Fron Standing with Brindi

Still here supporting Brindi and Francesca
Standing with BrindiHomeAboutNews Links
These actions do not represent my values
Posted by AnaSophia in Brindi on November 27, 2010

I again yield the floor to one of our readers —

24 November 2010

If Francesca was on city water, the city could check the records with the water department to see how much water she was using and therefore make an observation about whether her house has running water. But she is not on city water. She has her own well.

Does she have heat in her house? It has been stated by at least one witness that she does in fact have heat.

To this, add that on the day the city arrived to evict her, she was wearing light clothing (must have been warm inside) and she washed her hair before she left (with her running water).

So without being inside Francesca’s house, how can the city say there is no water and no heat? Perhaps they are relying on the interview from the Herald with David Hendsbee from some time back where he states that he has not spoken with Francesca. His quotes include, “it might be,” “it could be,” “they’re kind of concerned.”

At best he is conveying, what, hearsay? Conjecture? Personal opinion? Or perhaps he is just a blunderbuss of sorts. Maybe he even means well, but clearly misses the serious implications of his words.

When the Herald first reported the charges against Francesca with regards to this recent “alleged” incident with Brindi, they included owning an unspayed female dog in heat. Quite a feat that Brindi would be in heat given that she was spayed a few years ago, don’t you think?

As just one example of the inaccuracies the Herald has published with regards to Brindi and Francesca, should we really count on them to report the truth in this situation? Or do they tend to err on the side of what is more scandalous and sensational?

Given that the topic is Francesca and Brindi, I submit that they err for the scandalous and sensational angle, overlooking the more serious problems that are actually occurring here.

There is a legal term that comes to mind when I try to make sense of these actions by the city regarding Francesca’s home: vexatious. In the dictionary, it is defined as: ‘Law . (of legal actions) instituted without sufficient grounds and serving only to cause annoyance to the defendant.’ Another definition states it as: A legal action or proceeding initiated maliciously and without Probable Cause by an individual who is not acting in Good Faith for the purpose of annoying or embarrassing an opponent

Without probable cause… the city cited no potable water, no heat and maybe a problem with a pipe. But these grounds do not exist. We know there was potable water and heat. I find it hard to qualify “might” as a problem. ANYTHING “might” be a problem.

This forced eviction by the city is, at the least, embarrassing to me as a citizen. And beyond that, it is frustrating for the pettiness it exhibits on the part of city management to, what seems, wield some misguided power.

I believe in abiding by the rules of our city, but I do not support bending them to satisfy a personal whim at the expense of someone’s character or well-being.

I cannot support the city’s intent to make someone homeless absent of real contributing factors. Otherwise, where does it stop? What will your reaction be if it is you?

Locking Francesca out of her house and, in the process, damaging her property* such that it makes a livable structure unlivable is a travesty. And the city should be held accountable. These actions by the city do not represent my values.

Halifax city government should not be in the business of making people homeless when compliance with conditions has been met. Per municipal spokeswoman Shaune MacKinlay, “As always . . . our first efforts are to work with the property owner to redress the issues in a timely way.” Really?

The city just keeps changing the rules of this game. And it makes me mad as hell.

~ Gregory H.

And let’s not forget that the city continues to deny Francesca visitation with Brindi without providing any reason for this decision.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

* The official response from the HRM legal department regarding the broken pipe is this:

“Staff have advised that [Francesca's] water pipe broke while they were at [her] premises without any interference on their part.”

Now, on the chance there is any merit to this statement, did “staff” happen to do anything to correct this or to prevent any further damage to property like contact the homeowner, turn off the well, turn off the water heater, report the problem to their superiors?

Also, in an email, Francesca maintains that “the issue of heat and water was never raised in the Oct. 8 order, the Nov. 20 order, or in anything ever said to me on any occasion including Nov. 20. Yet HRM represented to the public that this was a reason to evict me.”

ACTION
Please contact the following people and kindly tell them these unwarranted actions by the city do not represent your values as either a citizen or as a human being. Ask that Francesca be allowed to return to her home. And ask that Brindi be sent home, too.

Member of Parliament, Peter Stoffer: Stoffp1@parl.gc.ca
Halifax Mayor Pete Kelly: kellyp@halifax.ca
HRM Legal Services, Angela Jones-Rieksts:jonesa@halifax.ca
Manager of By-Law Services, Tanya Phillips: phillit@halifax.ca
HRM Distict 3 Councillor, David Hendsbee: David.Hendsbee@halifax.c


When will these ill in formed people get it? Fran has broken several By laws and the matter is before the courts,there is nothing that any of the above can do,in fact if they did it would be considered obstruction of justice under the CCC. So Gregory suggests that fran be allowed to return to her """HOUSE"""",which is considered unsafe.....Yep a great idea...

Talk about being a bully...

I have received a copy of the following letter.

""Hi, Robert,

I have an idea to try to help Brindi and Francesca for all Save Brindi members. Would you kindly post it to them for me?
I found out who the people are that reported Brindi to the animal control of Halifax. Through friends of friends, I was able to get their mailing address.

Katie and Tyson Simms
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
East Chezzetcook, Nova Scotia
Canada B0J 1N0

As far as I know, they chose to report Brindi, but I wonder if they knew the city would try to kill Brindi again. From what I have heard, their dog was not badly hurt. But because they reported her, Brindi was seized again. She was taken away from Francesca to a place where she cannot even visit her.

I am sure they love their dog, so they must know how important Brindi is to Francesca, it seems to me! Maybe they just don’t realize how much harm they are doing or what this woman and her dog went through for two years. Francesca is even facing eviction now because she did not have time to finish her new foundation when she was fighting for Brindi’s life. She also changed the by-law, which helped all dogs and owners in the city.

I do not understand why they would want Brindi to die. I am writing to ask them to open their hearts, in a “snail-mail” letter through the post office. I think real letters are better for this purpose, and I am going to send them a picture of my dog, too. I am sharing this in case anybody else wants to write to them too.

A man who reported her before, when she got seized two years ago, wrote that he kicked Brindi in the head and stomach many times, but she never tried to bite him!! So I don`t think Brindi is a threat to public safety. They should let her out to go home now, the trial could take another year! Poor Brindi deserves a break after being locked up so long. They never even let her see other dogs. Any dog would be extra nervous and even territorial after all that. Francesca is not allowed to see Brindi again, and neither is her vet. Brindi has pancreatitis and bad teeth from the last time.

I feel the Simms need to know things like that. Maybe they will understand. And I hope, if they get heartfelt letters from people like us who love dogs and love Brindi, they will decide to drop the charges if they can, or at least ask the city to let her go home now, and not try to have her put down.

IMPORTANT: if you send them a letter, please be sure to be polite, and just maybe ask them to look into their hearts and see if they can find a way to forgive. Live and let live. This is not meant to be any form of harassment, only goodhearted and positive!!

Thank you,

Debbie Macdonald"""


Now the Simms are witness for the Crown,there is not a thing that they can do especially since they have already gave statements to AC, so what Debbie AKA Fran is asking is for them to lie or change their story,very clearly an offence under the CCC. It seems that Fran just wants to dig herself in deeper and deeper....now she claims to be highly educated....I actually wonder????

PDSD.....What the Hell next?????????

January 2 at 4:39pm Report
Dear Save Brindi Friends:

Please allow me to send you holiday greetings and my best wishes for a wonderful, joy-filled New Year! A heartfelt thank you to all who have sacrificed hard-earned pay for the sake of my little dog Brindi who I love so much – and who so many of you love so much, without even setting eyes on her. You are truly special people!!!!

It is 1-1-11, numbers that seem to suggest a good day for a new beginning. If only I could feel optimistic and energized, rather than as if somebody set back the dials one time too many on me.

You may have noticed, I have been fairly silent for several months. This is not because I have nothing to say, or because I am not doing anything to get Brindi home safe, or to get my house back and finished. In fact I have tried very hard and somehow nothing has worked, and I am overwhelmed over and over. I have faced a lot of hard things in my life, often many at once, but I have never been stretched to the breaking point quite like this, without an end in sight. Never have I had so many failures, so much downright bad luck. Talking about it is hard, because I am still plagued by cycles of shock and disbelief, anger and frustration, sadness and grief, terror and dread. It is truly unreal. Also, I am very aware that so many of my FB friends have very hard situations to cope with, and I do not want to make my problems more important than theirs. Sharing them is not saying they are.

If I feel anything other than numbness, it is sincere gratitude to all of you who have worked so hard with such generosity and faith, doing your best to sustain me through this ordeal even though it seems it just keeps getting worse. I am sure many of you have questioned why this is. I do not know the answers, or rather, I do not like the answers very much, as ultimately it is my responsibility, the situation I am in and what is happening to my dog and my life. Certainly it is my responsibility to figure out how to fix it, even if I feel incapable of it. At the same time, it must be said that this place and my experience defies all rational expectation. I am not the only one who has been crushed in the gears around here; I have come across unbelievable stories (May Ocean and others) of persecution and denial of rights, but I believe I remain the only one in North America, I believe, whose dog is on death row despite never having bitten a person (even when kicked in the head repeatedly) or seriously wounded or killed an animal.

I know I have probably lost a lot of supporters because they did not get the answers they wanted back in September. This is the way it is. As you can imagine, I was just beginning to recover when Brindi was taken again, and so was she. It is like being disemboweled again if that Is possible. I had no choice but to put whatever energy I had into dealing with things on the ground. While my FB friends are loyal and strong, I have few friends on the home front; few, if any, are in a position to help effectively. So I juggle a growing list of things I want and need to do – in and out of court; appeals, letters, actions – against diminished resources and strengths, against the constant harping of harassers and stalkers out there, all the while conscious of what turns out to be a very united bureaucratic front at all levels of government and institutions in Nova Scotia and even beyond.

Perversely, does not help me feel much hope to know of the husky named Brandi in Broward, Florida, who killed a poodle, released not long ago, along with other dogs on death row; her supporters also managed to replace the mayor. I know of three dogs in Mobile County, Alabama, released six months after they allegedly attacked a toddler, leaving her with hundreds of stitches; and two dogs in BC who attacked a woman and broke her arm, who were seized and released.

Halifax does not care. The media do not care. The judge is not bothered by the idea of waiting till November to decide whether to let Brindi go, or the fact I have not been allowed visits. The Human Rights Commission is not interested. All of them, plus a whole list of people and groups find the contrast between Brindi and these other cases irrelevant.

So at this starting point of 1-1-11, I am out of prayers, out of hope, out of energy, just empty. I am fairly certain I am experiencing a complex form of PTSD but I cannot get medical people to confirm it for me – they, like even the structural engineers, are fearful of the consequences to them. That they react this way (as if their lives would be ruined if they helped!) puts me into even more disbelief and shock.

As I asked on my long-forsaken blog way back in August 2008, if you (me, you, us, they) cannot save a dog like Brindi, what good are we? If she is put to death, what hope do we have of saving anything in this world? The question is still wide open, like the mouth of hell at every turn.

I often think of the ape in “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” a book I admit I barely understood and never finished reading: there is a point where Nietzsche talks about the ape needing to jump over his own shadow, more or less pick himself up by the bootstraps, so to speak. Heaven knows (and I re-learn it every day!) I am no Übermensch, no superwoman here, but if I could somehow figure out that trick, Brindi and I might have a better chance in this harsh world.

I truly hope all of you find ways to do this in your own lives in this year 2011. And thank you again, very, very much, for caring.

Blessings and love to everybody, and thanks for reading this,

Francesca