RockRiverTiff
Well-Known Member
I don't like to dwell on the topic of apathy because all it does is depress me, but tonight I will be speaking against it publicly. I'm hoping you guys can give me some feedback (and also that venting here will help me to keep my cool later). A warning though--this just may be my longest topic yet.
I think it's safe to say that here on the forum we of all people know that animal over-population has become a serious issue. Combine that with a total lack of a sense of responsiblity in the people creating this problem, and things are looking pretty grim. Just last week a shelter in a neighboring county reported that they will likely have to close soon due to a serious lack of funding. I can't tell you how sad news like that makes me, but now my own community is bullying one of our private rescues.
I'm not 100% on the specifics, but here's a general rundown... A couple years ago the founder of the rescue died and left her estate for the continuation of the rescue. Prior to that the woman had been filing for a badly needed facility expansion. A small handful of her neighbors had been trying to prevent the expansion but apparently didn't have much recourse as the woman and her rescue had been there longer than them. Because it took the new directors nearly a year to take over the original site, the neighbors are now trying to argue that it is no longer protected by grandfather laws. Furthermore, the area has seen significant development in the last couple years so that the number of plaintiffs has now grown from three households to approximately 20.
Obviously a privately funded rescue does not have a great deal of money to be throwing around in court. The final decision on whether they can expand their current facilities will be made next week. In the meantime, the rescue directors have been looking for a larger and more suitable property in an area where they will face less resistance. Apparently no such area exists.
More than a year ago in an effort to help, Joyce, Mo and I viewed a property outside city limits to determine if it would be suitable for their needs, the idea being that if it was Joyce would supply the deficit of money needed for them to get their new property. At the time, the property was newly empty and needed a lot of work. However, as the date of the rescue's case nears, they are getting more and more desparate to find a new home (ironic huh that even the sanctuary for excess animals is unwanted). This property is well outside the city in a part industrial, part agricultural area. Also on the road is a storage facility, a waste removal service, an empty junk yard, and a manufacturing plant. What could these businesses possibly have against an animal shelter right?
Wrong. The owner of the manufacturing plant has implied that building the shelter there would deter future businesses. Because dogs and cats are such an eyesore when compared to waste removal services I guess. Mind you the property has been available for over a year and there are two other properties that have long been available on that road. Well the plant owner has some pull, and the building commission denied the shelter's request to build a facility there. It was suggested that they build instead in the industrial park (where single acre lots sell for as much as $100,000 or more). But a quick glance at the rules for building in the industrial park show that it will accept no businesses that require the permanent housing of animals.
It's clearly a case of NIMBY (not in my back yard), and acknowledging the heartless nature of some people quite frankly brings me to frustrated tears. While we as individuals may not have created this problem, our community has, and I just can't understand why we aren't willing to stand up and do what's right. The rescue's doing the hard part, how can anyone justify resisting their self-funded efforts?
Tonight they are hosting an open city council meeting, after which the council will vote on whether or not to overturn the commission's decision. If they do not, we are going to offer the necessary acreage from our own land. The only issue of course is that as many of you know the area around us has also been developed, and we worry the rescue will face the same resistance from those home owners as it does from the ones near its current location.
Why does our world make it so hard to do good?
I think it's safe to say that here on the forum we of all people know that animal over-population has become a serious issue. Combine that with a total lack of a sense of responsiblity in the people creating this problem, and things are looking pretty grim. Just last week a shelter in a neighboring county reported that they will likely have to close soon due to a serious lack of funding. I can't tell you how sad news like that makes me, but now my own community is bullying one of our private rescues.
I'm not 100% on the specifics, but here's a general rundown... A couple years ago the founder of the rescue died and left her estate for the continuation of the rescue. Prior to that the woman had been filing for a badly needed facility expansion. A small handful of her neighbors had been trying to prevent the expansion but apparently didn't have much recourse as the woman and her rescue had been there longer than them. Because it took the new directors nearly a year to take over the original site, the neighbors are now trying to argue that it is no longer protected by grandfather laws. Furthermore, the area has seen significant development in the last couple years so that the number of plaintiffs has now grown from three households to approximately 20.
Obviously a privately funded rescue does not have a great deal of money to be throwing around in court. The final decision on whether they can expand their current facilities will be made next week. In the meantime, the rescue directors have been looking for a larger and more suitable property in an area where they will face less resistance. Apparently no such area exists.
More than a year ago in an effort to help, Joyce, Mo and I viewed a property outside city limits to determine if it would be suitable for their needs, the idea being that if it was Joyce would supply the deficit of money needed for them to get their new property. At the time, the property was newly empty and needed a lot of work. However, as the date of the rescue's case nears, they are getting more and more desparate to find a new home (ironic huh that even the sanctuary for excess animals is unwanted). This property is well outside the city in a part industrial, part agricultural area. Also on the road is a storage facility, a waste removal service, an empty junk yard, and a manufacturing plant. What could these businesses possibly have against an animal shelter right?
Wrong. The owner of the manufacturing plant has implied that building the shelter there would deter future businesses. Because dogs and cats are such an eyesore when compared to waste removal services I guess. Mind you the property has been available for over a year and there are two other properties that have long been available on that road. Well the plant owner has some pull, and the building commission denied the shelter's request to build a facility there. It was suggested that they build instead in the industrial park (where single acre lots sell for as much as $100,000 or more). But a quick glance at the rules for building in the industrial park show that it will accept no businesses that require the permanent housing of animals.
It's clearly a case of NIMBY (not in my back yard), and acknowledging the heartless nature of some people quite frankly brings me to frustrated tears. While we as individuals may not have created this problem, our community has, and I just can't understand why we aren't willing to stand up and do what's right. The rescue's doing the hard part, how can anyone justify resisting their self-funded efforts?
Tonight they are hosting an open city council meeting, after which the council will vote on whether or not to overturn the commission's decision. If they do not, we are going to offer the necessary acreage from our own land. The only issue of course is that as many of you know the area around us has also been developed, and we worry the rescue will face the same resistance from those home owners as it does from the ones near its current location.
Why does our world make it so hard to do good?
