Do Animal Organizations Want To End Dog Fighting and Animal Cruelty, Or Just Exploit It?

I know that there is very little, if anything, that I can truly impact in this world in a major way. In a small scale way, I still hope that there can be change. Like acknowledging that animal cruelty and dog fighting are crimes, and that as such, only broad based public law enforcement should respond(not token forces that are ineffective and only there for show).Most importantly, no animal organization should respond to or investigate animal cruelty. I believe they are ineffective, useless, often harmful, self serving entities. But because so much money is being made by a variety of animal organizations that are perfectly content with the status qua,(because it is so lucrative for them) no matter how harmful it has been, and will continue to be, nothing will change for the better. They will pay lip service to the idea that animal cruelty and dog fighting are crimes, but beyond their empty words, do nothing to jeopardize their careers and that which butters their bread. Animal cruelty and dog fighting, if truly treated as violent crime, would move fully and completely into the hands of public, broad based law enforcement. And if fully enforced, I believe there would be a reduction in violent crime. When people commit violent, brutal criminal acts on one level, their criminal actions and criminal violence easily escalates to another. Why are a variety of animal organizations so eager to keep the illusion going that they are actually doing something of substance about animal cruelty? Because the illusion brings in money, donors and support. If someone really cares about reducing a violent crime, if someone really cares about reducing the violent rimes of animal cruelty and dog fighting, why would they not want there to be a broad based public law enforcement response? After all, the police are present 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all over the place, and so are the animal abusers.

The Humane Investigator Helps The Wildlife Trafficker

A woman reported to me that her neighbor, who I will call Beth, collected, hoarded, bought and sold wildlife. The neighbor said that Beth never allowed her inside of the house, but she witnessed monkeys, foxes, civets, small wild cats(not domestic) and other wildlife go in and out of the house. I was in the process of obtaining a search warrant, and made sure that Beth was unaware of my presence. Then the neighbor told me that a humane investigator had showed up at Beth's house. As was customary for many humane investigators,who I experienced rarely exercise discretion or common sense, all caution was thrown to the wind and the humane investigator simply showed up at Beth's door asking to go inside. Now of course Beth said no. Beth said, "You do not have a search warrant, and so I do not have to let you in my house." The humane investigator stood outside the front door for a few minutes, impotent and helpless as usual. Then the humane investigator left, pulling away in a vehicle that was as indiscreet as the humane investigator. After Beth peered out the window and saw that the humane investigator had left, Beth called her wildlife trafficking contact in the state of Texas. "Have someone come quickly", Beth proclaimed. "I have been discovered." In the early morning hours of the following day, a truck pulled up in the back of Beth's house. All the wildlife inside of the house was removed, placed inside the truck, which then drove away. The next day the neighbor called me and said that the humane investigator had tipped off Beth, and now all the animals were gone. "It is over", the neighbor said sadly. "There is nothing that we can do to help those animals. I do not know why that humane investigator had to show up, or who told the humane investigator to go to Beth's house." Later that day I paid Beth a visit. I knocked on her door. It no longer mattered if I revealed my presence, because there were no animals left to rescue, no warrant to obtain. Beth let me inside. She told me that all the animals were gone. She said that after the humane investigator showed up, she called her contact and had all the animals removed. Beth showed me around her house. There were many empty, filthy cages. "There is nothing you can do to me, Sgt.," Beth declared. "And you cannot get my animals. That humane investigator helped me."

The Dying Coral Reefs Of Saipan

There is a small island near the main island of Saipan that is a marine sanctuary. It is a pretty island with many terns. An admission is charged upon entry to the park. I was there one day when hundreds, if not thousands, of tourists were present. Even though an admission was charged, and park staff were present, people were swimming on top of nearly all the shallow coral reef. People were stepping on coral. The fins of some swimmers touched or hit coral and also raised sand from the ocean floor, which covers coral and harms it. Some tourists were picking up the abundant sea cucumbers, even though there was a sign somewhere saying not to do this. I asked some staff members why an admission was charged since no one was protecting the coral. "In a few years time", I said, "there will be nothing left here but another island with a beach, and no coral or anything interesting to see in the water. And then the number of tourists will decline. Protect the coral, if you want to protect your livelihood". Everyday, there will be less and less on that island. Anyone from Saipan reading this? Protect your coral. Shallow coral reefs the world over are being destroyed, not just on Saipan. And much of it by tourists eager to see coral and snorkel or dive,enjoying the experience, but failing to leave behind no footprint.

