PETA “UNRELIABLE SOURCE” ON ANIMAL ISSUES, AGC TELLS MEDIA
The AGC has taken on PeTA in a letter to the editors of several east and west coast newspapers that carried a guest column by the radical group’s "research coordinator" Jennifer O’Connor.
The AGC letter warned readers that PeTA’s extreme agenda makes it an "unreliable source of information" on animal issues.
Dear Editor:
PeTA’s Jennifer O’Connor got some facts wrong and left others out completely in her recent column attacking greyhound racing. As usual, PeTA’s goal is not to provide direct benefit or service to animals, but to score a political point in the pursuit of its extreme animal rights agenda.
O’Connor referred in her column to a recent incident at a Florida track where 32 dogs (not 37 as she wrote) were found dead in a track kennel. In her eagerness to exploit this sad and isolated incident, O’Connor neglected to mention that it was the track’s own adoption coordinator, working with an adoption volunteer, that alerted authorities to the fact that several greyhounds turned over for adoption appeared to be malnourished and unhealthy.
Greyhound racing organizations have called for aggressive prosecution of the kennel operator allegedly responsible for these greyhound deaths. The National Greyhound Association (NGA), the official racing greyhound registry, is assisting authorities in identifying the dogs. Tracks and kennel operators are working together to strengthen monitoring policies and procedures so that this kind of incident can never happen again.
It should be obvious to anyone with an ounce of common sense that greyhounds couldn’t perform at their best if they didn’t receive good food, adequate exercise, plenty of rest and prompt veterinary care. It’s also true that greyhounds wouldn’t adapt so well to life in their adoptive homes if they hadn’t been well treated and properly socialized during their racing careers.
Your readers should know that PeTA has its own motives for attacking greyhound racing. As its website confirms, the PeTA agenda means no meat, no milk, no leather, no fishing, no zoos, no circuses—and ultimately, no pets. This makes PeTA and Ms. O’Connor very unreliable sources of information on any issue involving animals.
Sincerely,
Gary Guccione
Abilene, Kansas