I came across Stanley Coren's _The Intelligence of Dogs_  and found a
mention of the beginning of the SPCA in England.  Their first big lobbying
effort was to make it illegal for people to use dogs to pull carts or carry
merchandise (around 1824).  Seems high minded and straight forward enough.
According to Coren, the dog was the best transport animal the poor could
have. They were easy to get, small enough to keep in the family living
quarters, and could survive on the scraps of whatever food might be
available (i.e., cheap to keep).  In addition to hauling goods, the dogs
effectively guarded merchandise ... and also guarded the home when the
family slept."
 
The SPCA'S law was passed along with a law requiring people to pay a dog
tax (license fee), and the direct result was that dreadful massacres of
dogs took place all over England when they could no longer be used for
cartage, but were now taxable. In Birmingham, more than a thousand dogs
were slaughtered, and similar carnage took place in Liverpool. In Cambridge,
the streets were littered with dead dogs.
 
Fast forward to the future.  A different organization and a different
animal, but the same narrow perspective at work.  The HSUS thinks that
ferrets are only for special people and that maybe too many have them
already.  These well intentioned organizations have blundered in the past,
nothing prevents it from happening again.  What is that about the road to
hell?
 
   ( )--(a)
   (@=@=) \     Till next time.......Rudy the ferlosopher
   O__)  \ \___
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[Posted in FML issue 1244]