Save The Toronto Humane Society

If you want change at THS...if you want to see a compassionate organization where animal welfare comes first....

Take this list of the Faces of CHANGE candidates to the May 30th election with you, and vote for them. (N.B. Updated list to reflect the union of Faces of CHANGE and RAIN).

-   Dr. Hanna Booth - Veterinarian
-   Michael Downey - President & CEO, Tennis Canada
-   Kim Cohen - CEO, Brown & Cohen Communications
-   Jennifer Downe - Bank Manager & THS Volunteer
-   Judi King - Senior Law Clerk & ART Co-founder
-   Marcie Laking - Animal Welfare Advocate
-   Linda MacKinnon - Paralegal & ART Co-founder
-   Dr. Karen Nasir - Veterinarian
-   Peter Newell - Senior Partner, Ogilvy Renault
-   Garnet Pratt Siddall - Financial Professional
-   Ferne Sinkins - President, Toronto Cat Rescue
-   Tom Ungar - President & CEO, MTU Investments
-   Ian Wintrip - Director, Wintrip Wolkoff Shin
-   Wendy Strickland - Urban Forester, THS volunteer
-   Crystal Tomusiak - Criminal Lawyer, THS volunteer

The plot sickens.

Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star has done a marvellous job ferreting out the connections of the "Save the THS" slate that has appeared out of thin air.

You'd think the big-time, big-bux Sussex Strategy Group could have been original with its slate's name instead of piggybacking on the existing Save The Toronto Humane Society group.

I poked around the Sussex Strategy Group website and was hugely amused by the title of one founder's blog entry: "If you can't dazzle them with brains, baffle them with...". Geez, now why does that seem familiar?

What exactly did Sussex Strategy Group do for THS, and how many donor dollars did that cost?

What's the animal care/animal welfare background of these "Save the THS" candidates? Have any of these people cleaned a cat cage at THS, or walked a shelter dog?

Even worse, it's reported that Bob Hambley of the current THS board (facing charges for animal cruelty) and long time THS lawyer Pell Capone have been attending the Save the THS Slate meetings.

You might want to review Mr. Hambley's behaviour at the last members' meeting, when he was the Secretary and Treasurer. Remind yourself that the current board, due to vacate office on May 30th, have not been transparent about whether Mr. Hambley continues as Secretary and Treasurer in addition to being President.

Hey, did Mr. Capone return that $400K to the THS that he was supposed to return March 5th? More mystery and fog surrounding THS activities....

Read the history of dysfunction at Toronto Humane here and here. See which names keep appearing.

Why is Bob Hambley running for the board again? He's been on the board for decades, through several scandals.

Is it true that the Brenda C. Grant on the list of candidates is actually Brenda Hind from the current THS board running under another name? Would Brenda C. Grant like to clarify?

Is it true that Margaret Johnson on the list of candidates is related to Alan Johnson, a current and long-time THS board member (since 1979, through several scandals)? Would Margaret Johnson like to clarify?

The current management of THS is STILL not allowing information on how to be a member on its website. Even the site map has been disabled. Gee, I wonder why.

If you want the THS to change, please take this list of the Faces of CHANGE candidates to the May 30th election with you, and vote for them. (N.B. Updated list to reflect the union of Faces of CHANGE and RAIN).

-   Dr. Hanna Booth - Veterinarian
-   Michael Downey - President & CEO, Tennis Canada
-   Kim Cohen - CEO, Brown & Cohen Communications
-   Jennifer Downe - Bank Manager & THS Volunteer
-   Judi King - Senior Law Clerk & ART Co-founder
-   Marcie Laking - Animal Welfare Advocate
-   Linda MacKinnon - Paralegal & ART Co-founder
-   Dr. Karen Nasir - Veterinarian
-   Peter Newell - Senior Partner, Ogilvy Renault
-   Garnet Pratt Siddall - Financial Professional
-   Ferne Sinkins - President, Toronto Cat Rescue
-   Tom Ungar - President & CEO, MTU Investments
-   Ian Wintrip - Director, Wintrip Wolkoff Shin
-   Wendy Strickland - Urban Forester, THS volunteer
-   Crystal Tomusiak - Criminal Lawyer, THS volunteer

Aggregation April 24, 2010

Update: The CHANGE platform and candidate bios are available online now.

Cheating again, stealing others' hard work, hehehe....

One Bark At A Time has great posts on the upcoming Toronto Humane Society board election and on how the City of Brampton is seizing innocent dogs in some whacked vendetta.

I'm looking forward to the THS election and hoping enough THS members have smelled the coffee (and the mummified cat, and the animals who died in agony) to clear the board chairs of the old and bring in the new. A phoenix must be destroyed before being reborn.

Many thanks to the Brampton Guardian for following the story of Brittany and Rambo to other owners who have been hurt by the abuse of authority by Brampton Animal Control. Brampton appears to be a case where authority has been mutated into a power/control freakout that kills innocent dogs and breaks owners' hearts and wallets. Brampton Mayor and City Councillors are hiding behind their chairs, and the comments from Brampton's commissioner of community services (WTF is that, BTW?) make me kinda sorta wanna puke.
Suckage, indeed. Sewage is more like it.

KC Dog Blog has posts on Scotland passing a sensible dog law instead of the U.K.'s draconian, murderous Dangerous Dogs Act, jurisdictions passing non-breed-specific dog law, and thoughts on Brittany and Rambo in the Hole...I mean, the City of Brampton.

