tybrax
April 12th, 2005, 05:47 PM
Taco Update, please help again if you can/want...Lets get him saved..PLEASE CROSSPOST WIDELY *
* ALL CONTACT INFO BELOW *
From: Tammy Williams / Advocates for the Underdog
It is with great sadness and disgust that I report the status of
TACO and Stephanie Ascott in Windsor.
Last night Windsor City Council met. As you know, this was the
night that would decide the fate of Taco. In the City's Order of
Business for April 11, 2005 there was a motion on the table to
allow Stephanie Ascott to speak. There were also 2 Notices of
Reconsideration of By-Law #245-2004 brought forward by Councillor
Alan Halberstadt. All of these items had to be voted on by Council
before they could be brought before Council.
Before any vote began, Councillor Joyce Zuk removed herself from the
vote. She decided to remove herself on the basis that she is the
Executive Director of Citizen Advocacy. Citizen Advocacy offers a
program called Companion Animal Assisted Therapy. "The Companion
Animal Assisted Therapies Program (CAAT) is a pet facilitated,
United Way funded program, serving adults in long-term care
facilities, hospitals and community support groups throughout
Windsor and Essex County.
The program enhances communication, motivation, and socialization to
the seniors and adults with disabilities that receive an animal
visit. There are so many physical and emotional benefits to this
program. It has been proven that talking to or petting an animal
lowers blood pressure. Pets can also provide unconditional love as
well as teach responsibility, improve communication skills, revive a
sense of fun and play, and develop friendships." She felt that
there was a conflict and removed herself from the vote.
The matter to allow Stephanie Ascott to speak was the first order of
business. The vote was 5 - 4 in favour of allowing Stephanie to
speak. However, Mayor Francis stepped in and cast his own vote
against Stephanie making the vote 5 - 5 creating a tie....which in
Council is considered a loss. Thanks to Mayor Eddie Francis,
Stephanie was silenced. She was NOT allowed to even plea her case.
The next matters on the table were the Notices of Reconsideration of
By-law #245-2004 as proposed by Coucillor Halberstadt. Again, the
vote was 5 - 4 in favour of hearing the motion. And again, Mayor
Francis stepped in and cast his vote against the motion creating a
tie. The motion was defeated.
Once again, Mayor Eddie Francis has not allowed anyone to speak up
against By-Law #245. I urge you to contact the Mayor's office. Ask
him why he constantly ignores this issue. With Bill 132 pending,
why does he not follow the rest of the Province and just allow Bill
132 to deal with the banning of "pit bulls?" Does he enjoy wasting
Windsor's Tax dollars??? Last time we emailed Mayor Francis, he had
his email filtered. Please CALL him. Please contact him by MAIL.
Also, EMAIL him. His contact information is below as provided by
the City of Windsor website.
Mayor's Office
350 City Hall Square West
P.O. Box 1607
Windsor, Ontario
Canada
N9A6S1
Tel. (519) 255-6315
Fax. (519) 255-7796mayoro@city.windsor.on.ca
Email:
Councillors who voted against Stephanie and Taco and the
reconsideration of By-law #245-2004 are:
DAVID BRISTER dbrister@city.windsor.on.ca (519)250-7960
FULVIO VALENTINIS fvalentinis@city.windsor.on.ca (519)977-5067
DAVID CASSIVI dcassivi@city.windsor.on.ca (519)948-0131
JO-ANNE GIGNAC joagignac@city.windsor.on.ca (519)945-4434
Above information has been provided by the City of Windsor website
http://www.citywindsor.ca/
Letters to the above noted Councillors can be sent to:
350 City Hall Square West
Windsor, Ontario
Canada
N9A 6S1
On another note, Diane Sibley is the Licensing Commissioner. Last
night she was making a comment to Council and said that "Bill 132
will be receiving Royal Assent on August 29th, 2005." She was
corrected by an outburst from a member of the audience who told her
that the Bill had already received Royal Assent and that the
ENACTMENT Date was August 29th, 2005. This woman is responsible for
providing facts to the City Council in regards to licensing and
bylaws....Can you believe it?? If you are going to
site "FACTS".....shouldn't you know what you are talking about
first. Email: dsibley@city.windsor.on.ca Phone: (519)255-6200
and press 3 for By-law and Licensing.
Since By-law #245 was up for amendment and that motion was defeated,
according to Municipal Procedure the bylaw cannot be brought forward
for amendment for ONE YEAR.
As it stands with Taco and Stephanie, Council did not give an answer
last night. I guess it would be save to assume that they will now
want their previous orders followed: Deliver the animal to the
Windsor-Essex County Humane Society within 6 days for humane
euthanization. Please do NOT email the Windsor-Essex County Humane
Society....they have no involvement in this.
AFTU is absolutely sickened by this decision made by City
Council....more particularly MAYOR EDDIE FRANCIS. All he had to do
was let her speak and plead her case......Then a decision could have
been made regarding Taco. How is a decision made if you do not know
all the facts.
Further, we find it disgusting that they would not allow an
exemption for Taco. Council keeps repeating that they do not want
to "open that door" and allow for exemptions. However, there have
been exemptions already. One was made for a REGISTERED show dog.
There is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier in Windsor that was exempted
from the neuter portion of By-law 245-2004 so that his owner may
still continue to SHOW HIM. I ask you.....How is a SHOW DOG more
important than the dog of a DISABLED WOMAN!?!? At present there are
over 220 "grand-fathered" pit bull type dogs in the City of
Windsor. What is one more???
