Taking a Step Down the Path to Extinction

The California State Assembly's Arts, Entertainment, Sports & Tourism Committee is scheduled to potentially outlaw elephant conservation efforts on July 14, 2015.  The bill before them, Senate Bill 716, would outlaw the use of a tool called an elephant guide.  Elephant guides are no different than leashes for dogs or reins for horses.    You can't walk an elephant in public without one. Animal rights activists call this simple tool, cruel.   They claim that these tools cause injuries, puncture wounds, abscesses and other types of trauma to an elephant.

"They are weapons with only one purpose:  to cause pain, suffering and fear in elephants."
 activist Nicole Pagquette, HSUS.

Funny enough, these activists from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) have no injured elephants to show the public to prove their statements.  If these simple training tools cause puncture wounds, where are they?   The Ringling Bros Circus, in particular, is one of the most inspected shows around.   In 2012, during "one 11-week stay in California last summer, a total of more than 18 state, local and federal government agencies sent 44 different inspectors to look at Ringling’s pachyderms.  The 82 visits spanned more than 221 hours, or more than 3 hours for every day the circus was in the Golden State.”  At no time during those 221 hours of inspection did any inspector find an injured or "traumatized" elephant. 

Nicole Paquette went on to say that Ringling was stopping their elephant acts because of "the public's overwhelming opposition to the mistreatment of elephants for entertainment."   Again she lies.    Last year, HSUS lost a RICO Act lawsuit and paid Ringling $15.75 million to settle claims that activists had lied about how Ringling treats their elephants. You would think that activists from the HSUS would give up after being outed in court but here they are again lying to legislators and the public.

Earlier this year Richmond, Virginia banned elephants and other cities across America have listened to the same animal rights puppet masters.  These efforts are all part of the activists determination to remove all animals from our lives, one specie at a time.   Today its elephants, tomorrow its carriage horses, such as the long running campaign by New York City Mayor DeBlasio to ban carriage horses from Central Park, and tomorrow it will be your dog.   Ringling made a business decision to remove their elephant act because they have spent millions defending their reputation, wining, and the activists just continue to lie. 

Activists scream that elephants belong in the wild but in the wild they are dying in large numbers.   The vast majority of elephants in America today are domestically born.   They were born in captivity.  they are not 'wild' animals.   Animal rights activities want to remove them from our lives.  Today it's the circus, tomorrow they will disappear from our zoos and sanctuaries.   Activists are already attacking zoos nationwide and forcing the closure of many elephant exhibits.    Just up the road from Richmond, the Virginia Zoo recently announced that they are closing their elephant exhibit and getting rid of two elderly elephants under pressure from the animal rights infiltrated Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).    Just a few months ago, the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington got rid of their elephants under continuous pressure from activists.  Once elephants are no longer in the public eye, people will forget about them.   In today's electronic world, people have notoriously short attention spans.   Once out of sight, will anyone care that they are quickly becoming extinct in the wild?  A world without elephants, what a sad world that is. 

Katharine Dokken is a Public Affairs Specialist at The Cavalry Group and the  author of a new book, The Art of Terror:  Inside the Animal Rights Movement, available on Amazon. 

Follow Katharine and The Cavalry Group on Twitter:   @KatharineDokken  @TheCavalryGroup

The Cavalry Group Calls Out USDA For Misconduct

In July of this year, the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)  conducted an "educational symposium" for USDA licensees who own lions, tigers, and bears.  The Cavalry Group members who were in attendance of this symposium witnessed proof that the animal liberation movement's strategy is to infiltrate and influence government bureaucracies like the United States Department of Agriculture.  

TELL NEBRASKA FAIR MGR HSUS SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO FILM AT FAIR

Discovery Communications channel, Animal Planet which has direct ties to the animal rights extremist organization, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has been allowed unlimited access to film at the Nebraska State Fair. 

Our good friend, Trent Loos shared with us that while he attended the Nebraska State Fair this week he noticed an odd sign in the birthing pavilion that stated, "Animal Planet: Surprisingly Human."   (See image below)

Later on, after doing brief research about Animal Planet, Trent connected all the animal rights propaganda that the Animal Planet perpetuates with shows that oppose  pet stores , dog breeders, exotic animal ownership, and hunting, while promoting HSUS' annual Genesis awards. 