A Mechanism Must Be Put In Place Internationally By Which Child Support Can Be Obtained ,Regardless Of Where The Child Is Born

If a man has a child with a woman anywhere in the world, that child must be the man's responsibility that he cannot escape from, even if he returns to the country from which he came and leaves behind the mother. There are far too many children living in third world countries fathered by men from wealthier countries that have escaped their responsibilities. A mechanism must be put in place by which child support can be obtained, and fatherhood determined, without all the obstacles that presently exist. Recently the mother to a child with special needs died. The father is from Korea. He is not supporting his child. Why should that child or any child have to be destitute, just because a father flees his parental responsibility by escaping to his own country?

Dead Forest/Dead Parks/Dead Seas, More Conservation Failures

Travel the world. Go to those places where there was once, and sometimes still is, the greatest biodiversity. It can be found in tropical third world countries. Travel outside of a showcase forest, park or sanctuary for a species that one so called conservation group or another may promote in their bid to get donor money, all the while pretending to be the broad based answer to a conservation and wildlife problem. Hike one of the many dead forest zones. Or swim in one of the allegedly protected dead marine sanctuaries. There you will see dead and dying coral and few fish. In the forests, barely an animal stirs. Small birds may flutter about, the few that have escaped the widespread destruction to habitat, the illegal logging, the trapping, hunting of wildlife. The parrots do not fare so well, having endured endless live capture that often results in their death. But these organizations will not tell you about this. They will endlessly advertise their sanctuary, their showcase forest or showcase species that they have allegedly protected, or the other wonderful things they are allegedly accomplishing. You will not hear about their failures, which are many and not inconsequential. They might claim to be international or broad based in their efforts, but they are anything but. While there is still a little of nature left, it is the last chance to get serious about wildlife and conservation. It should not be left in the hands of self serving, cherry picking conservation/wildlife organizations that have failed miserably. (Name the species....Chimpanzees,other primates, bats, birds, turtles,large fish and predatory fish, marine mammals, and more,- many are less than a fraction of what they once numbered in the wild) There is now the widespread and enormous decline of most wildlife.Most large predatory fish are already gone. Most large land based mammals are gone. Hike these dead forests, and swim in these dead seas and you may hear local people concerned with conservation say....If only there was money or had been money to hire people that can properly protect the lands and seas. So often the lack of money means forests, seas and species die. No money available to protect, yet many of the conservation/wildlife protection/animal welfare humane type organizations are flush with money. Plain and simply put, there has been an enormous failure to protect wildlife and nature, with few and rare exceptions. Let these organizations keep their showcase projects or do whatever it is they allegedly do. But let them be marginal while true conservation and wildlife protection is taken from their ineffective, self serving hands. Conservation and wildlife protection needs to move fully into the hands of non corrupt governments with high levels of efficacy. A threat like ISIS is responded to by governments, not private, self serving entities. The destruction of wildlife and habitat, long term, is a far greater threat than any demented group of humans like ISIS can offer( unless the demented humans possess nuclear weapons).

Non Profit Animal Organizations' Exploitation of Dog Fighting and Animal Cruelty And How This Helps Animal Abusers

