What is the truth about Piglet – Part 3

Blossom (formerly Piglet) at the Riverside Shelter

Facebook has been acting wonky this week (and what else is new?) with posts disappearing from timelines.  Many people were hoping and praying Piglet's life would be spared.  Many contacted the shelter in support of Piglet going to rescue or sanctuary.  







As noted in my note and blog postings concerning the truth about Piglet, there were more questions than answers.  Rebecca McCullough and Mark Watson of The Heart of Leo Sanctuary (http://www.facebook.com/heartofleo) in Colorado went the extra mile in finding out the truth about Piglet's death.  I don't want this truth to disappear because of a timeline/FB glitch (or idiocy, take your pick).

Rest in Peace and run free Blossom.

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Posted by Justice for Lennox (http://www.facebook.com/JusticeForLennox)
Status link: http://www.facebook.com/JusticeForLennox/posts/128985370580003

on Friday, 9/24/12 at approximately 10pm Central.

Justice for Lennox

Piglet was killed. 

First, I would like to say: The people (Piglet's owners) who posted all the petitions, deceitful and false details, and who collected money for a "legal defense" were the ones who brought Piglet into the shelter after she attacked the jogger. This was Piglet's second attack. They told the shelter from the beginning of her second bite offense that they wanted her to be destroyed. After they collected money from everyone, they shut down the pages and made a false announcement that she was dead.

Riverside County has NO BSL. The ordinance in regards to bites: 1st offense considered an accident, and is forgiven but the dog must be properly cared for and restrained from then on, and a potentially dangerous dog "restraining order" is placed upon the owners.2nd offense, the dog will be impounded and euthanized. 

Piglet had attacked once. Her family neglected her a second time. Her second offense she hospitalized a jogger. The family WANTED Piglet to be euthanized, presumably because they wanted to keep the money they had collected. Executive Director Rob Miller decided that it wasn't fair. He put a "Do Not Euthanize" order on her kennel and into their Chameleon Database so he could fight it. If the family hadn't brought her in and TOLD them to kill her... If they had even TRIED to appeal it, there might have been a chance for her. 

This director stepped to the plate for her anyway, mainly, because it was obvious that she had been abused. She had been trained to attack as well. He didn't feel she should die because of the abusive and neglectful actions of her owners.

:-( 

They had her evaluated over the past three weeks 3 separate times. She was taken out of the shelter by a certified behaviorist for an out of shelter evaluation as well. The behaviorist said: "Not Good." She showed aggression to all other animals. She showed extreme food aggression. She was aggressive to humans too.

Still they fought for her. 

Around the time I last heard from them, the director had ordered John Welsh to stop responding to emails and phone calls about her, because there were literally 1000's coming in every day. They had 400 other dogs in the shelter who needed to be networked out, and they needed his help coordinating transports and rescues. However, they did NOT give up on her.

He argued her case with the City of Riverside for 3 weeks to try to save her life. The city finally based their decision on the fact that they could not set a precedence. When other bad owners abuse, neglect and turn their dogs vicious, they have to be able to protect the public. By sparing Piglet, it would have effectively nullified their policy.

I would now like to say: Tracy Fry claimed to have been in contact with John Welsh. She claimed that she had a sanctuary lined up, and a full rescue proposal on his desk. John Welsh has never heard of Tracy Fry. Nor had he heard of Sienna Rose, or any of her friends.

There were only 2 organizations trying to save Piglet. One was a woman named Clarinda from "Smiling Dog Farms" in Nebraska. The other was myself, from The Heart of Leo Animal Sanctuary in Colorado. Believe me, HOL tried. From what John said, Clarinda was calling several times a day as well.

I am personally grateful to Riverside County. I am grateful to John Welsh and Rob Miller. They went above and beyond trying to save her, even though their policies said they shouldn't. Piglet (Piggy) was a victim of her owners. What they did was criminal in more ways than one. There were other liars involved in this as well. I don't know what they got out of it, but they certainly didn't help the situation. 

