Signal Boost: Petition to MCAS to Lift Ban on SouthBARK rescue

Signal Boosted from raze.

Mobile County Commissioner Connie Hudson: Reverse the ban on SouthBARK Animal Rescue from the Mobile County Shelter

SouthBARK is a private no-kill rescue serving the Mobile area of Alabama. It operates by pulling dogs from high-kill municipal shelters and networking with rescues and private adopters across the country to place dogs at risk of euthanasia. They take on dogs with the least hopes of avoiding euthanasia at overburdened county shelters like MCAS; geriatric animals, animals needing expensive vet care, pregnant and nursing mothers, and bully breeds. Over 1500 dogs have been saved by SouthBARK from MCAS directly, and the exposure they give at-risk dogs to prospective adopters and other rescues has doubtless saved countless others.

Unfortunately, SouthBARK is being punished because it doesn't shy away from speaking frankly on the issue of euthanizing healthy animals. Because it has employed the big no-no words of kill shelters (kill, die) to convey the severity of some dogs' statuses, it is being accused of "disrupting shelter function." There has also been an issue with non-associated individuals calling MCAS to complain about dogs who have been killed, and while I sympathize with how hard this is for shelter staff, it is something that EVERY kill shelter contends with. It is NOT adequate reason to punish the dogs and sentence them to death by pulling one of their biggest advocates.

Pit Bulls are likely to suffer most from this decision. They are "rescue only" in Mobile county shelters due to BSL and the rampant occurence of dog fighting in the city. SouthBARK has given MCAS's pits a ton of exposure online and pulled many for bully breed rescues up north. Chicken, one of the dogs pictured on the petition page, is just one of many pit bulls happy and healthy in a new home thanks to SouthBARK.

So, please sign to reverse this decision and get SouthBARK back to its lifesaving work!

Whew! and Signal Boost for Poetree's next multi-hosted theme week

Just spoke with my grandmother and uncle on the phone. Grandma is moving into her new assisted living apartment on Monday. My aunt helped her pick out new furniture and my dad, aunt and uncle will help her get moved in and settled come Monday. Such a relief.

In other news jjhunter and I have been working to get poetree back up and running after a long hiatus, not to mention getting some old projects for the community done and updated. The comm will come off hiatus this coming Monday (Sept. 10). Our first week back is going to be a multi-hosted theme week in which we will explore one poem in depth. The poem we have chosen is Julia Stein's Downtown Women. Julia Stein has even given us permission to repost the poem in it's entirety, though sadly she will not be able to participate in the discussion due to health reasons.

If you want to participate, check out the sign-up post. This is a great poem about immigrants, women, the labor movements and so much more. There are so many ways in which to participate. You could look at the historical context of the poem, write or create something in response to the poem, translate the poem into another language and discuss the issues surrounding its translation, create an audio or video performance piece in response, or anything else that fits into the theme of exploring this one poem in depth. There is still plenty of room for hosts, and it's a heck of a lot of fun to get involved.

Also if you are interested in hosting a week of your own, check out our current sign-up post. You do not have to be a poet, just enthusiastic about poetry. Nor do you have to be a Dreamwidth member; the community admins can always put up your posts on your behalf. Details about how that works are available on the sign-up page. You can host a week posting on any topic related to poetry (and the week itself does not have to be themed, though you can do that if you want). Check out the sign-up and our community introduction post for more details. And feel free just to check out. poetree is a wonderful way to explore poetry and make friends with like-minded people.