For some reason, government is fair game for criticism, but other powerful,wealthy and influential institutions are given a free pass. We assume greed and corruption exists in the world of government and in the world of crime, and in some elements of the corporate world. But in the nonprofit world, the one arena where wealth, power and money are supposed to have a positive impact, a free pass is given and they are held above reproach. And of course powerful religious institutions are given a free pass, no matter how negatively some of their doctrines, policies and traditions may harm others. The nonprofit world is one of the least examined, least criticized, least held accountable in terms of their actual efficacy, than practically anything else. We look at their salaries and administrative costs, and fail to examine the efficacy of what they actually do. They will defend themselves no matter what, because they do not want the huge cash cow to end. Name the problem, and there is some organization milking it. Now of course there are nonprofits doing good work, that have high levels of efficacy and transparency. But when misery, suffering, pain and problems are in the domain of the defenseless, the voiceless, the powerless, the hard to quantify, then all bets are off. When an animal organization states it is investigating animal cruelty, I believe strongly that they are doing nothing more than highly ineffective,self serving often harmful investigations and responses to animal cruelty. Only public law enforcement should investigate crime, especially violent crimes like animal cruelty. This will never happen as long as the animal groups keep exploiting cruelty for their own gain, giving public law enforcement a continued free pass to ignore this entire category of violent crime, with very few and inconsequential exceptions. Those married to this pathological status qua will defend vigorously the organizations and status qua they love so much and their careers. But the facts speak for themselves. If drunk driving or domestic violence was responded to in the same way as animal cruelty, there would be an explosion of those crimes. Can you imagine if almost of the enforcement of those crimes rested in the hands of private organizations and token law enforcement teams, while almost all of public law enforcement ignored those crimes, what the consequence would be? There would be an explosion of drunk driving and domestic violence. Dog fighting and animal cruelty are alive and well. Hardly any dog fighter ever gets arrested because of this pathological dynamic. And when it comes to other forms of animal cruelty in general, an incredibly common occurring crime, the tiny number of offenders actually arrested in proportion to the volume and frequency of the crime is truly heart breaking. Anyone that truly cares about animals,and that does not put an organization, their career, or money first, cannot want this to continue. Public law enforcement must respond to all violent crimes, and animal cruelty should not be the exception. Not with token police forces put out there to make the public feel good. And certainly not with so called investigators from self serving private animal organizations that I believe have have done far more harm than good, and that at best are utterly useless and ineffective.

NonProfit Exploitation Or A Better Way To Combat Animal Cruelty/Dog Fighting,And Save Wildlife, Habitat and Address Serious Problems and Suffering

