Why Are We So Quick To Dance With The Devil?

The news out of New York City gets worse by the day.  A group Ed Sayres created and funded (NYCLASS or New Yorkers for Clean Livable and Safe Streets) to destroy a political candidate and a traditional animal business is now under federal and state investigation.

This is very serious.

I've spent the last decade of my life opposing Ed Sayres and the lies and misinformation he was handsomely paid to produce to attack all animal enterprises.  You'll have to forgive me if I'm skeptical of his alleged change of heart now that he claims to be in favor of pet shops and commercial pet breeders.

Jay Kitchener testifying in opposition
to LD 335 in Maine. Photo Credit:
Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

When I fought hard last year in my state of Maine against LD 335, a bill to prohibit sales of dogs and cats from out of state commercial breeders, I never once saw Ed Sayres in the room to testify and oppose LD 335.  What I do recall is the first legislative conference call we had with Ed Sayres where his first statement was, “Pet shop owners need to have a Plan B."

What was Ed's Plan B, I wondered?

Why are pet stores so quick to partner with the man who still says, "Adoption should always be everyone's first option"? See his recent testimony before Arizona House Agriculture, Water and Lands Committee where he states it here.

Although Ed Sayres has left the sleazy and controversial ASPCA in Manhattan, the propaganda he produced while he was employed there has had its intended effect.  The elephants are gone from the circus, and the orcas will soon be gone from Sea World.  Do you really think it's going to be any different with dogs in pet shops?

Perhaps the day Ed apologizes to the Feld family (owners of Ringling Brothers Circus) and tries to refund some of the more than $20 million they spent to fight him, then I'll feel a little better.  Or perhaps the day Ed apologizes to Sea World I'll feel a little better.  But it will never bring back the elephants or the orcas.

Why are pet stores so quick to partner with the man
who says, "Adoption should always be everyone's first option."

If Ed Sayres had such a change of heart after a decade of serving as a highly-paid executive with a national stage, what do you think it would take for him to have a change of heart and return to his roots?  I'm not convinced that if Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States, or Ingrid Newkirk of PETA offered Ed Sayres a pile of cash to bat for their teams that he would turn it down. Why should he?

After spending several years putting together the controversial political hit group NYCLASS while still at the helm of the equally controversial ASPCA in New York, Sayres walked away from those organizations in 2013.  

Then in 2014 Sayres appeared as the president of the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC) in Washington, DC—the very group Sayres had been handsomely paid to defeat for a decade.

Sayres served at the helm of PIJAC in 2015, then quietly became a “special advisor” to them in 2016.  

There’s a problem here.  Since 2013 more than 120 communities across the nation have passed the radical legislation to prevent pet shops from selling breeder’s animals—the very same radical legislation that Ed Sayres spent his career at ASPCA preparing to unleash on the country.  This legislation is the same all over the nation.  This cookie cutter legislation prohibits pet shops from selling animals from licensed and inspected kennels and mandates that pet shops may only sell animals from unknown sources provided by shelters and rescue groups like the ASPCA.  This legislation comes straight from the playbook of ASPCA and the other controversial animal rights groups like the Humane Society of the United States and PETA.  

I don’t believe for a minute that Ed Sayres had an epiphany in 2014 and decided to join the very group defending pet shops and commercial breeders from the same legislation Sayres spent a decade crafting.

I do believe, Ed Sayres did not join PIJAC to prevent the government-forced transition from purposefully and professionally bred pets in pet shops.  Ed Sayres joined PIJAC to facilitate the government-forced transition to only randomly sourced animals in pet shops.  Was this the “plan B” to which Sayres referred in the first conference call with pet shop owners nationwide?

To this day Sayres defends his position against the New York City horse carriage industry. To this day he defends his misguided positions against the circus and Sea World.  Are we expected to believe he has truly had a change of heart when it comes to professional commercial dog kennels?  I’m not buying it.

Now that both the United States Attorney and the Manhattan District Attorney have subpoenaed the group NYCLASS that Sayres helped create, it’s a fair question to wonder if the mushrooming investigation will extend to Sayres at some point.  If it does, then the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council will have egg on its face, and Ed Sayres might want to have his own “Plan B.”

"When he asks you to dance you had better say never because a dance with the devil could last you forever."

