived for a while. While I lived there, it came about that the Norfolk, VA PETA offices were accepting/picking up puppies on the pretense of placing them in good homes, but were instead euthanizing them in the back of a van, and throwing them into the trash.

I stopped supporting PETA then, and even turned down a job interview with them. It's hard to stand up for the rights of animals when you kill them instead of place them in good homes.

[patianneb]

Actually that happened here in North Carolina, and the two people who did this without PETA sanction were prosecuted.
That doesn't change the sad fact of euthanasia and the even sadder fact that more people throw their animals away or abuse them or WORST OF ALL fail to spay/neuter them than there are good homes to give them to.
It's horrible.
To think ANY animal organization can make up for the irresponsible behavior of all of us is asking a bit much.

[pbgv23]

According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2005, "The Center for Consumer Freedom, which represents the food industry, a frequent target of PETA campaigns, released data filed by PETA with the state of Virginia that shows PETA has killed more than 10,000 animals from 1998 to 2003. 'In 2003, PETA euthanized over 85 percent of the animals it took in,' said a press release from the lobby, 'finding adoptive homes for just 14 percent. By comparison, the Norfolk (Va.) SPCA found adoptive homes for 73 percent of its animals and Virginia Beach SPCA adopted out 66 percent.' "

[elizlucinda]

I applaud PETS for advocating neutering and spaying...­What's the big deal sending the Obamas a certificate. They can use it or ignore it..

[roshni]

PETA has to be the most annoying organization in the world.
Get lost and let people lead their own lives.