                                        If I did not witness it first hand, I would assume like most people that the nonprofit world is incapable of exploiting pain, misery and suffering, for their own gain. There is too much at stake for there not to be accountability. Many serious problems are exploited.
                                       This is an edited email exchange, (omitting the emails of the other person to protect his/her privacy)in an effort to elicit support from a prominent individual, who I will refer to as X. The email exchanges summarizes the widespread exploitation of animal cruelty, conservation and wildlife protection, by a number of ineffective, exploitative nonprofit entities. It is also an account of my lost battle to save a rare lowland coastal rainforest and its highly endangered wildlife- another conservation/wildlife protection failure in which there will probably, and unfortunately, never be accountability.
                                        I asked this person,who is in a better position than I, to help expose the massive lack of accountability, ineffectiveness and failures in the nonprofit world as it relates to conservation, wildlife, animal welfare and cruelty,child welfare, and more. While there is still a little left of wildlife and nature, I hope that conservation and wildlife protection, especially as it pertains to the third world, moves from the hands of highly exploitative, ineffective nonprofit entities, and instead is spearheaded by nations and governments, such as Norway, that have a history of low corruption and efficacy. Governments address serious issues, which must include conservation. And then, local people can be employed by these government entities to help in the conservation/wildlife protection effort, all the while getting paid living wages appropriate for the country in which they reside.
                                      The world loses when there is a pampered elitist class employed by nonprofit entities in which money and career ensures loyalty to the organization, not to conservation and wildlife protection. If conservation/wildlife protection is spearheaded by nations that have proven themselves effective and not corrupt, conservation and wildlife protection will have a far better chance of succeeding. We cannot afford any more the massive failures and lack of accountability.                                             Regarding animal cruelty and dogfighting….. The only way to make a dent against animal cruelty and dogfighting is to move the enforcement of these crimes fully into the hands of public law enforcement, and away from ineffective, exploitative, even harmful animal organizations. The animal organizations will resist strongly any potential loss to their huge cash cow- namely, the money that pours in from the illusion they have created that they actually are doing something meaningful about animal cruelty and dogfighting. Enough animals and people have already suffered from their failures,greed, and selfishness. Crime, especially violent crime, (animal cruelty and dogfighting are crimes of violence)belongs fully in the hands of public law enforcement. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. Names have been omitted in the edited and revised emails below. Subject: The Exploitation of Conservation/Wildlife/Animal Cruelty and the Need to End This Legal Fraud Dear X, Because the conservation failure is so glaring, so easy to see and document, and because there is already a clear record of the failure of a number of conservation/wildlife protection groups to get involved, to do anything, I think this rare lowland coastal rain forest with its unique, endangered wildlife, is the perfect place to finally expose the exploitation that takes place in the world of conservation/wildlife protection. Particularly as it pertains to third world tropical areas richest in biodiversity, and a place that is already exploited in so many ways. The widespread exploitation of animal cruelty and massive failures by a number of so called animal protection organizations is easy to uncover. If an independent media existed with true independent investigative reporters not beholden to anyone, they could easily reveal the huge discrepancy between what these organizations say and advertise; their hype, propaganda and marketing, and what really takes place. In that regards, I have extensive first hand information. In my opinion, organized crime could not do a better job of separating people from their money, to the tune of billions, than what it is many of these nonprofit (never have to pay taxes) entities do in the name of good, under the banner of allegedly helping, all the while accomplishing little to nothing, and in many instances, actually doing harm. It all needs to be exposed once and for all so that we can finally be serious about addressing serious issues in a meaningful, effective way.                                      Subject: Re: The Exploitation of Conservation/Wildlife/Animal Cruelty And the Need to End This legal Fraud Dear X, The widespread exploitation of pain and misery is a topic that has to stand on its own. It needs to be exposed, otherwise everything else is futile. We can document or discuss endlessly about any plight, or specifically about an endangered subspecies of tiger or any other endangered animal, or the plight of street children,dog fighting,rain forests, cruelty, and so on, and it will all amount to nothing because nothing good will result until the pathological cycle of the exploitation of pain, misery and problems ends. This exploitation cannot be a sideshow to another topic. It has to be the topic. For a number of years now I have been battling to protect one of the last lowland coastal rain forests left in southeast Asia. This rare, soon to be no longer intact coastal lowland rain forest is home to highly endangered wildlife. One of the battles involved trying to stop the development of a rare mangrove and secondary growth forest next to the mangrove from being developed. During the long battle to protect the mangrove area,I tried to get environmental groups to become actively involved in ensuring the protection of this rare forest, mangrove area, and its endangered wildlife. Otherwise, what