Regards,
Advocates for the Underdog
info@advocatesfortheunderdog.com
ADDITIONAL INFO:
* ADVOCATES FOR THE UNDERDOG WILL LEGALLY CHALLENGE TACO'S FATE
* TACO WILL BE MOVED TO A SAFE HOUSE UNTIL THE COURT BATTLE IS OVER
PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST
* ALL CONTACT INFO BELOW *
From: Tammy Williams / Advocates for the Underdog
It is with great sadness and disgust that I report the status of
TACO and Stephanie Ascott in Windsor.
Last night Windsor City Council met. As you know, this was the
night that would decide the fate of Taco. In the City's Order of
Business for April 11, 2005 there was a motion on the table to
allow Stephanie Ascott to speak. There were also 2 Notices of
Reconsideration of By-Law #245-2004 brought forward by Councillor
Alan Halberstadt. All of these items had to be voted on by Council
before they could be brought before Council.
Before any vote began, Councillor Joyce Zuk removed herself from the
vote. She decided to remove herself on the basis that she is the
Executive Director of Citizen Advocacy. Citizen Advocacy offers a
program called Companion Animal Assisted Therapy. "The Companion
Animal Assisted Therapies Program (CAAT) is a pet facilitated,
United Way funded program, serving adults in long-term care
facilities, hospitals and community support groups throughout
Windsor and Essex County.
The program enhances communication, motivation, and socialization to
the seniors and adults with disabilities that receive an animal
visit. There are so many physical and emotional benefits to this
program. It has been proven that talking to or petting an animal
lowers blood pressure. Pets can also provide unconditional love as
well as teach responsibility, improve communication skills, revive a
sense of fun and play, and develop friendships." She felt that
there was a conflict and removed herself from the vote.
The matter to allow Stephanie Ascott to speak was the first order of
business. The vote was 5 - 4 in favour of allowing Stephanie to
speak. However, Mayor Francis stepped in and cast his own vote
against Stephanie making the vote 5 - 5 creating a tie....which in
Council is considered a loss. Thanks to Mayor Eddie Francis,
Stephanie was silenced. She was NOT allowed to even plea her case.
The next matters on the table were the Notices of Reconsideration of
By-law #245-2004 as proposed by Coucillor Halberstadt. Again, the
vote was 5 - 4 in favour of hearing the motion. And again, Mayor
Francis stepped in and cast his vote against the motion creating a
tie. The motion was defeated.
Once again, Mayor Eddie Francis has not allowed anyone to speak up
against By-Law #245. I urge you to contact the Mayor's office. Ask
him why he constantly ignores this issue. With Bill 132 pending,
why does he not follow the rest of the Province and just allow Bill
132 to deal with the banning of "pit bulls?" Does he enjoy wasting
Windsor's Tax dollars??? Last time we emailed Mayor Francis, he had
his email filtered. Please CALL him. Please contact him by MAIL.
Also, EMAIL him. His contact information is below as provided by
the City of Windsor website.
Mayor's Office
350 City Hall Square West
P.O. Box 1607
Windsor, Ontario
Canada
N9A6S1
Tel. (519) 255-6315
Fax. (519) 255-7796mayoro@city.windsor.on.ca
Email:
Councillors who voted against Stephanie and Taco and the
reconsideration of By-law #245-2004 are:
DAVID BRISTER dbrister@city.windsor.on.ca (519)250-7960
FULVIO VALENTINIS fvalentinis@city.windsor.on.ca (519)977-5067
DAVID CASSIVI dcassivi@city.windsor.on.ca (519)948-0131
JO-ANNE GIGNAC joagignac@city.windsor.on.ca (519)945-4434
Above information has been provided by the City of Windsor website
http://www.citywindsor.ca/
Letters to the above noted Councillors can be sent to:
350 City Hall Square West
Windsor, Ontario
Canada
N9A 6S1
On another note, Diane Sibley is the Licensing Commissioner. Last
night she was making a comment to Council and said that "Bill 132
will be receiving Royal Assent on August 29th, 2005." She was
corrected by an outburst from a member of the audience who told her
that the Bill had already received Royal Assent and that the
ENACTMENT Date was August 29th, 2005. This woman is responsible for
providing facts to the City Council in regards to licensing and
bylaws....Can you believe it?? If you are going to
site "FACTS".....shouldn't you know what you are talking about
first. Email: dsibley@city.windsor.on.ca Phone: (519)255-6200
and press 3 for By-law and Licensing.
Since By-law #245 was up for amendment and that motion was defeated,
according to Municipal Procedure the bylaw cannot be brought forward
for amendment for ONE YEAR.
As it stands with Taco and Stephanie, Council did not give an answer
last night. I guess it would be save to assume that they will now
want their previous orders followed: Deliver the animal to the
Windsor-Essex County Humane Society within 6 days for humane
euthanization. Please do NOT email the Windsor-Essex County Humane
Society....they have no involvement in this.
AFTU is absolutely sickened by this decision made by City
Council....more particularly MAYOR EDDIE FRANCIS. All he had to do
was let her speak and plead her case......Then a decision could have
been made regarding Taco. How is a decision made if you do not know
all the facts.
Further, we find it disgusting that they would not allow an
exemption for Taco. Council keeps repeating that they do not want
to "open that door" and allow for exemptions. However, there have
been exemptions already. One was made for a REGISTERED show dog.
There is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier in Windsor that was exempted
from the neuter portion of By-law 245-2004 so that his owner may
still continue to SHOW HIM. I ask you.....How is a SHOW DOG more
important than the dog of a DISABLED WOMAN!?!? At present there are
over 220 "grand-fathered" pit bull type dogs in the City of
Windsor. What is one more???
Regards,
Advocates for the Underdog
info@advocatesfortheunderdog.com
ADDITIONAL INFO:
* ADVOCATES FOR THE UNDERDOG WILL LEGALLY CHALLENGE TACO'S FATE
* TACO WILL BE MOVED TO A SAFE HOUSE UNTIL THE COURT BATTLE IS OVER
PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST