Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Michael Bryant charged in bicyclist's death

There's not much I can say but....

Michael Bryant's children saw their father come home tonight.

Darcy Allan Sheppard's children will never see their father again.

Let us hope that at the end of the day, Mr. Sheppard's fatherless children, his family and his friends feel that justice was well-served.

Update:
Bryant's expensive PR handlers must be working 24/7. Too bad Mr. Bryant's favourite tool, reverse onus, won't be used against him.

It is repellant that the mediocre media are trashing the reputation of a dead man who cannot defend himself. For what, to what end, what do they hope to accomplish? Is the dead man on trial? In the media, he certainly is.

This is all so wrong, there is no way to make it right.

Nice post on Dogs in Canada....read it here.






Sunday, August 30, 2009

Dis 'n dat

Want to do the HST tapdance? Mark my words - after the HST has been in place a year, McSquinty and the Ontario Fiberals will claim a balanced budget. Those of us who are single and work hard will get screwed yet again. And we won't even get supper first.

According to a tiny piece in the August 22nd, 2009 print version of the Toronto Star, the Toronto Humane Society has said that it has overturned its decision to deny membership to six critics the THS had accused of acting against its interests, and those critics can now vote and speak at the September 30th annual meeting.

YO, THS. How about all the other people who received rejection letters? How about all the people who applied for membership before August 17th and haven't heard from THS?

Thoughts for action:

1. Were you one of the “6 critics”?

If so, were you aware that your membership application WILL now be accepted?

Have you been advised of such?

2. If you were NOT one of the above mentioned “6 critics”, did you also receive a notice of rejection to your application to be a THS member?

3. If you did receive a “rejection letter”, have you since been advised that your application WILL now be accepted?

If you have NOT received a follow up notice saying you have now been accepted, consider taking action below.

The THS put on their website that as of August 17 they would not be issuing memberships until after the September 30 annual meeting. Did you apply for your membership well in advance of August 17 and yet have heard nothing yet?

If yes, then take action.

SUGGESTED ACTIONS TO TAKE

a) Contact Daniel Dale, the Toronto Star reporter who wrote the August 19th article. Refer to his article and advise him of your situation.

Email: ddale@thestar.ca

b) Contact each of the THS Board members in writing. Use snail mail or fax, do NOT e-mail. Politely question why your application was rejected/ignored (since all membership applications reportedly go to the Board for consideration) while the ones that were mentioned in the Toronto Star article have now been “accepted”.

c) Fax a polite letter to the following contact details, refer to the August 22nd Toronto Star article and question why your application has been ignored/rejected.

Toronto Humane Society
Attention: Mr. T. Trow
Fax: 416-392-9978

Please keep good records of your follow up and any response(s).

I am baffled as to why Toronto Humane Society thinks that rejecting people who are obviously interested in the Society's operations constitutes good governance.

Note to the Toronto Star - you want hits on your web pages? Put anything about THS online.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

THS Protest Sat Sept 12 2-4 p.m.

The Toronto Humane Society has publicly posted that it will not issue new memberships until October 1st. I ask the lawyers out there whether the THS can put a kibosh on new memberships for the board's purposes. Optically, it looks like the THS board is circling the wagons, it's been called a bunker mentality; what has the board of THS so frightened, hmmmm?????

THS is also rejecting people who applied for membership - pre-emptively in one case, as the woman had not applied for membership. I question the surveillance that THS is doing to know who's distributing pamphlets, who's at protests, who's Facebooking or blogging. How much money and employee time has been diverted from animal care to the invasion of people's privacy solely for the board's purposes? Read more about that here (h/t to One Bark at a Time).

THS has also posted the date but not the time or place of the annual members' meeting. Is this to keep attendance down, keep the time and place secret, hmmmm??? If you support the board, do you get the secret decoder ring with the time and place? If you're currently a member of THS and cannot attend the meeting, please give your proxy to Association for Reform of the Toronto Humane Society. Do NOT give your proxy to THS management. Read more about ART and how you can help here.

If you are as concerned as I am by the behaviour of the THS board, write Attorney General Chris Bentley and Minister of Consumer Services Ted McMeekin and express your concerns. Bentley is responsible for the Office of the Public Guardian which governs charities in Ontario, and McMeekin is responsible for administration of the Ontario Corporations Act which governs not-for-profit organizations in Ontario. The Ontario Liberals have been sitting on their hands throughout this (gee, why does this not surprise me?). Note - send paper by snail mail or fax. Do not e-mail.

