Does Bear have a collar with a nametag and/or an ID chip implant? You know, just in case.
I hope you and your pup have an uneventful rest of the winter. Sound like Bear lives the good life! All pets should be so lucky as to have such a considerate owner. 
Dammit, lost my post!
First off, I call, absent a cite to the contrary, bullshit on PETA advocating the euthanasia of dogs based on their breed. The closest I could find on PETA’s Web site was in this article, which calls for an end to breeding, not for euthanasia:
This is a controversial position, but is certainly not what y’all are talking about.
Shagnasty, you might want to call animal control to see if this crazy neighbor (who probably ordered a very good brochure from PETA and misused it) has called in a complaint on you. You might be able to communicate indirectly with the crazy neighbor this way.
Our animal control department just yesterday picked up the frozen body of a dog chained in someone’s back yard; it had frozen to death over the weekend. So this is a real form of animal abuse, even if one you’re obviously not committing.
Finally, while I’m no expert on the Iditarod race, there are all sorts of stories out there on the animal abuses the race de facto encourages. The Humane Society of the United States, the American Humane Association, as well as PETA, all have pages that criticize the Iditarod. My lost post contained links; if you’re interested in detailed information about the race and the dog deaths associated with it, go to the respective Web sites and do a search. While some of the complaints against the race appear exaggerated to me, other complaints look legit.
Daniel
Hey Shagnasty, I think you should take this as a serious threat. I don’t know about Massachusetts, but in my neck of the woods dognapping is a somewhat frequent occurence. Sometimes the dogs that are 'napped are well and truly abused, but many times the dogs are decently-treated mutts that the 'napper feels aren’t getting decent treatment.
Contact your local SPCA or pound (heck, every local animal control agency) and ask how common it is-- then give them a photo of Bear in case he turns up 'napped. You may also want to have them come do a preliminary inspection, so they can verify that Bear is indeed treated well.
Stupid? Maybe, but our newsroom gets a couple calls a year from dognapping victims.
I was raised with a samoyed, best dog I have ever known. From about my age 4 onwards he would wait for me to come home from school and then take me out walking. When we went far enough he would turn around and bring me home again. His death when I was 11 is the blackest day in my memory.
Once a year we would make the long journey to the snow and he went apeshit over it, he just loved it so much. I think it was crueler for him to be in our hot aussie weather than the snow (he would dig burrows under daisy bushes and live there all summer) but I bet the PETA would feel the other way.
I’m sorry, I can’t feel any sympathy whatsoever for any group that could be considered terrorists.
Yeah, I’ll say it again: terrorists. Any group that would use arson to “prove” their point deserves a swift kick in the ass and a subpoena, IMHO:
Article No. 1 ,Article No. 2 , Article No. 3
I’ve seen a ton of some confirmed, some unconfirmed links (BOLOs from work) to arson and bombings of labs, farms, etc. to these knuckleheads or their subsidiaries. Any group that would set fire to an Avon factory without regard to who or what is inside, just to “liberate the animals” and end up killing them in the process seems to be pretty damn hypcritical to me. . .
Rant over. I wouldn’t worry too much about that stupid flyer. Go play with your pup. I’m sure if they did step foot on your lawn, he’d bite their leg. 
Tripler
I don’t understand some of the motives of these asswipes.
And what’s worse?
I can’t seem to operate a keyboard tonight. I’m taking a Mulligan on “hypocritical”.
Tripler
I’m all sorts of pissed off tonight.
Have you ever seen Lilo and Stitch?
Look. A mosquito has chosen me. (Many more land on him.) They’re tickling me with their noses. AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Tripler is right on this one. PETA has links to the ALF, or Animal Liberation Front, a terrorist organization which uses such tactics as arson, harassment, and theft to acheive their goals. While I agree with the basic premise of PETA, insofar as human use of animals is at best questionable, and more and stricter laws and regulations should be put into place to ensure that animals, especially those in the meat industry, do not suffer any more than absolutely necessary, I also feel that PETA has completely lost the plot and is now doing more harm than good in the struggle for animal rights. They have become nothing but a publicity-hungry propaganda machine, and their stunts and dubious connections have seriously hurt their cause. They’ve become complete loons, not to be trusted. This is sad, in a way, because their message is, I think, a good one: be nice to animals.
This has NOTHING to do with the OP. The OP was discussing the fact they have a happy OUTDOOR DOG. So this has anything to do with the OP like my disgust for leaking fuel in my backyard as a tanker ended up in it.
WTF?
The OP inherited a dog. The dog prefers the outdoors. What a fucking horrible crime.
I don’t support PETA , a lame organization that puts normal thinking people into the wrong camp.
Aside from that. The OP has a dog that likes the outdoors, as does my dog. What the fuck is so wrong with that? That’s what dogs are about, loving the outdoors and wanting to be a part of it. I have experienced some of the coolest places in Colorado because of my wandering, now arthirtic dog that can’t enjoy it.
PETA sucks, as far as I am concerned. They can kiss the collective ass of those that find them ridiculous organization that have no rationalization.
Why they even “allow” animals" as pets based on their past is beyong me. I mean, crap, I adopted two indoor 8 year old cats. As fast as PETA is concerned I should go to hell. They are neutered, and declawed (the declawing I am against) but I saved to 8 year old boys, one that was on the verge of death and I saved his ass.