John Welsh talked to Rebecca McCullough, our director, for over an hour today. I am still sad, and still believe that I could have helped her. However, I now know that they did EVERYTHING in their power, and it broke their hearts that it turned out this way.

The last thing I want to say: I was going to name her Blossom, because I know she would have blossomed into a wonderful dog with love, patience and proper training. To me, that is her name.

Run free Blossom.

What is the truth about Piglet – Part 2

Part 1 was done as a note on my Facebook page.  Due to the nature and length of this update, I am posting Part 2 on my blog.  Part 1 gives the basic background of Piglet’s story.  As noted in Part 1, there have been NO official (from the shelter itself) updates on Piglet since August 7.

On August 7^th, Justice for Lennox posted he had spoken with the shelter’s public relations person on the 6^th.  [posted as a comment on Piglet’s picture posted August 3^rd on Justice for Lennox]

Supporters of Piglet began contacting Mr. Welsh to express their appreciation of the shelter’s efforts to give Piglet a chance. 

After this, there were no further updates.  There were plenty of questions, especially ones asking if anyone had heard anything from the shelter.  No one had.

On Wednesday, August 22, Sienna Rose posted a picture of Piglet on Save Wicca with the following caption:

To say some of us were stunned would be an understatement.  The last we had heard, the shelter was open to options and accepting proposals from qualified rescues, sanctuaries and individuals.  All proposals would be given consideration.  A number of individuals, including Justice for Lennox – who runs The Heart of Leo  Animal Sanctuary – had been trying unsuccessfully for two weeks to communicate with someone at the shelter by phone or email.

Some are wondering if there was a campaign of sorts to ensure Piglet’s death.  One name kept popping up on posts that were copied/pasted from elsewhere.  I know of only one (1) direct communication with a page by this person, which occurred on August 4:

The full size image is available at: http://www.heartofleo.org/fry1.jpg

On August 9, the following status was posted on Scooby’s Doghouse:

[from] Tracy Fry We have heard back from Riverside. Nothing is going to happen this week, presumably, I just wanted to keep you in the loop that there is still currently a “do NOT euthanize” order by the director. Please I ask you again, stop emailing them. They are still receiving mass emails everyday, and they are unable to effectively do their business having to sift through them all ♥

I did not think to take a screen shot at the time as I had no reason to do so, and it is not available on Scooby’s page at this moment (presumably a Facebook issue since her posts jump from August 21 to June 26 on her timeline), but I did copy/paste it on Piglet’s picture of August 3 on Justice for Lennox:

On August 17, yet another copy/paste of a Tracy Fry post appeared on Piglet’s picture:

No one was able to confirm the information given in this post.  Once again, attempts to speak to someone at the shelter were unsuccessful.

Tracy Fry is an anomaly.  Her personal profile only became active on August 15, 2012 -- at least by what Facebook is showing on her timeline.  She joined Facebook on April 27, 2007.  Her timeline show no posts before 2011: between April 4 and October 15, 2011 she answered 4 questions in polls, and on December 21, 2011 she updated her cover picture.  In 2012, she changed her cover picture on 3 occasions (March 12, April 4, and June 29), and on July 11, she commented on a link concerning Lennox. 

There is no information other than gender in her “about” tab.  She does not like any pages, or has opted not to show them.  In the posts showing on her timeline, not a single one contains a reference to the sanctuary she says she is a part of (see the Heart of Leo screenshot above).  Very little of what is posted has anything to do with animal advocacy, and only from the broad perspective.

Sienna Rose, who posted the death notice of Piglet on Save Wicca, is also an anomaly.  She joined Facebook on August 17, 2010, but her timeline shows even less than Tracy’s does.  It shows no activity prior to June 4, 2012.  While the pages she likes do show, none were liked prior to 2012, and none seem to be a sanctuary.  She has made only two posts (both links) – July 28 and August 17.