Ministry
Ministry of the Attorney General
11th Floor
720 Bay Street
Toronto, Ontario M5G 2K1
Tel
416-326-2220
Fax
416-326-4007
Toll Free
1-800-518-7901
TTY
416-326-4012


Hon Ted McMeekin Contact Info

Ministry
Ministry of Consumer Services
6th Floor, Mowat Block
900 Bay Street
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1L2
Tel
416-327-8300
Fax
416-326-1947
Constituency
299 Dundas Street East
P.O. BOX 1240
Waterdown, Ontario L0R 2H0
Tel
905-690-6552
Fax
905-690-6562


Toll Free
1-888-566-6614


From the Toronto Humane Society Protest Group

We are having another protest at the Toronto Humane Society on Saturday Sept 12th 2009 2-4pm at 11 River Street. Just over 200 people attended the first protest on June 20th. We are hoping to double that number so please invite everyone you know.

We are also having a donation drive at the protest. Please bring some kitten meal replacement, a dog toy, or a blanket. We will be giving the donations to the animals of the THS at the end of the protest.

We have also organized a letter writing campaign. Our goal is to have 500 letters sent to each organization listed. If you don’t live in Toronto, or are unable to attend the protest please take a few minutes out of your day to write some letters. Please check out this blog post to learn about the letter writing campaign, and to read a list of other ways that you can get involved to help the animals at the Toronto Humane Society.

http://helpths.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/how-to-help

If you would like to volunteer to help hand out brochures, put up posters, or to help spread the word about the protest and why the animals need our help please send an email to thsprotest@Hotmail.com

If you haven’t applied for membership please do so. The board of directors can call an AGM at any time and every vote counts. A small window of opportunity has opened to get some good people on the board. Please remember that a board seat only goes up for re-election every three years. You can download a membership application from the blog entry that was posted previously in this message.

If you have applied for membership and were sent a rejection letter please contact us. We are trying to keep track of the rejection letters.

Keep checking the blog for new info. New articles are posted every few days. http://helpths.wordpress.com

See you on Saturday Sept 12th!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Get a diploma on your dog!

CGN DAY BEETON FAIR

The Dog Legislation Council of Canada is offering a Canine Good Neighbor Day at the Beeton Fair September 19th, 2009.

Canadian Kennel Club certificate test - conducted by a CKC CGN Evaluator.

Fee for CGN is $35.00 per dog.

Saturday, September 19th 2009 - testing will be held on the grounds at the Beeton Fair.

This test is available to purebred and non-pure bred dogs. There will be an entrance fee to gain access to the Fairgrounds. Please keep your dogs leashed to comply with municipal bylaws at all times.

For more information about the CGN testing criteria please contact Lori Gray dlccevents@gmail.com

The Town of New Tecumseth offers a half price reduction to dog tag costs for dogs with a Canine Good Neighbour Certificate.

Directions:

From Hwy 400, go north to exit hwy 88 to Bond Head. Go west to Bond Head to stoplight at hwy 27th. Turn north to 8th line 1.5 km. Turn left or west toward Beeton 8.8km. You will now be on the Main St of Beeton. At 2nd St N in Beeton, turn right or north to Prospect St. You will be at the fairgrounds in Community Park.

Pre-book CGN testing by contacting:

dlccevents@gmail.com

or call Lori at (705)435-3481

Dogs must be 6 months of age or older

Sunday, August 9, 2009

BSL is an expression of human need to hate

Quick posting of a half-baked idea that I've had for quite some time....

Too many humans need to hate to survive. It seems bred in the bone, although it may also be a learned reaction.

For centuries, humans have hated and expressed their hatred by killing. Almost always, one side killed the other because the other was different than the haters. Skin colour, religion, nationality, you name it, the difference gave the haters reason to hate and kill.

Now that it's (rightfully) illegal in this country and many others to express hatred by killing the "others", those with the deep-seated need to hate and kill seem to have turned on animals. It was German Shepherds years ago, Dobies, Rotties, now "pit bulls".

Correspondence from pro-BSL people is full of nonsense and emotion, the hatred openly displayed, without a single fact. Political propaganda to promote BSL is the same; it plays on emotion and does not contain a single fact.

Does this mean that anyone who proposes or supports BSL is psychologically damaged? That because they can't kill people to satisfy their warped psyches, their need to hate and destroy, they kill dogs?

Why is hate propaganda against dog owners, an identifiable group, not a crime under Canada's hate law?