"Sir? Ma'am? Your special corner of hell is now ready..."

I was reading the Isthmus this morning and saw a short review of this HBO documentary called "Dealing Dogs," about dogs used for research in veterinary schools and the like. There are Class A dog dealers, and Class B dog dealers. Class A dog dealers specifically breed dogs for research. Class B dog dealers are the bad ones. Class B dealers buy dogs from pounds, shelters, small breeders, and unlicensed sellers called "bunchers," and then sell them to the vet schools and research labs. The primary problem is that Class B dealers don't always check where the dogs they're buying have come from, and bunchers will often pick up strays or wandering pets, or even steal dogs from their own backyards. Even the short blurb in the Isthmus horrified me. It talked about seeing dogs beaten, shot, underfed -- all on their way to being research subjects, which probably isn't a picnic in itself.

Now, sitting here with my morning cappuccino (I truly enjoy that machine, even if does leak and threaten me with electrocution) , I find a Newsweek article on MSNBC that continues the horror story:

"Members of one animal-rights organization—Last Chance for Animals—spent six months undercover investigating one of these dealers. The conditions they found were deplorable. Dogs were crammed into narrow feces-covered cages, some malnourished or bleeding from open wounds. Some were already dead, their bodies lying stiff and unnoticed in the back of the cage. One dog, considered a 'biter,' was shot in the head ('no sense in him breathing air that a good dog could breathe,' a kennel worker says). Other maggot-infested canine corpses were discovered in a trench, some of them butchered for their organs."

Now, being a dog owner (though I think the ownership is mutual), maybe I'm just a wee bit more sensitive to stuff like this. But I cannot fathom how some people can do such horrible things to animals -- especially those who have been our friends and companions for thousands of years. I can only hope the karmic debt these people are accumulating eventually comes up for repayment. Perhaps in the form of a pack of angry Rottweilers...