Fw: ANIMAL RESEARCH FACILITY----Please, do this, make a real difference, I am begging you! MONTCALM, COUNTY Michigan

January 6, 2009

This is a great idea; well worth what little effort it takes. Please do this for the poor animals that end up being cut up, burned, bones broken, all in the name of "science" because no one adopted them at the shelter.

Do you REALLY want to make a difference?

Visit your Post Office and buy 9 post cards. Scroll down to SAMPLE LETTER below and copy onto EACH post card. Address to each of the nine commissioners listed below. That's it! If you want to get others to sign 9 post cards, buy 18 and fill everything out for them. Just ask them to sign their name and address.

This will protect future animals taken to this county's pound from torture in a research facility. Is that worth making a little bit of effort for and taking a few minutes of your time?

The very thought that a lost, surrendered

or abandoned companion animal

can end up on a researcher's table

in Montcalm County, Stanton, Michigan

~ turned over by a "shelter" ~

is horrifying beyond words.

You can help stop this atrocity NOW!

Please read the e-mail below

for the background on this situation

and SAMPLE LETTER!

and then

(AND THIS IS IMPORTANT!)

Write and Call the commissioners!

You can make a difference.

BE POLITE... BE POLITE... BE POLITE!

IMPORTANT TO NOTE:

We have all gotten use to sending email. It is easier, that is for sure. But this is a serious issue. Think of a puppy sitting at the pound in a cage not knowing what is happening to him/her. Then, all of a sudden he is loaded into the back of a truck and hauled off like livestock to a research facility, where he/she will go through grueling (and unnecessary) pain. My God, the thought of this makes me feel physically ill. WE CAN STOP THIS INSANITY. YOU CAN STOP THIS INSANITY!

" I don't want to be used in an experiment

to find out if your perfume will make your eyes water.

PLEASE DON'T TAKE ME TO A RESEARCH LAB

to feel pain and then be killed

after sometimes more than one

experiment has been performed on me!

I have feelings!"

Please, just this once send an old fashioned postcard (pick 9 or more up from the post office so you can write all 9 commissioners) or write a good old-fashioned letter and copy it 9 times. Often times when email is sent for something like this the commissioners will simply hit DELETE.

Make the mail clerks and everyone else in the County building see and feel the amount of protest. Call the commissioners at their homes, too, and keep their phone lines busy. I know from personal experience that letters and calls really gets attention. I was called into the mayor's office when he had received over 1,000 post cards (they were stacked up against his wall) from people who weren't happy that a guy here in Fremont was shooting cats and got away with it.

DO BOTH... CALL & WRITE!

Always be polite and respectful

but be persistent

and tell others to call and write as well.

THE COMMISSIONERS:

Send a letter to EACH Commissioner, not just one!

And Telephone EACH Commissioner at home!

Commissioner Marcia Walker (HER TERM WAS UP IN DECEMBER)

Marcia Walker has served as a commissioner for Montcalm County since January 1, 1997. Marcia serves as the Vice-Chairperson of the Economic Development & Physical Resources Committee. Marcia also serves on the following committees: Collective Bargaining, Health & Human Services, Parks & Recreation Commission, Mid-Michigan District Health Department Board, Montcalm Alliance, West Michigan Regional Planning Commission, Greenville LDFA & TIFA and the Commission on Aging Board of Directors.

PLEASE DON'T EMAIL!

SEND A POSTCARD OR LETTER IF YOU REALLY WANT TO STOP THESE DOGS FROM GOING TO THE RESEARCH FACILITY! AND TELEPHONE HER, TOO!

