It went on for quite a while, most of it will not be seen or heard. There was a packet which included copies of documents corroborating statements made. Citizens in attendance have already begun to make and distribute to others, the entire, 1" thick dossier of horror. I've included just a few pertinent pages. (see below) They are also spreading the call for a Town Hall Meeting on the animal issue to be held in January, date and time to be announced. (Wow, guys, it wasn't even me that called for it! Way to go!)
Mr Ecke, of the Great Falls Tribune, after the conference approached a person said he felt "this was a personal vendetta." The individual to whom he spoke was under the distinct impression that he was referring to me and this conference as a vendetta against the mayor and the Animal Foundation.
Let me make this clear and on record. I am not the person who called the press conference. I am not the person who disclosed these specific facts revealing this ugly, nasty group for what they are. I am not the person, though I have said this for many months, who stated that the Animal Foundation, the City, the mayor, specific individuals, the Spay of the Falls, the Police Dept. are ALL manipulating this shelter issue to their personal desires and advantage, and KNEW AND WHAT WAS TAKING PLACE.
Mr. Ecke, your are right, however, it IS personal. The animal that died in terror took it VERY personally at that moment. I take it personally that the above groups sell their caring attitude toward animals, as well as their exalted (non) knowledge, all the while allowing, even condoning this atrocity and barbarous (YES, that's what it is and I am LIVID) behavior to happen. As a citizen I am taking it personally that all of this amoral, illegal, and criminal activity occurred in
this town, stealing and using my tax dollars, that these people believe themselves to be above the law, that the newspaper is VERY selective in what it reports, that all of these entities have no respect for us. I take it VERY personally that these people committed what I view as MURDER and theft in MY town. I am outraged.
What WASN'T heard, and will probably NOT be read about is the following:
Eye-witness account of Mayor Donna Stebbins standing in the "cat room" of the Shelter while the dogs screamed during the heart-sticking procedure and doing NOTHING. "She couldn't fail to hear or know what was happening. You couldn't miss the screams of the dogs." Quote by witness. (I would call that Felony Abuse under the law).
That the Great Falls Animal Foundation, the City of Great Falls officials, the Police Dept., were and are all aware of what was happening in the shelter as they are ALL involved in running and/or making decisions regarding the shelter. A letter included in the documents is on Shelter stationary and begins -"The Great Falls Animal Shelter is one of three entities involved in the reorganization of the Animal Shelter." When queried as to the other two entities they were confirmed as the Animal Foundation and Spay of the Falls.
That many people of GF still believed the Shelter to be under the Humane Society of Cascade County, made donation checks out to the HSCC, gave it to Shelter employees and those checks NEVER reached the HSCC. One was from Smith's Grocery store and was witnessed as being made out to the HSCC, with the police officer's name on the "notation" line, and handed over. (Correct me, please, all of you lawyers, but isn't that a criminal offense?????)
That Dave Pauli, Regional HSUS, known both for his position with the HSUSA and his openly chummy relationship with Foundation board members, was contacted on Dec 3, 2007 regarding this issue and counseled patience and not to go public. "That your issues need to be addressed by...the police chief and maybe the Animal Foundation of Great Falls...rather than go to the media."(e-mail copies are available)
That Melanie Lattin, has been told numerous times by ACOs about many of the health and safety hazards as regards the Dog Park, and in direct disregard of these serious concerns and warnings, stated in the presence of witnesses, "I don't care. We're going to have this Dog Park."
The two witnesses, both with extensive and diverse animal career backgrounds, have made the comment that Ms. Lattin knows nothing about dogs, their related health and behavior issues and, therefore, should not be in charge of the Dog Park. Yet, because the City, the mayor, Ms. LaMott and the Animal Foundation are all working closely together behind the scenes and hand-picking who gets what in all of this, she'll be allowed to continue, even to the detriment of animals.
The following were notified about the Press Conference and sent information about the shelter and the abuses, cruelties and deaths:
LA Times
Seattle Times
Denver Post
Rocky Mountain News
CBS National News
48 Hours
U.S. Animal Protection Organization
Humane Society U.S. National Office
Animal Legal Defense Fund
MT. Governor's Office
Attorney Gen. of MT
3 comments:
Wow, You know when I posted the short on my blog about this, I had only the News reported by KFBB and the little that was not reported on at that time,
about Ms.Stebbins remarks and The Angel Donation which I am going to take a wild guess but was placed on the dog Murphy. This story yanks at my heart. This summer I adopted a Blue Healer from the shelter and I was forced to move, thankfully I found a family that allows me visitations of her, but all I can think is the last resort would have been to take her back up there to suffer needlessly. I'm so glad I found here a home.
When I was adopting my friend I told the lady behind the desk I needed a small to medium friend because we didn't have an enormous yard, the friend would need to be already fixed ..And I prefered a female good with kids and other dogs. The first animal I was shown was a large boxer dog, very hyper
not fixed. I was kinda taken a back, we took the dog out to the "yard" and it was so large it knocked my son over repetitively, I took the dog back in and said no this won't work for us or the poor girl. The next dog was the one we adopted, Fully paid for by previous owners, gentle and kind, and temperamentally well adjusted. Apparently the dogs owners has special requests and when given the requests by the shelter worker (who read them to us) those terms seemed fine. When I got her home she wouldn't eat the food I had given her, because the shelter hadn't told me she would only eat a specific brand, so I sat down and read the pages given, I also found that excerpts of the note were missing, like the statement that said Dusty comes with these items...1
then the next page was gone. The animal was kennel aggressive, had a major kennel cough and had to take medication and had untreated swollen spots on her back.
This situation is so sad and appaling and sooo sick. I truly hope the truth is seen by unbiased eyes and the issue is taken care of and not by sweeping it under the rug, these animals need people to care for them...not torture them!
An attendee to the press conference was an Angel and asked after the two cats she sponsored. Amy's answer was an awful look and silence. The woman was heartbroken and Amy felt just as badly.
That's simply terrible. To think I almost placed my baby there, I am so glad I did not. I hope this all comes crashing down and the abusers are dealt with to the fullest extent with no regards to political or social status!
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