is their purpose for being in this country? It is not like there is an abundance of endangered forests and mangroves left to protect. Almost all of the forests, mangroves and coral reefs have already been destroyed. One well known, well funded, international wildlife protection organization that has offices and a strong presence in the country, advised me to meet with the government officials involved in conservation. I responded by email that if the government entities were doing their job, then why do private wildlife/conservation organizations even exist ? I had a number of phone conversations and numerous email exchanges and emails sent regarding what was at stake, and what was about to be lost- a rare coastal low land rain forest and its mangroves in an already heavily deforested country. A home to some of the world’s most endangered bats, birds, and more. Long story short- I believe no one can claim to be unaware of the destruction now taking place in this rare forest. No one can claim ignorance. I do not believe any of these so called conservation groups present in this country, be they a local entity or one of the international players, including some of the world’s most prominent, wealthiest, well funded organizations, can explain why they did absolutely nothing while the next disaster unfolded…… Separate Note- I will not get into all the details here on this blog. I will summarize. In a heavily deforested country, one of the last great rain forests is now being destroyed. Highly endangered bats, birds, and other animals will be driven that much closer to extinction. An indigenous people will lose their forest, and this will be the final blow to their culture. I desperately tried to get at least one conservation organization involved. Bats, birds, rain forest, mangroves, wildlife, I thought someone cares about these things. The irony is that the massively destructive project now underway was declared by a government entity to be in environmental compliance. I pleaded with a number of conservation/wildlife protection organizations to at least challenge that claim.
                                       Back to the edited,revised email… When I learned of this large forfeiture of the land and of the future of the indigenous people, I immediately reached out to all the conservation/wildlife protection groups with whom I had been in contact, and then some. Some have a specific focus, be it bats, birds,owls, along with the allegedly broad based wildlife/conservation groups. I then pleaded and begged, by phone, and by email( hence a new email record of who was notified and what were the responses or lack thereof) to a number of conservation/wildlife protection organizations. This project would destroy the land and kill wildlife. It would decimate many animals, including species near extinction. I have asked a number of the conservation/wildlife protection organizations- can you at least ask for the environmental compliance report? Can you at least ask that before there is further development and destruction, that an independent environmental assessment be conducted? Why is there no challenge to the environmental compliance declaration when so much is at stake? All these conservation/wildlife protection groups, some very well known, can be asked some simple questions. Why did this happen? Why did they do nothing to try and stop it? With over 95 per cent of the rain forests already destroyed, what was it they were so preoccupied with that they could not involve themselves in at least trying to protect the last lowland coastal rainforest left, with its highly endangered wildlife?
                                      The exploitation of animal cruelty and dogfighting by a number of so called against cruelty/ animal welfare/ humane treatment of animals type organizations is widespread and corrosive, and something I witnessed and know only too well. Only later did I learn well how the pathological dynamic of exploitation is played out in so many other realms, including conservation and wildlife protection. Any documentary can certainly be broad based. They have their marketing and propaganda. But their failures and the truth are easy to find. Exposing these nonprofits can start with this one simple story about a coastal lowland rain forest and its endangered wildlife, of a land being destroyed, of wildlife being decimated, of the culture of an indigenous people, along with their welfare and future, being completely disregarded. Because this story is a massive conservation failure, it needs to be told so that once and for all these groups are held accountable. Not just for what is happening here in this country, but on behalf of all their failures and exploitation the world over. That mangrove area and adjacent secondary forest I fought to protect…I know that it is only a question of time before that too is destroyed. Because I believe there are few to none really protecting the land and its animals. And in my effort to stop the development of this rare mangrove and surrounding forested area, a place where I have personally seen almost extinct bird and mammal species, I cannot recall one single so called conservation/wildlife protection organization that lifted a finger to help.The email record of my trying to get a number of them involved is extensive. I look forward to your response. Sincerely, Steve      
                                        Subject: Re: The Exploitation of Conservation/Wildlife/Animal Cruelty And the Need to End This Legal Fraud Greetings X, We can endlessly document problems, whether by photographs, documentaries, books, etc. It may bring personal fame and fortune, but it does nothing to protect wildlife, habitat, children, or anything else, as long as raising awareness becomes nothing more than an opportunity for pain, suffering, misery, or some kind of problem, to be exploited. I believe we both know only too well that this exploitation is exactly what is going on. It takes courage, guts and grit, to take on this self serving, exploitative monstrosity that acts allegedly in the name of good, but in fact has created so much harm. I believe we both know that unless this monstrosity is taken on, every gruesome picture, every documentary, every accounting of suffering, will be nothing more than an opportunity for some person or organization to prosper, all at the expense of those that are supposed to be helped. There are people that understand this pathological dynamic that has caused so much pain and suffering. But it is rare to find anyone with the guts, the decency, to go against the crowd and take it on.How ironic it is that these are the very people and organizations that allegedly are acting on behalf of the vulnerable,defenseless and voiceless. I believe that you understand well this exploitation, and that you can help expose it. I believe we have a moral obligation to do everything we can to expose it. I urge you to help me move this forward. I look forward to your response. Sincerely, Steve
