To the editor:
Have you ever stopped to ask yourselves about the unconditional love that we animal lovers receive from our pets in return for food, grooming, playtime and a place to call home?
Ask any animal lover what they believe the many virtues and rewards that animal companionship brings, and what likely will follow will be endless and entertaining stories they share about their beloved pet(s). For some this is a one-time experience, for others, it’s an ongoing experience, but for those of us at Halfway Home Pet Rescue, it’s an ongoing mission of passion.
Regardless of where we are located, HHPR staffs, board of directors and volunteers, have a united goal to work together to fulfill our mission and to continue to exist for the welfare of those animals in need that we help. Norma’s vision today and in the future is our vision and mission, and together we will continue to exist because we are working toward that same common goal.
It is because you also believe in our mission that we have seen our intake numbers explode, and we’ve been working diligently toward finding our permanent location by placing our Building Fundraisers on the fast track. In a perfect world, we’d be in our permanent home now helping countless more animals in need, but it’s not a perfect world, and we need your help.
In April of this year, HHPR was presented with the Spirit of Caribou Award by the Caribou Chamber of Commerce as recognition for our great volunteerism and the many contributions we’ve made to the city. You can only imagine our surprise when Norma received the July 20th letter from the city code enforcement officer to cease operations. Phone calls and personal meetings followed as we tried to get to the bottom of this obvious breach of trust between the city and HHPR. In the end we were told a complaint had been made against our location and depending on the day and the person asked, we were told no one complained, then at the Sept. 12 city council meeting we were told that several residents on non-neighboring streets complained, but to date, no evidence has ever materialized.
Realizing we were wasting precious time focusing on unknown complaints, we needed to shift gears and refocus our attention on finding a more suitable location to continue our operations after Norma received another letter from Mr. Wentworth, the city’s code enforcement officer, stating that “The City of Caribou has been in communication with the State of Maine, Animal Welfare Program. The City of Caribou requested that The Animal Welfare Program not renew the state license for the Halfway Home Pet Rescue as an Animal Shelter Facility at 11 Pioneer Ave.” which would become effective on 12/31/2011, we have had to hit the ground running.
While our first response to the city was intended to acknowledge the city’s cease order and to have it reviewed and appealed in writing, what you don’t know is that without a Board of Appeals in place with which we could request a hearing, we were left with no alternatives to keep the dialogue open. Our appeal was not an official appeal because it was not presented to the appropriate body. Norma Milton and HHPR Board Members are exercising a right to appeal an ordinance interpretation and its application, but apparently this upset some members of the council and the city manager, which is the escalation factor that occurred when officials requested our license revocation.
Recent news articles (City Council article as reported by Barbara Scott of Aroostook Republican and News on 9/23) and town council meetings involving the two entities suggested that HHPR and Norma have been the individuals who have “elevated” our situation and the need to relocate. The reality is we went from a recipient of a city award to a recipient with an undetermined deadline to relocate, so we will let you decide who the real elevator of our present situation is. (Note: They did not specify a date and kept repeating that as their justification for appearing helpful, when in fact stating no deadline leaves it open to enforce immediately or at any time they choose.)
For those of you who have followed us from our humble beginnings to where we find ourselves today, you know first-hand how hard we work to keep up with these growing demands. Our current location was never meant to be our permanent home, but no city official thought to ask us what our future intentions were. City officials cited they did not know that we are a state licensed animal shelter. They also cited they didn’t know we had an active building committee raising funds just for this very purpose. Norma has been very public in her communiqués about what HHPR was doing to raise funds for our new building and included the public community involvement in all of her articles to the press and on our website.
It is HHPR’s desire and mission to continue to serve our local communities. We are in the process of making arrangements for a temporary holding facility in a more appropriate zone, but we are in dire need of donations to support the increased numbers of abandoned cats coming in now.
To those of you who have offered your words of encouragement, hours of volunteer time, and monetary support, we thank you immensely. For those who would like to support us with monetary donations, please send them to HHPR, PO Box 488, Caribou, Maine, 04736. Your donation is tax deductible.
HHPR Board of Directors