Written by Jay Kitchener who is a leading advocate in the purebred dog industry. Jay has been on the forefront in preserving the rights of dog breeders and animal owners, and recently helped in turning back an effort to ban retail pet sales in Maine. Jay is now serving as the New England Regional Director for The Cavalry Group.

Watch Ed Sayres' testimony below where he says, 
"Adoption should always be the first option." 

Activists Announce Pet Shop Ban in Portland, Maine

After failing to achieve a state-wide ban in Maine in 2015 on the four pet shops that sell dogs and cats in the state, activists announced plans this week to re-introduce the ban in Portland, Maine “by the end of the month.”  There are no pet shops that sell dogs and cats in Portland. 

More than 120 communities across the United States have mandated in law that you may not buy a puppy from a professional breeder in a legitimate pet store, and that you may only buy a puppy in the store supplied by a shelter or rescue organization.  The problem is that these organizations no longer sell animals in need of homes from the local community.  These organizations now primarily sell animals imported from unknown sources in far-away states and foreign countries.  This is the phenomenon of retail rescue.

In 2015 the Maine Legislature passed the ban on the sale of professionally bred animals in pet stores with strong bipartisan support.  The governor vetoed the law, and it died.  Now, the same players who failed to get the state-wide ban in Maine are bringing it back at the local level.

One of the biggest supporters of the failed state-wide ban in Maine was Patricia Murphy, Executive Director of the largest shelter in Maine, the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland.  According to their 2014 IRS 990 forms, this shelter has almost $11 million in assets.  Murphy is paid a salary in excess of $100,000.00.  In addition, this shelter is currently constructing a new facility with a budget of $6.5 million.

In public testimony in 2015 I told the legislature that Murphy’s shelter was importing animals.  Murphy testified after I did, and she took great exception to my statement.  She broke protocol for testifying to the legislature by straying from her script to address my statement.  She emphatically stated, “We do not import animals.”

The facts indicate otherwise.

According to a survey from Maine’s Department of Agriculture, Maine’s shelters imported 45% of their animals from out-of-state in 2014.  The survey shows that 3,436 dogs and 2,060 cats were brought into the state by Maine’s shelters that year.  The latest numbers from 2015 show a dramatic increase in these numbers with 61% of Maine’s shelter animals coming from out-of-state.  Last year Maine’s shelters imported 4,302 dogs and 3,342 cats.  More than half of the animals in Maine’s shelters now come from out-of-state.

But Murphy still believes her shelter doesn’t import animals.

Only days after Murphy claimed her shelter doesn’t import animals, one of her employees shared a post on social media lamenting how she was stuck in Boston’s rush hour traffic as she made her way to Logan International Airport in Boston to pick up a shipment of “sato” dogs.  “Sato” is Spanish for “stray dog”.

The pricelist for animals at Murphy’s shelter is complicated.  Imported animals are more expensive.  Most dogs sell for $300.00.  Imported dogs sell for $350.00.  Imported kittens sell for $200.00 each. 

According to their Facebook page this shelter sold 253 cats and kittens in December 2015.  If the cats were sold for $200.00 each, that’s over $50,000.00 in revenue in one month from cats alone.  That total doesn’t include additional revenue from 61 dogs and puppies and 15 small animals also sold in that month.

According to state statistics, over half of these animals came from out-of-state.

The proposed ban on the sale of animals in legitimate pet shops from professional breeders presumes that those breeders are unprofessional and sub-standard.  If that’s true, why would government mandate that your next puppy must come from a mysterious place that might be even worse?

The proposed ban mandates that the public may only purchase animals in a pet shop supplied by shelters and rescue organizations. For 25 years Maine’s Puppy Lemon Law has been one of the toughest consumer and animal protection laws in the country.  Animals sold by shelters and rescue organizations are exempt from all terms of Maine’s Puppy Lemon Law.  Why would government remove these protections for Maine’s consumers and Maine’s animals?

Government is working hard with the activists to make sure your next puppy comes from mysterious sources. 

Repeated calls to Murphy for comment were not returned.

Jay Kitchener is a leading advocate in the purebred dog industry and has been on the forefront in preserving the rights of dog breeders and animal owners nationwide. Jay serves as the New England Regional Director for The Cavalry Group.