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Hey guys, I once again come to you requesting your help.

There's a No Kill Shelter up in Stephenville (most of you probably won't know where that is) that a bunch of rich pricks are trying to shut down because it's close to prime building land. They claim that the animals are in poor condition and say they had a vet check them all out...but lost the vet report. The shelter vet says that the animals are all in great condition. They also claim that there's a problem with drainage but that it because the government road crew sealed off the drainage pipe by accident and haven't been out to fix it yet.

The government is listen to the rich proicks and moving to shut the shelter down as they believe the land could be used in better way. The issue is in the courts right now but the shelter is non-profit and is having a hell of a time paying for and keeping lawyers. The last lawyer actually left the case very suddenly after a meeting with the rich pricks and has recently purchased a very expensive car. The shelter owner is suspicious of this.

The real kicker about all this is that some of these animals have homes lined up but the governement says that until the matter is settled no animal may leave the shelter...and once its settled all animals, regardless of health, must be terminated.

That's a lot of cats and dogs.

So now the shelter owner is desperate and has tossed up an online petition to get support. The delicious thing about this petition is that there is no regional tracking.

I know there are alot of animal lovers on the board, so please sign the petion. Pretty please.

Link again.

Signed, Tweeted, and Facebooked.

I'm in, #449.

#451!

+1

Signed.

You betcha.

Homeless shelters in your area euthanize them?

Oh, ANIMAL shelter.

Sure, signed.

Is there any way to confirm that this online petition will have any real impact on the fate of this shelter? I'd love to help, but I'm questioning how effective this sort of move will be. I've signed the petition, but if there's something else we can do....

#463

468. Kinda slow, eh?

Kissinger said:

Is there any way to confirm that this online petition will have any real impact on the fate of this shelter? I'd love to help, but I'm questioning how effective this sort of move will be. I've signed the petition, but if there's something else we can do....

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It has to be more effective than doing nothing, eh?

#484

Krisken said:

It has to be more effective than doing nothing, eh?

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Well, it's an internet petition, so it really could be exactly as effective as doing nothing.

Stephenville? Somebody get this story to Stephen Colbert right NOW! It's exactly the kind of thing that plays into his show, and it would be instant, national attention if he even so much as mentions it on his show.

Kissinger said:

Krisken said:

It has to be more effective than doing nothing, eh?

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Well, it's an internet petition, so it really could be exactly as effective as doing nothing.

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You spent 30 pages bitching about the Transformers movie but are arguing about how effective signing an online petition is?

I don't think I'll ever understand you.

Zappit said:

Stephenville? Somebody get this story to Stephen Colbert right NOW! It's exactly the kind of thing that plays into his show, and it would be instant, national attention if he even so much as mentions it on his show.

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This.

Krisken said:

You spent 30 pages bitching about the Transformers movie but are arguing about how effective signing an online petition is?

I don't think I'll ever understand you.

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The two have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Internet petitions get created for everything imaginable, are very easily falsified, and almost never effective alone. I don't know of a single case where one has been effective on its own and if you were to find one, it would be a very rare exception. More effective would be going around the neighborhood that the No Kill shelter is in and getting actual, physical signatures on a petition and sending it to the city. Or donating money so the shelter can hire legal counsel. Or any number of different things. I'm inquiring if there is anything else that we, who are not citizens of the city of Stephenville and don't live in the area, can do to better ensure that this shelter does not get closed (such as donating to them if they have a website set up to accept donations) because I highly doubt that an internet petition is going to have any effect.

Kissinger said:

Krisken said:

You spent 30 pages bitching about the Transformers movie but are arguing about how effective signing an online petition is?

I don't think I'll ever understand you.

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The two have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Internet petitions get created for everything imaginable, are very easily falsified, and almost never effective alone. I don't know of a single case where one has been effective on its own and if you were to find one, it would be a very rare exception. More effective would be going around the neighborhood that the No Kill shelter is in and getting actual, physical signatures on a petition and sending it to the city. Or donating money so the shelter can hire legal counsel. Or any number of different things. I'm inquiring if there is anything else that we, who are not citizens of the city of Stephenville and don't live in the area, can do to better ensure that this shelter does not get closed (such as donating to them if they have a website set up to accept donations) because I highly doubt that an internet petition is going to have any effect.

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Whoop de do.

I'm saying that the petition at least has a chance of doing something good. Wasn't really looking for a wall of text.

Yes, 165 words explaining my apprehension regarding internet petitions certainly equates to a wall of text.

EDIT: Also, I disagree that an internet petition will do much good. I don't think it will have any measurable effect. This is why I'm asking for other ways to help. If the internet petition proves to make a significant difference in the fate of this no-kill shelter, then I will be incredibly surprised. But I don't think there is anything wrong with signing the petition (as I did) and asking for other, more concrete and dependable ways to help.

491 Matt Dillon

I feel so environmental. Err, animalental?

Kissinger said:

This is why I'm asking for other ways to help.

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So you know what? Instead of sitting on your ass whining about it, find out yourself. Call the shelter. Call the local media in the area. I'm pretty sure you're smart enough to think of this stuff on your own instead of "asking for other ways to help" while bitching and moaning about the gesture of this petition.

