A Dover-Foxcroft hospice group celebrating its 40th anniversary has awarded a special “Commitment to Mission” award to Stacy Shaffer.
But the Sebec woman’s commitment to mission extends beyond just the human condition at Pine Tree Hospice.
Helping the downtrodden comes naturally for her.
For years, Shaffer, a retired home-health coordinator at Penquis Community Action Program, has been simultaneously advocating tirelessly for our oppressed canine friends – the rescues that are abused or at best neglected.
They are also the creatures of God without a voice to express their love for those lobbying in their behalf – the thankless calling that unfortunately it is.
Enter Stacy Shaffer, currently campaigning arm in arm with whoever is willing to join her cause cracking down on so-called dog “rescue” shelters.
Shaffer wants state animal-welfare officials to get serious by putting unsavory rescue mills out of business.
She testified in the last legislative session for a bill that would have provided protections to rescues brought in from other states and even countries.
But what did the alleged state “animal welfare” agents do? Killed the bill.
Talk about an Orwellian twist.
As it is now, there is no practical enforcement mechanism for the state to oversee the commercial rescue trade.
“The animal-welfare regulations contain no capacity-of-care or ratio requirements, meaning anyone can have as many animals as they choose,” Shaffer told The Maine Wire.
The coalition fighting for a legal remedy has introduced legislation three times, the most recent being in the 132nd Maine legislative session, LD498, introduced by seven GOP House members, “Resolve to Improve Standards in Animal Rescues,” to address lack of rescue oversight.
“Unfortunately,” Shaffer said, “they were all voted ‘ought not to pass,’” with the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry curiously testifying against the efforts it would otherwise claim to champion.
The 501 C (3) so-called non-profit rescues by design are supposed to serve the public interest.
“No public good is being served by importing animals from other countries,” Shaffer said. “Not only are they not serving the citizens of Maine but they are endangering citizens and making it exceedingly difficult to voluntarily surrender your animal due to the rescues and shelters being full of animals from other states and countries. This leads to animals being dumped and abandoned.”
A key problem with the rescue trade is that well-intentioned Mainers wanting to “rescue” an orphaned or neglected pet don’t realize that the rescue mills are driven by an insidious motive – volume.
So as a result the more animals they process, the lower the costs for each “rescue,” and the higher the incentive to give reduced attention to each animal.
“Animal rescue owners are unsupervised,” according to Shaffer. “There are no qualifications, prior knowledge or training required to obtain a license – just a check made out to the state.“
“‘Free’ animals are transported to Maine with no oversight,” she added. “These unhealthy and oftentimes aggressive animals are sold to unsuspecting consumers for hundreds of dollars.”
Though it is illegal to sell an aggressive animal, no temperament screening or training is currently required prior to rescue sales, and aggressive animals returned to a rescue are resold with no consequences.
“This is a business model that promotes unethical behavior,” Shaffer said. “The more animals you import, the less money you spend on their care and upkeep, the more money you make – and animal rescue can be a lucrative, tax-free business.”
Stacy Shaffer – tireless advocate, both for those among us who are ill as well as for helpless animals needing a compassionate cheerleader fighting for their basic dignity.
Too bad the state “animal-welfare” agents apparently have better things to do.
Hope they sleep well while neglected, caged rescues are whimpering themselves to a painful rest.
They did not return emails to The Maine Wire explaining their opposition to rescue oversight.
