Tuesday, November 2, 2010

On puppy mills

It's election night. And I'm angry. The anti-puppy mill Proposition B here in Missouri is going to pass, but it's going to be a lot closer than people thought. Polls from the Post-Dispatch found 70% support. Right now, as I type this, the margin is 51-49 in favor of passage. It will probably get larger as the night goes on, as St. Louis city, St. Louis county, St. Charles country, and Jackson county still have votes to be counted. These places will go heavily in favor of Prop B. How do I know this? Because these areas are civilization.

But who would possibly go against puppy mills? Is anyone for puppy mills? Yes. Some people make a lot of money in these canine factory farms, and they have money to spend in defending their economic interests. They did this using a very simple, and very effective tactic aimed at rural Missourians: they vilified animal rights supporters. Vilifying animal rights supporters is cheap, easy, and effective as far as an election goes. If AR people are for it, then it must be bad!

But to blame the puppy mill industry in this state misses the point. Missouri is the puppy mill capital of this country, and this is a well known fact throughout the state. That we have a puppy mill problem is not news, and it takes a hell of a lot more than a few misleading ads to make people forget that. The puppy mill industry is not to blame for this vote being close.

The people of Missouri are to blame. Specifically, the rural people of Missouri are to blame. Look at the county-by-county election map for Prop B. Notice a pattern? Look at civilization -- St. Louis and Kansas City areas. Then look at the rest of the state; "Mizzuruh" as the rednecks call it.

There is a hard truth that not many people want to face, but I will say it.

*ahem*

Rural Americans are the scum of the Earth. They are disgusting, immoral people, and honestly this country would be better off without them. If we removed all the cities from this country, this part of North America would be home to a Third World hellhole called Redneckistan.

Yeah, I am angry. I'm angry that what should have been a slam dunk was so close. I'm angry that people hate animals so much they would cast a vote for puppy mills. But this should serve as a reminder: a lot people hate animals. The road in the fight for animal rights is hard. It's going to take fundamental cultural change.

Nights like this do not make me optimistic for the future of animal rights.

2 comments:

  1. I'm just as enraged and disheartened. A woman called in to Donnybrook tonight (a local roundtable on PBS) and said she was going to vote for Prob B, but then she heard that it was really backed by EXTREME animal rights supporters and VEGETARIANS. OMFG. So then she had to change her vote to no. That was all it took! How small-minded does a person have to be to decide issues based on who else agrees with them? And furthermore, who else is going to care enough to see these initiatives through? People who half-assed care about animals are NOT the ones working behind the scenes on these issues. Why would they?

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  2. OMGZ vegetarians!!!!!!!!!111!1oneone

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