There is discrepancy with Tracy’s communication with Heart of Leo concerns John Walsh of the Riverside shelter.  First Tracy calls him the director:

When Mark Watson of Heart of Leo corrects her, she continues with the discrepancy:

Two independent sources name Robert Miller as the director.  The first is a news article from 2010, which happens to mention both men: http://www.pe.com/local-news/politics/politics-headlines-index/20101112-riverside-county-animal-services-to-cut-15-employees.ece

The second is the Riverside County Community Health Agency page which lists all the county animal services information: http://www.rivcocha.org/svcsdir1.html

You may also notice in the screenshot above that Tracy declines to give any information at all about her sanctuary.  Since this was a private communication with an administrator of a 501(c)(3) sanctuary who was trying to help Piglet, there was no reason why she could not have given her sanctuary’s name.  Mark would have respected privacy wishes and not disclosed that information. 

Between August 1 and the announcement of Piglet’s death, Tracy was posting frequently, especially to Save Wicca, for people to stop emailing the shelter.

I just checked all the posts by other people during the month of August on Save Wicca, and not a single one of Tracy’s posts are there.  They have all been removed.

As near as anyone can tell, Tracy has not made a single post since mid-August.  The last reference I know of is the screenshot above of a copy/paste of a Tracy Fry message on Piglet’s August 3 picture. 

There are far too many questions about Tracy Fry for any of us to feel comfortable, and leaving us wondering if this was indeed a ploy to keep Piglet from being saved by a reputable rescue or sanctuary.

Who is Tracy Fry?  What is the name of her so-called sanctuary?  Why has she disappeared off of Facebook?  Where is her proof of anything she posted?  Why have all of her posts disappeared from Save Wicca?

Why, for two weeks, did anyone at the shelter not respond to emails and calls about Piglet – including those from an administrator of a 501(c)(3) sanctuary?   

To be continued …

CALL TO ACTION: Trussville, AL Residents Only

FOR TRUSSVILLE, AL RESIDENTS ONLY

Mayor Melton has said he does not want to hear from non-residents.  Please help us fight the proposed ordinance by respecting this.

The proposed ordinance to ban pit bulls in Trussville, AL is still on the table.  It is not dead, so we can still defeat it.

ALL Trussville, AL residents who oppose breed specific legislation need to let Mayor Melton know this ordinance should not become law.

Please write polite and respectful letters or emails, or make a polite and respectful phone call.  A sample letter is below.  Feel free to use it when contacting Mayor Melton.

Tip from StopBSL.org - As you communicate, break any stereotypes associated with ownership of a targeted breed. Use proper English and good grammar, and be respectful and calm.

For additional tips, including what not to say, see:

http://stopbsl.org/take-action/contact-your-lawmakers/what-not-to-say/  AND

http://stopbsl.org/take-action/contact-your-lawmakers/write-letters/

If you write your own letter, keep it short. Elected officials get swamped with correspondence every day. They are less likely read an essay.

Please share this call to action with everyone you know in Trussville.

News Story: Proposed Pit Bull Ban in Trussville

Proposed Ordinance

http://angelpawanimaladvocacy.blogspot.com/p/trussville-al-proposed-pit-bull-ban.html 

***

NOTE: Address the envelope and your letter as below

Honorable Eugene A. Melton

Mayor of Trussville

City Hall

131 Main Street

P. O. Box 159

Trussville, Alabama 35173

Dear Mayor Melton,

As a resident of Trussville, I am writing to let you know that I do not support any animal ordinance that targets a specific breed of dog.  Numerous professional groups have written position statements against breed specific legislation.  You can read them at http://stopbsl.org/bsloverview/the-lack-of-professional-support/ .

I live in the community and I share your concern for public safety. We can make the community safer through dog ordinances that all dog owners have to follow, no matter what their dog looks like. 

Please make our community safer by supporting a dog ordinance that does not single out specific breeds.

Sincerely,

***

Additional Contact Information:

Telephone (205) 655-7478

Direct (205) 661-4052

Local cell 1-888-619-9997

E-Mail:  Mayor@trussville.org

Contact Form: http://www.trussville.org/ct.asp