Brindle Stick is on a roll about McSquinty backing down on sex ed....too bad it happened after his birth and not before...and the Dumpsville...I mean, the City of Brampton.

Lassie Get Help has a great poster competition for the City of Brampton...I like the first entry, working on my own....

Always interesting stuff on YesBiscuit!...

Time to go outside and consider whether the two-legs truly deserve to inherit the earth.

Phillip and Ginger need your help!

THE MCGUINTY LIBERALS KILL GOOD DOGS.

THE MCGUINTY LIBERALS HURT LAW-ABIDING DOG OWNERS.
DAVID MILLER'S CITY KILLS GOOD DOGS.
DAVID MILLER'S CITY HURTS LAW-ABIDING DOG OWNERS.

The McGuinty Liberal government is at it yet again. We need to fight for our rights in court.

THE DOG LEGISLATION COUNCIL OF CANADA'S second annual "DOLLARS FOR DOGS" Campaign on behalf of Phillip and Ginger, the Huggins family.

"Law abiding citizens are not being targeted by the ban". Former Attorney General for Ontario, Michael Bryant Sept 2005.

Nothing could be further from the truth if you own a dog of politically incorrect shape in Ontario.

Knowing that any dog born with the wrong 'look' would be seized and killed, Phillip Huggins made sure his best friend, an 8 year old " brown-haired" girl named Ginger, was in full compliance with the breed-specific regulations of the Ontario Dog Owners Liability Act.

On November 29, 2005, while Phillip's mother was walking Ginger, leashed and muzzled in compliance with DOLA, in a Toronto park, Ginger was savagely attacked by an unleashed dog.

So savage was the attack on Ginger, that Buddy (an alleged border collie/shepherd cross) tore Ginger's muzzle off and inflicted severe injuries to both Phillip's mom and Ginger. Ginger now has permanent damage to her left eye.

Now you think that it would be the owner of Buddy, that would be charged. Not so. Buddy's owner, the owner of an unleashed and aggressive dog that was not a politically incorrect shape, walked away almost free and clear.

Ginger wasn't so lucky. The City of Toronto Animal Control Officers seized Ginger illegally, without warrant or the consent of Ginger's owner.

Within hours, a destruction order was placed on Ginger to end her life while Phillip was charged with 3 counts under DOLA. Prosecutors attempted to strike a deal with Phillip, offering to drop all charges if he 'simply' handed over Ginger to be killed. Phillip would have nothing to do with it and said he would fight to the end.

Ginger spent 3 ½ years incarcerated simply for defending herself and Phillip's mother.

As a result of the charges and the battle in court Phillip lost his job, ended up on welfare and now suffers with depression.

Out of money and time, Clayton Ruby, an established human rights lawyer, took over the case. He knew the City of Toronto was wrongfully holding Ginger in the pound. Within days, Clayton Ruby went before a judge and Ginger was released back to her loving home until the next court date.

Despite a ruling which allowed Ginger to be free, the City of Toronto was granted an appeal on the ruling.

Phillip is yet again scheduled to appear in court again on May 26, 2010 at 10:30 AM at The Court of Appeals for Ontario.

Ginger is still at risk of losing her life.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

As a result of the City of Toronto being granted an appeal, it is costing MUCH more than was anticipated.

If Phillip doesn't raise the funds, he may lose his appeal. He has come this far; if he stops now, the city will be granted the destruction order and Ginger will be killed.

Your financial help would be greatly appreciated.

Go to www.dlcc.ca
Paypal address: treasurer@dlcc.ca
to donate

or

Please send payment in trust for Ginger to:

Ruby and Shiller
11 Prince Arthur Ave,
Toronto, ON
M5R 1B2

HELP KEEP GINGER ALIVE AND BRING HER HOME.

Heads up, Toronto voters and dog owners!

Addendum: A friend was in the Toronto emergency vet's the other night. A little boy was heartbroken because two large breed dogs (not "pit bulls") walked by two young girls had savagely attacked his little chihuahua puppy. The puppy probably wouldn't make it.

Where are Dalton McGuinty and David Miller when these incidents happen???
Nowhere. That's where.
Public safety, my a$$.

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The mayoralty race in Toronto has several declared candidates, and Toronto dog owners should be asking these candidates some hard questions.

George Smitherman is a former McGuinty Liberal who voted for the Liberals' unfounded, unjust, inhumane, vague, shoddy, proven ineffective and proven fiscally irresponsible breed specific legislation. Does Smitherman intend to continue depriving law-abiding dog owners of their rights and killing innocent dogs because they're a politically incorrect shape? Will Smitherman turn Toronto into another Denver, a death camp for dogs mired in tax-dollar-sucking lawsuits?

Glen Murray was the mayor of Winnipeg, known for its draconian breed-specific legislation and which municipality was used by the McGuinty Liberals to try to prop up its BS-L. Does Murray intend to continue depriving law-abiding dog owners of their rights, and killing innocent dogs because they're a politically incorrect shape? Will Murray turn Toronto into another Denver, a death camp for dogs mired in tax-dollar-sucking lawsuits?

Other candidates are cyphers, unknowns. With this anonymity comes uncertainty; where do these candidates stand on dog owners' rights - indeed, all pet owners' rights?

Get your questions ready now and attend every public meeting possible, every candidates' session possible, to try to get straight answers from these candidates. Try really, really hard.

And get yourself to the polls on October 25, 2010 and VOTE.