A Dogpile in Senate District 15
MIke Tipping
How likely are voters to be influenced by a cute puppy? The answer to that question could decide the state senate race in District 15 (Auburn, New Gloucester, Poland and Durham) and could potentially determine which party controls that body of the Maine state legislature. The puppy in question, a creation of the Maine Democratic Party for their website at www.iwasaluckyone.com is meant to remind voters of incumbent Senator Lois Snowe-Mello's complicated relationship with the state's animal welfare program.
Snowe-Mello's puppy problems began more than a year ago, when police and animal welfare agents raided a Buxon puppy mill, rescuing more than 200 dogs from conditions that an animal welfare official described as "below substandard". The state's veterinarian reported squalid, cramped conditions and the presence of diseases including Giardia, sarcoptic mange and ringworm. 98 of the dogs were housed in one 16-by-16 foot room. The puppy mill's owners were charged with operating an unlicensed kennel, animal cruelty and failure to provide necessary medical treatment to animals. They missed their court dates and warrants are now out for their arrest.
In a newspaper article published in the Sun Journal shortly after the raid, Snowe-Mello was quoted disparaging the work of the animal welfare agents and supporting the kennel's owners. One quote in particular where the Senator accused the animal welfare program of engaging in "Gestapo methods" prompted a critical editorial from the paper and a political cartoon from PolitickerME lampooning her actions.
When I wrote a post on the District 15 race two weeks ago, Snowe-Mello assured me that things had happened very differently. She said she had never backed the Buxton kennel owners or supported any puppy mill that abused animals, and that she was misquoted by the Sun Journal. That's what I wrote in the column.
Later, however, I spoke to the newspaper reporter who wrote the article. She stood by her story, insisting that the quotes were accurate and in context, and that Snowe-Mello had consistently opposed the actions taken in Buxton.
Another contemporary article, this one in the American Journal, seems to confirm that Snowe-Mello was strongly opposed to the state's actions. The Journal reports that she actually visited the kennel after it had been seized and attepted to interrogate the workers there, resulting in an "emotional confrontation" involving the senator, the kennel owners and local police.
One person who is absolutely convinced of Snowe-Mello's actions is Robert Fisk, President of Maine Friends of Animals. His organization is running a print ad attacking Snowe-Mello for her actions in Buxton, and he describes the senator as "one of the worst legislators on animal welfare." His group is encouraging their members to volunteer for Snowe-Mello's opponent, Democrat Deborah Simpson.
If you live in the district, look forward to hearing more about the puppy issue. The Democratic Party has just purchased more than $17,000 worth of radio ads opposing Snowe-Mello and I imagine that puppies are going to make an appearance.
In other Maine political news this week...
- Susan Collins wants Lewiston.
- She doesn't seem to care too much about Orono, though.
- John Frary's mannerisms made for an interesting debate.
- The Maine GOP doesn't find him very amusing.
- Democrats are optimistic about their chances in the state house and senate.
- Maybe that's because they're massively outspending the Republicans.
- Susan Collins denounced McCain's robocalls, but is keeping money given by the head robocaller.
- It's the season for sign stealing.
- Pat LaMarche showed up at a No on 2 press conference and started asking questions.
- Dennis Bailey did one better and showed up in a Yes on 2 TV ad.
- The Maine Green Party is complaining about Nader stealing their votes.
Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 in Permalink
Reader Comments:
Here's a working URL for the "sign stealing" link:
http://waldo.villagesoup.com/Government/story.cfm?storyID=131632
The AWD task force is a farce. It permits input from zero pet owners or occasional breeders. The make up of the task force is from state agencies (many of which individuals have rabidly animal rightist agendas to wipe out all domestic animals within the number already born, individuals with fiancially vested interests of some nature , or personal agendas. Omitted totally from representation on the task force -- are the hundreds of thousand of ordinary pet or farm owning citizens of Maine. There's nothing new about Maine promoting unconstitutional laws. Today the Animal Welfare Division demands our legislators pass legislation permitting agents to invade homes and seize private property withou warrant or proven cause. If passed tomorrow all state agencies will be screaming for the right to enter our homes 24/7/365 to without warrant and for no cause apart from a jealous neighbor wishing to cause problems or create an opportunity for their own personal gain. If the law passes it will be struck down as unconstitutional. Passage of such insane laws as permitting state agencies to enter our homes at will without court warrant guarantees all Mainers will lose all US constitutional protections, period. Our AWD has had its sticky fingers in other agencies budgets and helped import rabid pups to keep shelters open. Nothing was done to stop their horrible practices. Do you want our tax money spent on importing stray mutts from Puerto Rico to leave the impression too many puppies are bred here? I don't. See how well you sleep if you support passage of this law in a state which for 7 months ignored human patients in nursing homes being starved and left cold so HSUS could race in its 82 foot bus spaying and neutering animals much too young for the surgery to be appropriate. Shame on Maine with no appreciation of constitutional right to privacy in our homes and with residents having all the backbone of -- tissue paper or jellyfish. The nonsense about Maine being infested with puppy mills at every turn of every road is propaganda designed and used to rape us of our Constitutional rights to privacy in our homes. If you're looking for action to take, go to schools, demand to see the HSUS teaching modules that define human mothers as murderers if they hunt, and take truly appropriate action to get HSUS and radical animal rightists rejected from our schools and state agencies. Otherwise kiss your constitutional rights to your home being a haven the state can not invade without cause and warrant.
Wow...
I think you doth protest to much.