Trent asks these important questions: 

1. Why with all the State Fairs that present birthing pavilions, how did Animal Planet choose the Nebraska State Fair?
2. Has the recent stern statements by our Governor Heineman about HSUS not being welcome in the state of Nebraska some how encouraged this as an undercover operation?
3. And finally who at the Nebraska State Fair approved Animal Planet to be on the fairgrounds and have free rein with the video cameras?

ACTION NEEDED:  Please send an email to the Nebraska Fair Manager and ask him why HSUS partner, Animal Planet is being allowed access at the Nebraska State Fair. 

Email: Joseph McDermott, Executive Director: jmcdermott@statefair.org

Thank you!

The Cavalry Group Team

Protecting Your Way of Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness

For centuries, those who raise, breed, and work with animals have been revered and lauded for what they do. Today, across America our rights to own and raise animals are under attack by animal rights activists and their increased influence on government and non-government agencies overseeing issues pertaining to animal welfare.  This onslaught regularly violates protection from illegal search and seizure, and a citizen’s right to due process of the law; all of which are outlined specifically in the U.S. Constitution.

The rule of law provides that Americans are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law based upon facts and evidence, not emotion and conjecture. Unfortunately for animal owners today, the opposite is prevalent.  Animal rights activists use false claims of animal abuse and anonymous tip lines to convince over zealous prosecutors and sympathetic judges to issue warrants when, in most cases, no facts or actual witnessed evidence is provided to obtain the warrant.

As a result, animal owners and animal related businesses live with the daily terror that fraudulent claims, anonymous tips, or an animal rights activists’ internet-campaign could result in law enforcement arriving at their door and their animals seized without due process. Coupled with this real fear, animal owners are then exposed to extravagant animal care bonds and charges for temporary animal care, possible sterilization of high value breeding stock, or euthanization of their animals.

  

These instances become a big payday for animal rights activists and their organizations as they raise big money from these circumstances, and often times confiscate and sell, or in their words, “rescue and adopt out,” the private property of the accused who has not yet been adjudicated in a court of law.  These are real possibilities before the animal owner has their day in court.

In many actual instances, the rush to judgment fueled by animal rights activists results in destroyed property, bankrupt businesses, and reputations that are damaged whether they are found guilty or not.

At the end of the court proceeding, if the accused is found not guilty, the activists, prosecutors, state or local government, and the judges all get to walk away with no legal or financial ramifications.

The property owner, even if found innocent, is liable for the cost to house his animals for months or years in some cases, coupled with the destruction of their business and reputation.

The severity and the regular occurrence of these abuses of our Constitutional rights strikes fear in the hearts of animal owners and animal related businesses across America, who know that their livelihood and animals are threatened by the very real possibility of illegal search and seizure or false claims of animal abuse.

The animal rights based organizations have made their ideology no secret, and daily they express their desires and promote their strategies in plain view to nudge public opinion to their point of view.  It’s no stretch to figure out what they intend to accomplish with their policies when one realizes that the truth behind the veil of their exploitation of animals is the abolition of animal ownership and a vegan agenda for all.

Most Americans are unaware that this abuse is taking place.  Either that, or they are willfully blind to the impact that the animal rights extremists are currently wreaking havoc on all animal related businesses and animal owners across our nation.

To add insult to injury, many of the associations organized to promote and represent farmers, ranchers, and pet breeders are ushering in animal rights politics and policies by allowing a façade of compromise and agreeing to unnecessary, onerous, prohibitive, and costly regulations at the expense of fewer farms, fewer farmers, and higher food prices.  All of which are the intended consequences on the animal rights extremists.

Furthermore, many rural Americans are unaware of their Constitutional rights, and are often railroaded through a bureaucratic system that defies common sense and standard agricultural practice in their systematic to attempt to regulate and inspect commercial animal enterprises.

Notwithstanding the animal rightists goal of terrorizing animal owners and destroying animal related businesses, the Achilles’ heel of the animal rights movement is the historic principle that animals are property, and that private property is protected under the fundamental foundation of our U.S. Constitution -- further reinforced under the Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments. 

Our Founding Fathers' fundamental motivation behind the constuction of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution was the protection of private property and its direct link to Freedom and Liberty.

John Adam's words made it clear, "Property must be secured, or Liberty cannot exist."  

And more than one hundred years later in 1909, William Howard Taft's words still hold true today, “Next to the right of liberty, the right of property is the most important individual right guaranteed by the Constitution and the one which, united with that of personal liberty, has contributed more to the growth of civilization than any other institution established by the human race.”

Our sincere hope is that Americans wake up before it’s too late, and recognize that any individual or entity operating to usurp ownership of private property can and must be stopped by the recognition, comprehension, and protection of our U.S. Constitution.

