It was a scene right out of a movie. I couldn't tell if we were extras in a Comedy or Drama, but it was definitely a Horror. And there weren't any golden awards.
Horror is a fascinating thing for most of us, especially when it's happening to someone else. The twist on this particular story is where the whole thing was taking place - and the cast of characters. Who would think a small town in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, would treat its dog-loving neighbors with such disrespect?
Things in Manheim, Pennsylvania, are out of control. New residents in a small but swanky development, carved out of a farmer's corn field only a few years ago, are "upset" because the man on a 70 acre property a half mile away raises dogs. Never mind that they can't see the building from their places without looking out an attic window. Never mind that the farm is clean and neat. Never mind that they don't hear dogs barking or that none of them has ever been inside his kennel building. They're "offended and something must be done!"
Remember the story about the woman in Puritan days, scorned for her love affair? The one who had to wear the scarlet letter "A" sewn onto her clothes identifying her as an adulteress? Well, the letter that went out to kennels in Penn Township wasn't scarlet in color, but behind it was a woman with a temper. She had moved into one of those fancy houses a year or so ago, lost her job at a lawyer's office and was filled with rage. "It's those dogs!" she told her husband about country smells as they drove around. In truth, it was pig manure. One would think a real dog lover would know that.
At her insistence, a letter was issued by the zoning office, informing seven state and federally licensed kennels in the township that they were breaking the law. "What law?" the kennel owners asked, from miles around. "The one we made about ten years ago," they were told, "and never told you about. The one requiring special permission." Kennel owners had to pay $400 each for the right to present their cases and ask for "variances" to be issued for their properties. Hearing dates were set.
As the quasi-lawyer woman and her cronies watched, case after case went on over the next several months. Pleading for their livelihoods before a panel of judges, dog breeders answered invasive questions and fielded high-handed remarks from an attorney, a zoning officer and three zoning commissioners as a gentle stenographer clicked away. Comments directed to them from the crowd and letters to the editor were rude, disrespectful and inconsiderate as they pressured the zoning board to make the "Ethical" decision. Interesting catch-phrase, "Ethical treatment." It's got a familiar ring to it. It should. It's from "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals." But, most of us know them as "P.E.T.A."
How does this relate to dogs? It relates because, while we are busy enjoying our dogs and all that they mean to us, organizations such as P.E.T.A. are flocking to our legislative authorities with all kinds of complaints using people like the out-of-work lawyer wanna-be. Penn Township isn't alone. Neither was pre-Hitler Germany when it became the society with the most far-reaching animal protection laws ever known.
What's it all about? In the long run, who knows. But, according to the National Animal Interests Alliance (N.A.I.A.), various states around the country are catching on. If you think Al-Queda is the only terrorist group out there, check out the N.A.I.A. website and think again. After that, there should be no doubt in your mind that organizations founded for the protection of our animals have been infiltrated by militants out to break down our animal-related sports and industries. But, after more than twenty years of "gorilla attacks" on private breeders, farms, research projects, racetracks - you name it - state and local governments are taking a new look at such interference and finally calling it what it is …"Terrorism."
Those hearings for the kennel owners? Too bad the zoning officials didn't have a copy of the "mobster list" from the N.A.I.A. website (naiaonline.org). Scattered among the crowd, their insulting remarks being written into the public record, were animal militants who don't even live in Penn Township and have never set foot inside those kennels. It's interesting that none of the "judges" sitting on the panel have, either.
How do I know? One of those kennels is my own.
This article is reprinted with permission from Ron Hevener. You can visit his website for more information on any appearances, books, and artwork.
