On Monday, December 15th, in a segment called “Ways to Fight Loneliness,” Dr. Laura Schlessinger shared an anecdote about a visit she made to a local animal shelter. She was surprised about the number of pit bulls, and inexorably commented that she felt “pit bulls are a waste of space and should all be put down.”
Listener Janet Goree tried to call in to Sirius XM’s three-hour call-in show, but the show’s screener hung up on her. So she took to Twitter and asked followers to tweet photos of their pit bulls to Schlessinger with the tag #whydoyouwantmedead in the hopes that the schlock-tor would respond. However, she has yet to make any additional statements regarding her comment.
@PibblesnMore @drlauraprogram I love my pits more than most people #whydoyouwantmedead pic.twitter.com/kMEsbNj8Q7
— Paul Hood (@mediator01) December 19, 2014
@drlauraprogram calls them waste of space, I call them the best dogs #whydoyouwantmedead #Drlaurawhydoyouwantmedead pic.twitter.com/rLKV5Li1vX
— Madeline Conley (@mlconley1990) December 18, 2014
You are the waste of space Dr. Laura #whydoyouwantmedead pic.twitter.com/1dc9mYVjqZ
— lura berkey (@nutant01) December 18, 2014
@drlauraprogram But we’re so cute, sweet, & are the best smoochers & snugglers… #whydoyouwantmedead pic.twitter.com/u0mEOExyVa
— Melanie Rose (@Caramelanie927) December 19, 2014
Her sponsors have the right to know what kind of hate she is spewing, and how her image reflects poorly on them. One of her sponsors, kidsemail.org, has pulled their sponsorship in light of all the negative press. Together we can make a difference and show that hate speech against bully breeds should not be overlooked or tolerated. Thousands of these sweet, loving animals die in shelters every day, many of them because of community breed bans.
Yes, everyone has the right to freedom of speech. But sometimes there are consequences to using that freedom for unnecessary hate-mongering and discrimination, especially when it can lead to violence against people or animals. Dr. Laura’s imprudent and dubious comments have landed her in hot water before, and she is probably not allowed back on terrestrial radio stations because of her tendency to speak before thinking.
Click here to email Sirius XM to tell them how you feel. Click here to sign the petition asking sponsors to terminate their contracts with Dr. Laura’s show. You can tweet her directly by clicking here.
Some of the sponsors of the program can be found below. A sample message (courtesy of The Examiner) might read “Did you know one of the folks you sponsor on air just said all pit bulls should be killed? Dr. Laura just made that comment. Is that someone you want to sponsor – someone who advocates killing dogs?
AudioBooks.com
https://www.audiobooks.com/contact
Casper.com
[email protected]
Stamps.com
http://www.stamps.com/contact-us/press/
https://twitter.com/stampscom
The popcorn factory
[email protected]
Canvas world
http://www.canvasworld.com/about/contact
Simply to impress
http://www.simplytoimpress.com/contact
Also Sirius can be reached at:
[email protected]