Commissioner Marcia Walker

Administrative Building3rd Floor211 W. Main St.PO Box 368Stanton, MI 48888

HOME PHONE - (616) 754-8236

lloydwalker@ chartermi. net

Commissioner Tom Lindeman

Tom Lindeman was appointed to the District 2 County Commissioners seat April 14, 2008 filling the vacated seat of Dan Petersen. Tom serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Health & Human Services Committee. Tom also serves on the following committee's: Economic Development & Physical Resources, Finance & Personnel, Ionia Montcalm District DHS Board liaison, Northern Michigan Counties Association, Montcalm Housing Commission, Montcalm Substance Abuse, RiverHaven Coordinating Advisory Board, COGG (Community of Greater Greenville), Greenville Transportation Study, and the WMRPC CEDSC.

PLEASE DON'T EMAIL!

SEND A POSTCARD OR LETTER IF YOU REALLY WANT TO STOP THESE DOGS FROM GOING TO THE RESEARCH FACILITY! AND TELEPHONE HER, TOO!

Commissioner Tom Lindeman

Administrative Building3rd Floor211 W. Main St.PO Box 368Stanton, MI 48888

HOME PHONE - (616) 754-4918

tblindeman@sbcgloba l.net

Commissioner Ron Retzloff

Ron Retzloff has served as a Montcalm County Commissioner since April 16, 1998. Ron acts as the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Commissioners and the Collective Bargaining Committee. He Chairs the Law Enforcement & Courts Committee, Pension Trust Fund, Central Dispatch Authority Board, Emergency Management Advisory Council, County Information System Oversight Committee, Central Area Michigan Works Executive Board and the CAMWC Board of Directors. Ron also serves on the Finance & Personnel Committee.

Commissioner Ron Retzloff

Administrative Building3rd Floor211 W. Main St.PO Box 368Stanton, MI 48888

HOME PHONE - (989) 235-6827comish (AT) casair (DOT) net

Commissioner John Johansen

John Johansen has been a commissioner for Montcalm County since March 17, 2000. John serves as the Chairman of the Economic Development & Physical Resources Committee. John also serves on the following committees: Planning Commission, Law Enforcement & Courts, Health & Human Services, COA Board of Directors, Conservation District liaison, Mental Health Board, Ionia Montcalm District DHS Board liaison, West Michigan Regional Planning Commission, Montcalm Land Use Coalition liaison, Montcalm County Human Services Coalition Committee, and Montcalm Alliance as alternate liaison.

Commissioner John Johansen

Administrative Building3rd Floor211 W. Main St.PO Box 368Stanton, MI 48888

HOME PHONE - (616) 754-5375johm (AT) pathwaynet (DOT) com

Commissioner Carl Paepke

Carl Paepke has served as a commissioner for Montcalm County since January 1, 1995. Carl serves as the Chairman of both the Solid Waste Management Planning Commisssion and Parks & Recreation Commission. Carl also serves on the following committees: Finance & Personnel Committee, Health & Human Services Committee, Law Enformcement & Courts Committee, Mid-Michigan District Health Board, MTA Representative, Address Ordinance Appeals Board, and Timberland RC & D.

Commissioner Carl Paepke

Administrative Building3rd Floor211 W. Main St.PO Box 368Stanton, MI 48888

HOME PHONE - (616) 636-5692

Commissioner Ron Baker

Ron Baker has served as a commissioner for Montcalm County since January 14, 1998. Ron Baker serves as the Chairman of the Collective Bargaining Committee. Ron also serves as Vice-Chairman on the Finance & Personnel Committee and is a member of the following committees: Economic Development & Physical Resources Committee, and the Address Ordinance Appeals Board.

Commissioner Ron Baker

Administrative Building3rd Floor211 W. Main St.PO Box 368Stanton, MI 48888

HOME PHONE - (231) 937-5465rbaker68amx@ hotmail.com

Commissioner Pat Carr

Patrick Q. Carr has served as a Montcalm County Commissioner since January 1, 1993. Pat Carr serves as the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners. Pat Carr also serves on the following committees: Pension Trust, 911 Authority Board, CAMWC Board of Directors, Emergency Management Advisory Council, and Collective Bargaining.