Want to be an activist? Be active. Or shut up.

ZenMonkey said:

So you know what? Instead of sitting on your ass whining about it, find out yourself. Call the shelter. Call the local media in the area. I'm pretty sure you're smart enough to think of this stuff on your own instead of "asking for other ways to help" while bitching and moaning about the gesture of this petition.

Want to be an activist? Be active. Or shut up.

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I live in a different country very far away from Stephenville, and I had already looked for other ways with little success, so I thought that LittleSin might have some more information on ways we can donate.

Incidentally, here is the e-mail address for Stephenville's mayor, Tom O'Brien: mayor@town.stephenville.nf.ca

That's all I found, but sending him an e-mail might help get it even more on the city's mind.

#498!

Get a group of people that can spare some time some days and go on the street to get some real signatures (i.e. from people in the zone and in paper). Also encourage them to call the authorities that are in power to stop this process (e.g. I'm going to call my representative!), send letters to them and generally just make noise. Having a protest in front of the city hall would also be good, even if it's only 50 people it does good. Online petitions aren't really going to make a politician think anything twice over :|

Wow. Alright, I'm back.

I would go start beating the streets for signatures to help the Stephenville shelter but, as it turns out, I;m about 8 hours away from Stephenville so I thought the next best thing I could do was spread the word.

In truth, I am also of the belief that a petition will do little good but I felt bad just sitting around doing nothing while my friends, many of whom foster animals or donate tax returns to shelters, cried foul about the disgraceful situation that is happening.

I will e-mail the shelter owner tonight to see if there is anything else I can do from afar besides spreading the word of the petition and the whole ordeal. I'll pass along any response I get from them.

Signed it twice.

Is this shelter a privately funded or government funded?

Cat said:

Signed it twice.

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That would be one of the reasons that these kinds of petitions don't work.

Yep

No offense, but where the hell are you getting your information from? The petition only says they're changing from a no kill shelter to high kill. No where does it say they are shutting down, being persecuted, not being allowed to place animals. If they're having legal trouble why not ask the SPCA, Humane Society or the Animal Legal Defense Fund to help.

In the information I received about the situation via a Facebook support group it was stated that the government is shutting down the shelter and terminating all animals on the 20th of this month. This information came from a representative of the shelter.

I tend to believe the Newfoundland gonverment would do this as we have the most lax animal cruelty laws in the country. I believe if you beat an animal to death you fined 20.00 or do ninety days in jail. The fine may be a bit more now but early as January it was 20 bucks. Animals just aren't seen as things with rights here in need of protection. They are personal property with which you can do as you see fit.

Anyways, I got a letter back from the shelter rep. She says at this point, since the lawyer abdoned them and the deal was pushed through the courts, the animals are going to be killed on the 20th. What she and others are trying to do now is garner media attention and outrage in an effort to shame those responsible out of their actions.

If worst comes to worst, the night before the killing goes down the shelter owner plans on illedgally placing the as many as the animals in homes and taking whatever punishment she may get.

I'm always held a bit of concern over No Kill Shelters. I'm a lover of animals myself and appreciate the intentions of such a shelter, but sometimes the reality of the situation is a bit harsh. Unless a No Kill Shelter has a high adoption rate, it's likely that they will eventually run out of room for additional pets. Such reality has spawned horror stories such as a man who attempted to drop his dog off at a No Kill Shelter and was turned away due to there being no room. As a sick solution to his problem the man threw the dog out of his pickup and ran it over on the way home.
The alternative to this is to accept animals no matter how many they currently have, and animals contained in close quarters is not only dangerous for the health of the animals but anti-productive as they may become territorial and aggressive, thereby being less likely to be adopted.

I volunteer for a shelter that only euthanizes as a last resort. They always dislike doing it, and in the few months I have been there they have not had to yet. But during the volunteer orientation they are quick to dismiss any claims they are a No Kill Shelter. Usually they only resort to it if an animal is fatally ill or develops strong "Kennel madness".

Internet petitions do nothing and are not worth "signing", since, as another poster unintentionally pointed out, they can be easily falsified. Bummer about the shelter, but posting this on a niche forum isn't the right way to spread the word.

LittleSin said:

I tend to believe the Newfoundland gonverment would do this as we have the most lax animal cruelty laws in the country. I believe if you beat an animal to death you fined 20.00 or do ninety days in jail. The fine may be a bit more now but early as January it was 20 bucks. Animals just aren't seen as things with rights here in need of protection. They are personal property with which you can do as you see fit.

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Yeah, there has been some enhancement to the animal cruelty laws in Canada but for the longest time, killing someone else's animal, no matter the method, was just considered willful destruction of property.

KCWM said:

but posting this on a niche forum isn't the right way to spread the word.

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Your face is a niche forum! :humph:

I just yelled "PLEASE DON'T SHUT DOWN THE SHELTER!" out a window, just doin my part

Charlie Dont Surf said:

I just yelled "PLEASE DON'T SHUT DOWN THE SHELTER!" out a window, just doin my part

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