                                            Greetings X, When I first realized how widespread dog fighting was in Chicago, and how gruesome and horrific this was not just for the dogs, but also for the children participating and witnessing such brutality, I thought that if I documented it, things would change. So for a number of years, I spent thousands of dollars out of my own pocket photographing and documenting this completely unnecessary brutality. I assumed that the animal groups, and so called animal lovers, would respond to the photographs by ensuring that the status qua changed, and by ensuring once and for all there would be a meaningful, and serious law enforcement response to dog fighting and animal cruelty. Instead, I believe that all that resulted was that my photographs were plagiarized, and a number of people and organizations went ahead and made careers and fortunes with their so called documentaries, and by their exploitation of dogfighting and animal cruelty. They eagerly jumped on the public sentiment against dog fighting bandwagon, including after a football star was arrested for dog fighting(one of the very few arrests for such a crime that ever occurs). I am sure that this football star inadvertently brought in millions of dollars for these organizations. They never lose an opportunity for publicity and the money publicity and marketing generates. All they have to do is sell the illusion that they actually are doing something about a problem or form of suffering, be it dog fighting and animal cruelty, wildlife protection, conservation, child welfare,or something else, no matter how ineffective they are in reality. In the end, there is little to no accountability regarding the actual efficacy of what these nonprofits actually do, and so there is no counter weight to their propaganda. No critical discussion. No debate. Their claims go unchallenged. It is disturbing that a graduate degree candidate has to defend and justify almost every sentence in their thesis. A thesis that will end up on on a shelf somewhere, barely read by anyone. But the nonprofits can claim to save animals, rainforests, children, oceans, coral reefs, mangroves, wildlife species, stop animal cruelty, stop dog fighting, you name it, and no one blinks an eye and challenges their claims. I thought years ago that raising awareness was enough to elicit a serious, meaningful response to a problem and form of suffering. Specifically as it pertained to dog fighting and animal cruelty. I learned only too well that awareness can easily be exploited and manipulated, with the end result being that no awareness of a problem is perhaps better than awareness, when all that results from awareness is the exploitation of the problem or form of suffering. At least when there is a lack of awareness, there is at least the hope that something will improve in the future. But when a problem or form of suffering is exploited and manipulated, and when the end result is ineffective, even fictitious programs, it is hard for anything to change for the better because people get falsely misled into believing the problem or form of suffering is being addressed. I never lessened dog fighting or animal cruelty by my efforts. All I did was enrich certain people and organizations. If I never got involved with dog fighting and animal cruelty, if I never documented anything, things would be no worse than they are now. If no one at all documented the bush meat trade, if those that do document such things instead live in an obscure corner of the world and work as a clerk somewhere, the plight of wildlife would be no worse than it is now. Sure, a tiny number of animals have been helped,but it is nothing relative to the massive wave of suffering that exists out there. Our efforts will never have an impact as long as pain and suffering continues to be exploited. The sad reality is that as long as pain and suffering continues to be exploited, as long as nonprofit organizations can continue to operate without scrutiny, without accountability in regards to their efficacy and what they actually do, nothing will change for the better. The bushmeat trade is alive and well, driven by poverty, greed, overpopulation, and other factors. As with animal cruelty, people actually believe something meaningful is being done, which is far from the truth. It is true that the human capacity for self deception is enormous. But unless people are presented with the truth, how can they know anything other than the propaganda that they are fed? These nonprofits have huge marketing capacities and deep pockets. If we never put the truth out there, there will never be a way to counter their propaganda. And even though there are many that will refuse to critically examine their beliefs when their illusions and beliefs are challenged, there is no hope for any change if people are not at least presented the truth. My message is simple when it comes to animal cruelty and dog fighting- it belongs in the hands of law enforcement, not ineffective, exploitative animal organizations. Regarding conservation and wildlife protection, particularly as it pertains to the third world, this needs to move away from ineffective, exploitative so called conservation/wildlife protection organizations, and finally be spearheaded by governments that have proven themselves effective and lacking in corruption. Lastly, even if nothing changes, and if this world keeps turning into a deteriorating sewer, why should those that are ineffective and useless, and in some cases spin lies and deception, all in the name of good, not at least be challenged? Sincerely, Steve
