A Message From Save Our Strays

Dear Friends and Supporters,

 

Some of you may have seen the article in Sunday, March 23, OC Register in the Local section regarding SOSHB obtaining a business license.

 

It seems a group calling itself POWER (Pet Owners Want Equal Rights), which is made up of mostly illegal, unlicensed backyard breeders, has made it their mission to discredit Save Our Strays simply because we supported a mandatory spay/neuter/microchip ordinance.Unfortunately, they have spread misinformation about SOS, going so far as to say we are affliated with PETA and we use "chop shops" for our spay/neuter program.

 

As all of you know, Save Our Strays has done nothing but good for our community with our low-cost spay/neuter/microchip program ,especially helping seniors and the economically disadvantaged.Our vets have well-established practices in our community.We have also been very successful with our adoptions through our email network.

 

I spoke with the City of Huntington Beach last Friday and as a tax-exempt, non-profit organization, we are not required to have a business license. The organization has existed since 1999 and never been asked to obtain a business license. However, to prevent any further accusations, we have decided to pay the "processing" fee of $23.16 to the City. This will register us with the City and hopefully stop all this nonsense. A wonderful supporter emailed me and said he will be happy to pay the fee for us.

 

I would ask that all of you send an email to the editor of the OC REgister in support of the organization. You can send it to letters@ocregister.com.

 

Thank you all for your support!

Karen Chepeka

President

SOSHB

 

Comments

[David]

Perhaps if you didn't lump all those opposed into one negative category -- which simply isn't true -- you'd have a more effective dialog with the opposition.

Also, before supporting something which will take the rights of property ownership away from citizens, you might look into Kansas City MO.

MSN was passed there -- which led to a 76% increase in the number of 'pit bulls' killed by the shelter in the two years of its existence.

[Kristin Stilton]

David beat me to it. Reading the Register article, I would not have come up with any of the assumptions that Karen has pointedly made her issue. This letter does a disservice to your otherwise fine organization. Stay above the fray, talk about what you do and how you benefit pet owners, and you look great. Become part of a name-calling match, you discredit yourself and your organization. You chose the latter. Very unprofessional....

[joe shaw]

I don't think this letter is unprofessional.

This organization is a group of people who really do a lot of good for our community.

They brought forth a well-intentioned proposal that after wide community debate was rejected. In the meantime, the opponents of the proposal stepped well beyond the limits of reasoned argument into invective, personal attacks and just outright nastiness. I don't see any of that in Karen's letter.

Unfortunately, most of the reasonable people who had legitimate arguments against the proposed ordinance, like the above two commenters, were lost among the rantings and ravings of the lunatic fringe.

It is human nature for a group like Save Our Strays, whose intentions are good, and who provide our community with a valuable service, to be defensive after attacks of such vitriol. I can forgive them for generalizing a little about the opposition, because there heart is in the right place, and they are simply not used to being attacked in such a manner.

[joe shaw]

their not there.

[Kristin Stilton]

Joe,

I never implied the organization is unprofessional - in fact I fully support what this group does. This letter, though, does not simply address the article, as it states, and its pointed jabs ARE unprofessional. It instead jumps with both feet into what seems be an on-going name-calling match not even mentioned in the Register. Additionally, the article in the Register does not paint SOS in a bad light. And, in fact, I think Karen's quote in the Register is very professionsal. Why stoop to name calling now? I feel engaging in this sophomoric bahavior does a disservice, and takes away from focusing on the good things SOS does. Those of you intimately involved (participating?) in the back-and-forth taunts might be better served by not introducing any semblance of negativity to those of us who really don't follow as closely. My opinion of the organization dropped, and not the other way around, when I read this letter. As a (past) pet owner of a spayed, licensed dog I still feel the government has no place dictating what citizens should/could do with their pets. Instead, use your forces to educate the public to make the right decisions. I am NOT an unlicensed back-yard breeder, as this letter implies I should be.