It was a typo Glenn - they don't sell the list. She was mortified at the error and said she will correct the email.

That's goood to know. Thanks for the carification.

Glenn

Glen,

To answer your question, how did I know that they sold the list to PETA? We called PETA and asked how they got our names. They told us Whole Dog Journal. This was about,hmmmmmm..................6 years ago.

LIke I said, I am not certain that it is still done. I don't subscribe anymore. Have not since that time.

I do know that there were many who were pretty upset over it and they probably lost more than a handful of subscribers over it.

Hi everyone, I'm the editor of Whole Dog Journal. I had googled the phrase "Whole Dog Journal" and PETA (for reasons I'll explain in a moment, found this thread, and then registered for the board so I could respond!

I was googling WDJ and PETA because I recently learned that someone, somewhere, is spreading a rumor that WDJ and PETA are somehow linked. First, nothing could be further from the truth. Our publisher is an independently owned company, and, because the independent voice is one of the company's first and most important goals, none of its 30-something magazines carry advertising or have other links to organizations.

I find it terribly interesting that someone, somewhere is trying to link our names. Given the rather low level of affection PETA seems to have within the dog world, and what I hope is our generally good reputation, I'm guessing that someone is either trying to tarnish WDJ's reputation, or legitimize PETA's (if they've heard the rumor, maybe they think the opposite!). Anyway, I was hunting around, trying to see if I could find any discussion of this topic, when I found this slightly related one.

Our publisher markets ALL of its magazines by direct mail. They exist because they buy and rent mailing lists and send out material. Sometimes they can get mailing lists only if they rent THEIR lists or trade them. About 6-7 years ago, they did, in fact, rent WDJ's list to PETA. USUALLY someone reviews each request for a list rental, and the rental is not approved if they think it's not a good fit, or something the readers would not like. Someone was asleep at the switch that time, and the rental went through. ONE mailing from PETA went out to WDJ readers. Enough of them complained that the headquarters staff realized they had made a big mistake. They have not and WILL NOT rent to PETA again. I could have told them that our readers would not appreciate a mailing from PETA, but I'm not in that loop!

All subscribers can "opt out" of the list rentals. It does take a few months to take effect, since we may have rented a list to someone who sits on it for a while before they send out their mailing. To opt out, a subscriber just mails their mailing label to our publishing HQ address (PO BOX 5656, Norwalk, CT 06856-5656) with a note saying "I opt out of your mailing lists.

By the way, thanks so much for not repeating our "top foods" list. (It's way past top 10, by the way. We haven't called it top 10 for years.) I don't want people to regard the presence of a food on the "WDJ approved" list as the be-all, end-all. What I really want them to think about is our selection criteria -- how we pick the foods on the list. If they know how we do it, then they could just as easily identify good or bad foods as well. That's MY goal; to "teach them to fish," rather than "giving them a fish."

Nancy Kerns, Editor
Whole Dog Journal
nancyannekerns@yahoo.com
1175 Regent Street, Alameda CA 94501

Nancy,
Thanks for the clarification - it's nice to hear it from the source!

Nancy, thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts. I'm still wondering exactly what this magazine would give me in the way of nutritional information other than a small tidbit of information from time time. I find most magazines LOADED wih advertisments and such with little to no real informative issues being talked about in depth. Can you tell me what I would gain and how my dogs would benefit from me reading your magazine? You can e-mail me privately if you'd like at my personal e-mail address below.

rae@planetkc.com

Thanks,

Glenn

I subscribe to WDJ & have never received any mailing from PETA.

Patricia Moreno
Tampa, FL