Meanwhile, The Cavalry Group will continue to be on the frontlines to protect our members, their animals, and animal enterprise. Join us in the fight! 

Mindy Patterson is the president of The Cavalry Group, a member based company protecting and defending the Constitutional and private property rights of law abiding animal owners, animal-related business, hunters, and agriculture concerns legally nationwide.

Governor Jindal Signs Bill To Keep Tiger With Rightful Owner

The Cavalry Group is thrilled to share Michael Sandlin's press release and wonderful news that his Bengal tiger, Tony will be staying with him!

The animal rights groups have been pushing to remove Tony from Mr. Sandlin's care with false accusations and lies, and the result after much controversy was the recognition that Mr. Sandlin was and always had been in full compliance with the law, disproving the false allegations by the animal rightists who attempted to take Tony away from his rightful owner.

This is a huge victory for animal ownership.

Congratulations to Michael Sandlin and to Tony the Tiger.

The Cavalry Group Team

Tony stays with his rightful owner.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Governor Signs Bill To Keep Tiger

(June 20, 2014 Grosse Tete La.) The effort to save a Bengal tiger from exploitation by professional animal activist exhibitors was successfully finalized June 18 when Governor Bobby Jindal signed Senate Bill 250 into Louisiana Law.

Activists had worked their way through legal loopholes to try to force Michael Sandlin, owner of the Tiger Truck Stop and its 14 year old tiger Tony, to give up his cat, but the Legislature made itself clear that a law enacted in 2006 was intended to allow responsible private owners who met all federal and state regulations to keep their exotic animals.

The bill was the subject of much controversy, and animal rights activists from all over the world became embroiled in petitioning lawmakers with their pleas to “rescue Tony”. Their knowledge about the condition of the tiger and his habitat was the result of misinformation, lies and deception on the part of a few activists that stood to gain from his relocation, according to Sandlin. “We spent a lot of time and energy putting the truth into the hands of the decision makers”, Sandlin said, “and at last the truth won out”.

Mr. Sandlin is known as an animal welfare advocate, which is borne out by the fact that at one time his facility had more live tiger births than any other facility in the nation. He stressed that the difference between welfare and “rights” activism is that the activist makes no real effort to follow up or care for the animal once it has been given its “human” rights. Animal welfare experts from around the United States have concurred that the habitat at the Tiger Truck Stop is one of the finest private exhibits in the country, and has excelled in diet, veterinary care, and spaciousness.

Claims have also been made by adverse activists that Mr. Sandlin has repeatedly violated United States Department of Agriculture regulations in caring for his animals, but these allegations have been disproven. USDA inspectors have certified that the Grosse Tete, LA facility meets or exceeds all federal regulations, and has never had its USDA permit revoked.

The State of Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries also has a permitting process, and recognized that Tiger Truck Stop was fully in compliance with Louisiana Law in granting two permits for the tiger. The animal activists tried different ways to get the permits revoked, and were successful only when they got a court, in a suit against DWF by Animal Legal Defense Fund, an activist group based in California, to overturn the permit based on law that was later discovered not to apply to the exhibit at Grosse Tete. This injustice was rectified by SB250.

Denham Springs, La. lawyer Bob Morgan, who led the lobbying effort at the statehouse, commented that “once the legislators were told the truth about the tiger’s situation, it was a watershed moment for them. They did not like being lied to by the activists about the tiger”. Mr. Morgan is an attorney with expertise in Louisiana property law, and sees this as a clear cut victory for Mr. Sandlin’s property rights. “We applied the truth, and it won,” he said.

For Tony, and the thousands of visitors that view his exhibit at Tiger Truck Stop, the legislation means that he will be able to live his life out in the care and protection of Mr. Sandlin, in the spacious home with the people he has known since he was a 6 month old cub, and continue to delight visitors to the exhibit.

Schoolchildren mobbed the tables displaying information about Tony at the Capitol Rotunda during the legislative session. More than 1000 DVD's about Tony's life were given free to the student visitors and other interested people.

Mr. Sandlin offered his final comment - “We would like to thank Governor Jindal, Senator Rick Ward, Rep. Major Thibaut, the Louisiana Legislature, the Tiger Truck Stop legal & lobby teams, friends, family, employees, loyal customers and our local community, as well as the many supporters from around the world for taking a stand against animal rights terrorism. It is a great victory for private exotic animal owners, personal freedoms, and the protection of all of our animals.”

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