Subject: 1-800-STOLEN PET Date: 13 APR 93 21:45:17 GMT The following letter appears in the

From: lrudolph@vax.clarku.edu
Subject: 1-800-STOLEN PET
Date: 13 APR 93 21:45:17 GMT

The following letter appears in the Tuesday, April 13, 1993, edition of
the New Bedford (Massachusetts) Standard-Times.  I am sure its author 
would not begrudge its reproduction for purposes of discussion.  (The several
spelling mistakes, which I have left in, are as likely due to the newspaper
as to the author.)

     [begin quotation]

PROTECT PETS FROM
HUMAN PREDATORS

   How many of us allow our dogs and cats outside to roam unattended, or give
up pets we cannot keep through "free to good home" ads in our local newspaper?
Too often, animals obtained in this manner end up in research labs.  They are
taken under false pretenses from these ads, which are a goldmine for pet 
thieves.  They are then sold into a life of misery, pain and suffering.  As
many as two million pets are stolen every year into a vast black market.
   According to the shocking new book by Judity Reitman, "Stolen for
Profit: How the Medical Establishment is Funding a National Pet Theft
Conspiracy," many beloved pets wind up in puppy mills, dog fighting rings,
satanic cults, and biomedical research labroatories.  Companion animals who
trust humans are naturally the most desirable to animal researchers.
   Our pets are delivered into suffering and death by "dog dealers" licensed
by the Department of Agriculture.  Unscrupulous dealers and their unlicensed
accomplices, known as "bunchers," steal pets from out neighborhoods, buy them
from pounds and at huge "dog auctions," and take them from "free to good home"
ads, then warehouse them in filthy, disease-ridden kennels where many die.
   The few inadequate laws in place to protect our pets go largely unenforced.
It is up to caring pet owners in every community to demand that Congress
strengthen and enforce existing laws so that pet thieves and their accomplices
are prosecuted and punished.
   The one golden rule in protecting your pet: _Never_ leave your pet alone 
where he or she can be seen by thieves and taken, such as an unsecured yard, 
or let your animal roam the streets freely.  Provide your pet with proper
identification.
   Find out how you can protect your pet and help end the national tragedy of
pet theft.  Write to: Pet Theft Project, c/o In Defense of Animals, 816
West Francisco Blvd., San Rafael, CA 94901.  To report a stolen pet or to
obtain information about pet theft operations in your community, call the
National Pet Theft Hotline at toll-free number 1-800-STOLEN PET.

                                                      MARY LOU DECRUZ
                                                      New Bedford

     [end quotation]

Lee "free to good home" Rudolph