And They Called It Puppy Love...

There was a lot of concern last month because we printed numerous pictures of a naked, underage dog. People called in outraged, some wrote angry letters, and a lot of people emailed us claiming we were exploiting puppies. One concerned reader went so far as to take copies of the magazine to the Multnomah County District Attorney's office demanding that they immediately convene a grand jury to indict me as a "puppy pornographer." Several people picketed in front of our Burnside Street offices with signs demanding we stop publishing pictures of nude puppies for profit. Vandalism to several employee vehicles parked nearby is possibly a coincidence, but highly suspicious nonetheless.

I'd like to take this chance to let everyone out there in Exotic land know that I, Frank Faillace, publisher of this humble, little magazine, am not a "doggy dirtbag." I am not a "canine coercer." The pictures presented in this magazine of any underage dogs are always in good taste and artistically rendered. They are not meant for prurient interests, and the fact that the dog (or dogs) are also nude is a matter of coincidence and convenience. In fact, there could even be some legitimate debate as to what constitutes an underage dog... If every human year is in fact equal to seven doggy years, (or so I've been told) then the legal age for a dog to appear nude would be at just over 2.5 years of age. In fact, Bug (the dog in question) was nearly 2.6 years old when the majority of these nude pictures of her were taken. And finally, the third column of my defense strategy: I have complete, signed model releases from Bug for each photo shoot that she participated in, and she was paid quite generously for each and every one, I might add.

So what I'm basically saying here is that, "Hey, if YOU don't like to see cute, naked, possibly underage dogs, then JUST DON'T LOOK. And just because YOU can't see the beauty in nature's purest form, then maybe you should seek counseling for your puppy HANG-UPS, and leave us alone." That's all I'm going to say on the matter. Okey-dokey-doggy-daddy.