This Just In ...
Kevin Fischer is a veteran broadcaster, the recipient of over 150 major journalism awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, the Wisconsin Associated Press, the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Wisconsin Bar Association, and others. He has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for over three decades. A longtime aide to state Senate Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature, Kevin can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, "InterCHANGE," on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10, and heard filling in on Newstalk 1130 WISN. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their lovely baby daughter, Kyla Audrey, in Franklin.
The Barking Lot
THE WEEKEND DOG-WALKING FORECAST: We grade the weather outlook for taking your pet outdoors.
TODAY: Light snow this morning. Otherwise, cloudy skies. Snow covered roads and sidewalks. "F"
SUNDAY: Some snow showers. Otherwise, mostly cloudy. "F"
Time is on my side for February 2009. Usually on Monday evenings in the Fischer household it is guaranteed that ONE member of the family will be yelling and screaming at the TV from September to December. But I have no worries that NFL broadcasting will interfere with a program I faithfully watch when it airs Monday February 9th and continues Tuesday February 10th… Of course I am talking about the Westminster Kennel Club annual Dog Show. This is one competition that I cheer and clap and holler for… especially last year when Uno one, the very first beagle to win Best In Show. That is, ahem, truly an UNDERDOG winning!
We know the state of California can be trailblazing when it comes to drafting and/or enacting new legislation. Many times the law is loopy, strange, nutty, downright crazy. That’s the Golden State for you. So it did not surprise me to read an article about PETA in the LA Times. Get this: PETA wants the USA Network to stop airing the Westminster Kennel Club’s annual show.
I know I have written many times that I personally favor adopting a mixed breed (my favorite term is, and always will be, “mutt”) over a pedigree. That is just my feeling and I would never criticize people for purchasing and owning a pedigree. Pedigree dogs are bred for qualities and characteristics, and there is fascinating history behind the many reasons why they have evolved into the standards of today. The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was established in 1887 with a history as proud as the breeds of dogs it showcases.
The LA Times suspected its readers “would take issue with PETA's premise: that breeding dogs for the show ring locks in genetic defects that, it argues, plague ‘as many as one in four purebred dogs ... with a serious genetic problem.’” Well, apparently they were wrong. As of today, 96% of voters in a poll do NOT agree that the USA Network should cancel showing the WKC Dog Show. I am proud to say I am part of that 96%.
I honestly don’t know where PETA gets these ridiculous ideas. I can just see a bunch of them clad in organic cotton, wearing their vegan shoes… eating a bowl of sprouts and beans, drinking water they collected in rain barrels in the back of their building… sitting on recycled cardboard-based furniture… discussing what they can whine & cry about next in the world of animal abuse… Suddenly one brain child declares that nationally televised dog shows are the root of all evil and must be stopped. In the meantime, two blocks away from their headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, an elderly woman is hoarding 125 cats in her studio apartment. But let’s get that nasty dog show off the USA Network and all will be right in the animal world!
Thanks but I will be sitting on my couch the evening of February 9th cheering for my favorite breed. This will, of course, be after I finish my dinner of beef, or chicken, or even fish… Drinking a glass of COW’S MILK to support my growing baby, and maybe having a piece of chocolate for dessert that isn’t wrapped in an organic wrapper with a picture of a panda bear and facts about the dying rainforests.
PETA: People Eating Tasty Animals… That’s MY version of the acronym.
GO WESTMINSTER!
---Jennifer Fischer
Thanks, Jennifer! Take the Westminster show off the air? That would be a sacrilege, or at least Communistic.Leave it to the moonbats. Oh, and I DO NOT yell and scream at the TV, unless it's MSNBC.
Time now for DOGS IN THE NEWS, canines that made headlines the past week.
As we've written in the past, the news isn't always good.
Tanya Martin deserves to be punished (Read some of the comemnts that follow. Not much sympathy for this woman).
Thank goodness Lou Beddow's neighbor noticed he hadn't been walking his dog.
Here's the story of MissyToo and Mira, cloned dogs. Why don't they look alike?
Back in October, Jennifer blogged about proposed legislation in California that mandated the spaying and neutering of pets. Jennifer ended her blog writing, "I wonder what California will try to legislate next… how many times a day a dog can bark?" Well, guess what?
We've also referenced several articles about the impact the tough economy has had on pet owners. Here's a story with a different outlook and perspective: The sacrifices dedicated owners are willing to make to keep their pets. Of course, you can always splurge on your pet in many ways. Just make sure that chew toy is safe.
And finally, an effort is underway to return red dogs to proud hunting status.
That's it for this week. Thank you dog lovers, one and all! In keeping with the theme of this week's entry, let's review last year's Westminster Dog Show where history was made...
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