TFH #505: The Dark Truth About Animal Rights Groups, Scamtuaries and Chinese Dog Markets with Mary Beth Constante

I checked out your podcast because of the name, thinking it’s sarcastic. I only listened to the Animal Rights/Groups episode and I found it filled with ignorance, even though I am in support of Animal Welfare and think that PETA comparing chickens and Nazi death camps is absurd. I wish I had time to discuss/rebut all the issues brought up, but I’ll just mention one or two random ones out of a hundred or so I disagree with.

Chickens ARE sentient. They’re not the brightest birds around, but they are very much capable of suffering and feeling pain. Please watch this to learn a bit more about them https://youtu.be/1c06xOF4uQ8.

The guy with the bulldog, please don’t breed your dog. I could go on here, but please just don’t. And if you feel emasculated owning a dog with no balls, you can get testicle implants for him.

Your comments about NatGeo filmmaking are just stupid. Many of your comments were just ignorant and stupid. Your title isn’t really sarcastic like I originally thought.

I DO however agree with the very real problem of animal charities and rescues that are just unethical businesses in disguise. These groups are not only limited to animals, they exist in every charitable cause. There are some that still do good, but they’re born out of a need to fulfill the founders/staff egos as saviours.

Don’t just take any non-profit at face value. Research them before you donate your money or time, or before you adopt an animal from them.

Please never adopt or buy an animal online without seeing the source they come from, even if that lovely rescue organization in Korea is willing to Zoom with you and show you the dogs via video. I met a woman at the dog park who got her miniature poodle from Korea and saw the breeder via video. I doubt any caring breeder would be advertising online and then shipping dogs to other continents. You don’t know what’s behind the next wall. There are many local shelters, rescues or breeders so there should be no need to ship dogs in from other countries or even other states.
You want a Miniature Poodle? Find a vetted breeder whose home you can visit in person and get on their waitlist. Ask that breeder for contact with people who already own their dogs. If they won’t give you such contacts, find a different breeder. Don’t trust Facebook groups with members who claim to own a dog from a particular source. Those could be BS accounts created just for that purpose.

And just a general pet peeve of mine (pun intended)… I wish people would stop the madness of buying Bulldog breeds. 99% of these dogs are mass bred to meet the market demand. Just like my neighbour’s dog, they can’t frikking breathe!. They walk 10 steps and they’re exhausted from lack of oxygen. Imagine not being able to breathe comfortably all your life. These dogs are suffering right in front of your eyes just to meet your need of owning one that looks like that.

Lastly, if you just must have a bulldog breed, and a nice lady in a lovely clean home in your city has a litter for sale… she likely just had that litter shipped from a puppy mill in Ukraine (or just from nearby). Those dogs pay for that lovely clean home.