Commissioner Pat Carr

Administrative Building3rd Floor211 W. Main St.PO Box 368Stanton, MI 48888

HOME PHONE - (989) 352-8129

Commissioner Roger Caris

Roger Caris has served as a commissioner for Montcalm County since January 1, 1997. Roger Caris serves as the Chairman of the Finance & Personnel Committee. Roger also serves on the following committees: Collective Bargaining, 911 Authority Board, 911 Authority Finance Committee, and Law Enforcement & Courts.

Commissioner Roger Caris

Administrative Building3rd Floor211 W. Main St.PO Box 368Stanton, MI 48888

HOME PHONE - (989) 268-5875rcaris (AT) gccmha (DOT) org

Commissioner John McCrackin

John McCrackin has served as a commissioner for Montcalm County since January 1, 1991. John McCrackin serves as the Chairman for the Health & Human Services Committee. John also serves on the following committee's: Economic Development, Law Enforcement & Courts, Prison Liaison Committee, Montcalm Land Use Coalition, MSU Extension Advisory Council liaison, Montcalm County Human Services Coalition Committee, Mental Health Services Committee, and Medical Control Authority Liaison.

Commissioner John McCrackin

Administrative Building3rd Floor211 W. Main St.PO Box 368Stanton, MI 48888

HOME PHONE - (989) 584-3713

Detailed Information

People throughout the country (and throughout the world) have learned of the plight of stray animals in Montcalm County, Stanton, Michigan. First abandoned by their people, only to then face the ultimate betrayal—being sold to an unethical Class B dealer for subsequent use as research animals—with the whole operation being funded by taxpayers despite their vehement protests.

Montcalm County is one of the few remaining counties in the country that still betrays the trust of its citizenry by turning animals from the “shelter” over to the atrocities of research. Not only is the practice barbaric, outdated and sharply criticized by ethicists, medical experts and animal lovers alike, but the lab that Montcalm chooses to deal with (R & R Research, Inc. of Howard City, Michigan) has come under fire for unethical operations and flagrant violations of law..

R & R has engaged in less than ethical practices including listing itself as an animal shelter in the yellow pages. The State of Michigan Attorney General’s Office ordered the ads removed.

Quite obviously, R & R is no shelter.

Ionia County Animal Control ended its relationship with R & R after it was discovered that a dog that an Ionia Animal Control Officer claimed was shot to death, was actually at R & R Research.

An undercover investigation by WOOD TV in the 1990's showed video of R & R owners gassing animals in a rusty 55 gallon drum.

In 2006, the USDA cited R & R for improperly transporting dogs. The poor creatures were chained to the side of a livestock trailer, which is illegal since the regulations demand that each animal is transported in an individual compartment.

In 2005, a USDA inspection found sick cats, quarantined without a treatment plan. In both cases, it's clear that R & R's actions led to the suffering of animals.

Compassion and ethical considerations aside, Montcalm County is, in this time of financial crisis, enriching R & R, a private corporation, at the expense of its taxpayers. Montcalm County is giving dogs and cats to R & R and based on R & R’s own submission to the USDA, R & R resells the animals for an average of $311 each.

The only one who has benefited from the deal is R & R which resells animals at a huge profit. The animals don't win since they loose the chance at finding a new home. Montcalm County looses any income from adoptions and also the goodwill that a well run shelter generates. Instead, the relationship between the dealer and the shelter is a source of bad publicity for Montcalm County and its elected officials, with many groups even calling for a boycott of all Montcalm businesses until the shelter stops selling to research.

Please write to the commisioners and ask them to seriously consider NOT RENEWING the R & R contract (or even entering into one with another Class B dealer). Let them know that they should consider the concerns and welfare of all who reside in Montcalm county as well as consider taking a giant step into the 21st century by leaving pound seizure behind. Please encourage them to NOT renew the R & R contract. It is the ultimate betrayal.