                                               Subject: The Exploitation of Conservation/Wildlife/Animal Cruelty And the Need to End This Legal Fraud Dear X, A number of years ago I contacted you regarding the bush meat trade, and how great apes and wildlife were being decimated by this trade. As I recall, you had a brief, but long overdo, criticism of the well funded, well established conservation/wildlife organizations. At the time, I was working as a police Sgt. in charge of a small team that investigated dogfighting and animal cruelty. I witnessed first hand how animal cruelty, just like conservation and wildlife protection, is exploited by a number of so called non profit organizations. The lack of accountability and exploitation in certain areas of the nonprofit world is especially prevalent in those areas where the victims, or receiving population, are voiceless and defenseless. Children, especially children in the third world, wildlife, animals(domestic and otherwise), habitat, conservation( particularly in the third world), are especially vulnerable to this exploitation. These are populations without a voice, and thus can easily be manipulated and exploited by supposedly well meaning nonprofit entities. For too long, critiques of many of these non profits have focused on their financial statements, ignoring what it is they actually do, or pretend to do. The same standard used to evaluate a company in the private for profit sector- namely, does the company provide an effective, efficient product or service- is the same standard by which these nonprofits should be judged. The result of this lack of accountability is something I believe you and I have witnessed. Serious problems do not get addressed. People are falsely misled into believing they are addressing serious issues by their contributions, not realizing that they are not. There is a market for every serious problem, and it is too often the nonprofit benefiting, not the problem getting ameliorated, that is the end result. Those organizations that actually have effective, transparent programs that are regularly examined and scrutinized for their efficacy, will shine if ever there is true accountability. It is now decades later from when I first witnessed the widespread exploitation of animal cruelty. So much cruelty and suffering would have been avoided, and could be avoided going forward, if many of the so called animal welfare/against cruelty type organizations that claim to care about animals, about their humane treatment, about this voiceless, defenseless population,did not exploit animal cruelty for their own gain. The end result is that animal cruelty, including dog fighting, are crimes rarely enforced. A number of animal organizations will tout their alleged successes, knowing there is no one to critically examine their claims. Animal cruelty, which are common occurring crimes, long ago should have moved fully into the realm of law enforcement. Instead, it remains largely in the hands of a number of ineffective nonprofits that I believe benefit financially by the illusions they have created. Too much money is involved for them to ever change their ways unless someone finally can expose what truly is going on. Nothing will improve until people realize the status qua does not work, and not until these nonprofit entities are truly held accountable. I propose that instead of walking away from this seemingly insurmountable task, we take it on. Presently I am in Asia. Just like in Africa and in other third world places, there is a bush meat trade that has decimated native wildlife, largely driven by poverty. One poacher said to me, to summarize- when I can eat wildlife for free, and because I have no money, why would I buy a chicken instead? Most of the rainforests, mangroves, coral reefs that were once so abundant in this country, have been decimated. I have tried unsuccessfully to protect one of the last still intact coastal rain forests. I have tried unsuccessfully to engage a number of the so called conservation/wildlife organizations active in this country, including a number of the international, well funded, and well known organizations, to intervene on behalf of the rainforest and its highly endangered wildlife. Wildlife and habitat that could have been protected will be lost, and in some cases,mammals and birds will go extinct. The wildlife/conservation groups will remain unaffected, because as usual, no one will examine what is their role in this massive failure. All people have to rely upon is their propaganda, without an alternative independent source of information. On the micro level, monkeys are kept in captivity, often spending their lives in a small cage or on a short chain. The micro failure is daunting, and the macro failure is simply astonishing, given the scope, breadth, and resources many of these organizations have. Simply put, wildlife protection and conservation have been a massive failure in the third world. Now people and wildlife suffer from these failures.Natural disasters, such as typhoons, are greatly exacerbated by the loss of forests, mangroves, coral reefs. Valuable topsoil has been washed away. Lives and property have been lost by landslides that result from deforestation. The land and seas are far less productive because of habitat loss and environmental devastation.The dismal list goes on and on. Conservation/wildlife protection in the third world will be far better served if spearheaded by those governments in the world that are the least corrupt(countries such as Norway) instead of by nonprofit private sector so called conservation/wildlife protection organizations. Local people can be employed for a new conservation effort, paid living wages appropriate for the country in which they live, as opposed to the pampered elitists employed by some conservation/wildlife groups that ensure loyalty to the organization first, not to conservation and wildlife protection. Why should we turn our backs on what is nothing more than legal fraud, and that is contributing to the decimation of wildlife and habitat? I look forward to your response. Sincerely, Steve Brownstein