The National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA)

A humane and rational voice for animals and the people who care for them

NAIA Newsletter: May 14, 2007

What is NAIA?

The National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA) is rapidly becoming the nation's leading advocacy organization for animals and the people who care for them. We support the responsible and humane use of animals in agriculture, biomedical research, education, leisure and recreation, entertainment and companionship. Our philosophy is based on these basic principles:

• We are committed to the positive values of respect, kindness and responsibility reflected in the special bond that exists when people live and work with animals.
• We believe the animal rights campaign to limit and ultimately abolish human-animal interaction is unnatural, misguided and harmful to both humans and animals.
• We believe that the privilege of using animals for human benefit carries with it a clear obligation to treat animals humanely, responsibly and respectfully.
• We support and advocate reasonable, effective and enforceable laws that ensure the humane treatment of animals and provide penalties for animal abuse.
• We believe that others are entitled to disagree with our point of view, but not to break the law or use threats, intimidation, defamation, harassment or violence to force their views on others.

NAIA: the true advocates for animals

While animal rights proponents portray themselves as animal welfare advocates, the facts suggest otherwise. The animal rights movement seeks a world where animals and people no longer benefit from interaction with one another. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) says in its statement on companion animals, "All other than human animals would be free of human interference, and dogs and cats would be part of the ecological scheme." Wayne Pacelle, now President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), another organization pushing the animal extremist agenda has said, "We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding." It is hard to imagine a philosophy more hostile than this one to the welfare of domesticated animals.

By contrast, NAIA respects and celebrates the natural bond between humans and animals. We acknowledge and accept our responsibility to provide humane and appropriate animal care, and reject the animal rights view that humans should end their association with animals. We believe that people and animals are bound together in a natural and ancient relationship that is not only inevitable and necessary, but beneficial and rewarding to both.

NAIA: the real experts on animal care

Despite the millions of dollars spent by radical organizations to end animal use, more than 95% of Americans still choose to consume and use animal products, and an overwhelming majority support animal research. Unable to change hearts and minds by legitimate debate, many animal rights organizations have resorted to campaigns of lies, defamation, media attacks and intimidation. They position themselves as animal welfare experts, when in fact many animal activists know virtually nothing about the animal enterprises they attack. Few have had active contact with agriculture, biomedical research or the other activities they condemn. Some are youthful idealists, manipulated by groups like PETA for political and financial gain. Many are professional activists, paid to organize media events, orchestrate protests and generate publicity for their radical cause.

In contrast, the NAIA is made up of individuals who interact with animals regularly in a wide variety of settings. We are pet owners, farmers, researchers, animal trainers, biologists, sportsmen, animal caretakers, dog and cat breeders and enthusiasts, educators and entertainers. Our members are the real experts on animal welfare, people who have earned their credentials by working with, and in many cases living with animals, not from reading philosophical treatises or heart-wrenching propaganda. We have come together under the NAIA umbrella because we share a common commitment to educate media, legislators and the public about the facts of responsible animal ownership, care and use.

Our board members address national conferences on animal welfare, write columns for newspapers and publish in professional journals. We give expert testimony in court cases and legislative hearings; serve on animal policy task forces and panels; and respond to reporters writing about the well-being of animals and the human-animal bond.

NAIA: the ones who care for animals, not headlines

Many animal rights organizations have become little more than media-hungry fundraising machines, exploiting isolated instances of poor animal care to attract financial support from well-meaning but ill-informed animal lovers. Thousands of donors are deceived into thinking that their contributions are used to pay for direct services to animals, but that's rarely the case. For example, most Americans are unaware that despite its name, the Humane Society of the United States is not a sheltering organization and has no significant affiliation with the thousands of locally funded humane societies and animal control agencies actually doing the day-to-day work of caring for unwanted animals. While animal rights extremists stage media events for the TV cameras, our board members and supporters are the ones who work with animals on a daily basis on farms, in shelters, in zoos and circuses, in research labs, and in the wild. We are the people who make a real difference for animals.

NAIA: speaking out against the anti-human philosophy of the animal rights movement [see quotes from animal rights leaders]

The National Animal Interest Alliance takes a strong stand against the anti-human agenda of groups like PETA. We think it is anti-human, not pro animal, when PETA's Ingrid Newkirk says, "Even if animal tests produced a cure for AIDS, we'd be against it." It's anti-human, not pro animal, when Peter Singer, founder of the modern animal rights movement says, "Surely there will be some nonhuman animals whose lives, by any standards, are more valuable than the lives of some humans." It is anti-human, not pro animal, when Michael Fox, former Vice President of the Humane Society of the United States says, "The life of an ant and that of my child should be granted equal consideration."

And it's shockingly anti-human when animal rights publications call for voluntary human extinction and promote the idea that, "Phasing out the human race will solve every problem on earth, social and environmental." And finally, when PETA's Ingrid Newkirk compares the death of six million people in World War II concentration camps to the killing of broiler chickens for food, we, along with reasonable people of every culture and tradition, are horrified and deeply offended.

NAIA: the organization that extremists hate

There's a good reason why extremist organizations and their minions have targeted NAIA for some of their most vicious attacks. It's because we are recognized as the voice of reason in the animal welfare vs. animal rights debate. When radical animal rights groups distort the truth and make ridiculous claims, it's NAIA that steps up to the plate and strips away their mask.

• When PETA spokesmen call for violence and property destruction to shut down research projects and close restaurants that serve meat, NAIA consistently calls for stronger penalties against animal and eco-terrorism.
• While PETA is busy organizing hate campaigns against legitimate businesses and giving money to convicted animal rights criminals, terrorist spokespeople and the Earth Liberation Front, NAIA is calling for the revocation of their IRS tax-exempt status.
• While PETA and other militant animal rights groups are pushing unreasonable and coercive laws that promote their agenda, NAIA is offering positive, reasonable, proactive assistance to local communities to help with genuine animal control, conservation and animal welfare dilemmas.
• When PETA misuses its constitutionally protected free speech to advocate crime or praise a terrorist, NAIA publishes their words, and calls on animal rights groups to condemn violence committed in the name of their cause, thereby making certain that everyone knows – by their words and by their silence – exactly where PETA stands on criminal and terrorist activity.

That's how the NAIA has been exposing the animal rights agenda for the last 16 years. And that's why we and our members consider it an honor to be singled out for criticism by animal extremists. We're proud that groups with millions of dollars and unlimited access to media, know who we are – and recognize just how committed we are to seeing their reign of darkness brought to an end. When one of our board members is personally attacked by an animal extremist, we know we've made an impact on behalf of responsible animal stewards everywhere. It means we're doing the job we set out to do.

Finally, after 16 years of hard work, we are well positioned to lead the charge – to take back representation of animal issues for the people who actually care about animals – to be the voice of reason; support common sense values about pet ownership; advance animal well-being and raise respect for all the people who love and care for animals.

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