FUCK PETA.
It’s that simple. Animals are here to serve to some degree. I try to buy animal products that are from organic and dignified means. If I had more money I would ensure I would only buy that.
But FUCK, get out of people’s personal property. If a PETA rep ended up on my property, they would see the end of my 9 mm. Now that I have one.
Oh and I can’t make a sentence that makes sense…first night of drinking in while…I apologize but I think you get the gist.
I, too, am mistified by this whole dog-freezing bullshit. As someone said earlier, how did they make it this far if they couldn’t take the cold? Now, I’m not arguing that tolerances vary and that some breeds take it far better than others, but in general I think dogs with a good coat who are used to it do just fine outside.
I’m a hunter. I was raised with hunting dogs around all the time. They always stayed outside. They were bench-legged beagles bred for hunting rabbits. Very short fur, small-to-medium size dogs. I live in Virginia. Not a ton of snow here, but regular dumps of over a foot several times is not uncommon, and temperatures remain around 20-30 at night all winter, dipping well below zero sometimes. I’ve never had a dog freeze, fet frostbite, or sustain any other health-related damage from cold.
While there is a strong emotional bond to hunting dogs, they also represent a)significant financial investment and b) a means to pursue our favorite hobby. For these reasons, if not for love, we’d not risk our dogs. But honestly, I never was aware of one even not liking the cold, much less suffering from it.
FWIW, hunting dogs also LOVE their job, just like the iditarod dogs. They get so excited when they see us coming with the dog box, it borders on frantic. The joy those dogs experience from hunting is unmistakable. They’re bred for it, and it’s in their blood.
Why does PETA want to crap on all our (us and the dogs) fun?
oh wait…maybe it’s the shooting the bunnies thing…sorry.
techchick68 will you marry me?..
I am NOT defending PETA, I’m really not fond of them and I heartily support you, Shagnasty, but I thought I’d pop in with this little snippet – I saw a bit on this in, of all things, a supermarket tabloid, and googled around a little…
PETA gives away donated fur coats to the homeless. That’s a press release of theirs from the UK site, but they’ve apparently been doing it in the US for a while.
A Google for “peta homeless fur” brings up a good bunch of hits. THis is better than burning or burying the things, right? Yes, many of their actions are thoroughly reprehensible and I am so not defending any of those actions. But hey, these homeless people will at least be a little warmer. Plus the mental image of a homeless woman curled up in an alley in a mink coat just does something to me.
Folks who are railing against PETA as terrorists are incorrect. PETA defends, in some cases, property damage crimes. But apologizing for an act and committing an act are two different things entirely. It may be correct to call ALF terrorists, but calling PETA terrorists is just silliness.
And techchick, where in the world did you get the idea that PETA disapproves of your adoption of two cats? The PETA members I know work with the local animal shelter to increase animal adoptions.
Daniel
So… any organization that gives money or support to known terrorist groups are terrorists themselves? Are you all absolutely sure you want to go there?
Have you been watching those anti-drug commercials???..
from here
If people want to peddle PETA propaganda give PETA a reason to police their own a bit and slap them with a fine.
I called PETA when I saw my neighbors abusing their dogs and they did absolutely nothing about it. These people had about 8-10 dogs living in their yard. The dogs NEVER went inside or got exercise or attention. It was horrible. That’s the kind of thing I’m against.
Your dog sounds like he has a great life, you should definitely write them back and tell them the very stuff you told us.
Indygrrl, PETA doesn’t normally get involved in enforcement of local anti-cruelty statutes (all the more reason to believe the brochure was left by a crazy individual instead of by a PETA official). They get involved generally when they perceive that local animal control isn’t doing their job, or when they believe the law is insufficient to protect an animal.
From the Indianapolis Animal Control Ordinance:
This is the strictest thing I found in the ordinance requiring shelter for dogs, and it certainly doesn’t require that dogs ever be allowed indoors, nor does it require that the dogs get any attention.
Should dog owners be legally required to bring their dogs in for some time every day? I don’t think that’s a good general rule: the happiest dogs I’ve ever known were three farm dogs who had the run of the property and who slept in the barn with the goats and who played with us farmworkers during the day. But it sounds like your neighbor isn’t providing these eight dogs with their emotional needs.
I’d encourage you to take a look at your local ordinance at the link above; if you think your neighbor is violating any aspects of it, you’ve got the number for animal control right there.
Call in PETA if you find out that animal control is abusing animals. They won’t do much good in the case of an individual yahoo mistreating his dogs – that’s what animal control is for.
Daniel
Well, I called animal control about 4x last spring. The first time was for a neighbor who had tied his pitbull to a tire. It was dragging it all over the yard, whimpering and trying to get loose. Truly a terrible display of animal cruelty. Animal control claimed that they did not see the dog tied up, strangely I saw it every day for about 2 weeks.
Then I noticed how many dogs were in the neighboring yard. I peeked over the fence and counted them, and I also saw that some were in small pens, others running around, one tied to a tree. Apparently, the rednecks had a kennel license so they were within the law. It was terrible to hear them barking and whining day and night, they were obviously miserable.
I am glad to report I have moved from the town.