This post is a follow-up to an earlier post entitled “Maybe this is something wrong with rescue.” In that initial post I shared a rather lengthy conversation between myself and Kris Kelly. In that initial post I also clearly laid out the reasons I had for deciding to share this conversation. It all speaks for itself.
Well, shortly thereafter I had my Facebook page targeted by false flaggers who apparently have nothing better to do than be coward scum. This has created a whole scale of problems, and none of them justified.
What I’m not going to do is stand idly by while this person and her bullish actions continue to go unchecked. I fully realize that this is dog rescue, and that this isn’t some huge ordeal that the entire world hinges on. But at the same time, this is dog rescue… And to those of you who actually love dogs, to those of you who find yourselves inside of this structure of “rescue,” well then this might actually be a welcome insight.
When I experience firsthand someone who is vindictive, and spiteful, and cliquey, and gossipy–someone who peddles in misinformation, and who is a bully in the most ludicrous ways imaginable–well, I’m going to state as much. When they make their living by twisting people’s words and dropping untruths into a pond of gossiper fish, well then I’m going to post those actual words, so that reality can speak for itself. When they then go out of their way to try and ruin someone else’s ability to speak openly to their peers, ruining that person’s ability to advocate for shelter dogs in the process, well then I’m going to make sure that anyone who wants to listen will know as much.
So here you go: The Kris Kelly Foundation (and her minions) have targeted my Facebook page, in an effort to get my posts (and ultimately my page) removed completely. How cool is that? And all because I dared to post HER OWN WORDS. I didn’t even say anything else, just sort of let it all speak for itself, which it does rather well. Yet, I’ve since been treated like I’m the one at fault for what Kris actually said. Why? Because I let the world see it. So yes, I’m the bad guy, for posting someone’s own words. All sarcasm aside, I still live by the notion that if you don’t want to be linked with some unsavory thing that you said, then you shouldn’t say it. So if you have a problem with what I posted (which she does) then you shouldn’t have said it in the first place. Right? Right. Moving on…
Days prior to the Facebook assault, back before I made it unequivocally clear to her people that I wasn’t going to just roll over to their “legal threats,” this interesting thing happened… Some “mediator” emailed me privately, clearly on Kris’ behalf, and in what was obviously an effort to fearmonger me into deleting all relevant info that I had posted pertaining to Kris. Why? This was apparently all part of some arranged “settlement” between Kris and another rescuer (Gabriela Mendelson) who she is also threatening to sue for totally separate reasons. I, or my posts (here or on Facebook), had nothing to do with these separate disputes between 2 individuals WHO AREN’T ME! So why was the bringing down of my Facebook post (simply linking to the screenshot) viewed as instrumental to Kris’ proposed “settlement” with Gabriela, you ask? I don’t fucking know either…
Actually I do know, but it doesn’t make a lick of sense. Kris connects them because once I made the Facebook post linking to my website post showing the screenshot, well that attracted Gabi and others, who then started commenting underneath my Facebook post. They made numerous comments, true or untrue (I don’t know), about Kris and their interactions and dealings with her. NEWS FLASH: My Facebook page currently has over 6,000 “likes.” ANYONE can go there and post under anything. I don’t control any other person, I only control myself. I’m not held accountable for what another person says, I’m only held accountable for what I say. Yet, to Kris, I’m somehow blamed for it all. It was evident by her actions, and by what came next. Gabi and others had even went and deleted all of their comments, caving to the same threats; I left my Facebook post up. That’s when the Facebook targeting began. Their intention must be to get my page deleted, because that’s the eventual implication of their actions. How loving. Way to “help” the shelter animals. This is all that I can do to respond…
Dear Kris,
Dear goon squad,
My common sense wants to speak on my behalf:
-You can’t bully me into deleting everything, in order to “help” someone else (in this case, Gabi), even though I have nothing to do with the problems that you and Gabi have/had with one another. Y’all are 2 ladies that I have nothing to do with, your problems reach back many months, you’ve worked together publicly and privately, and that encompasses a lot of shit that only you guys know about. And yet, MY obeying you in this instance is supposed to be the linchpin to your proposed “settlement” with Gabi? Huh? What? Um, no.
-You can’t bitch at me for not wanting to get involved with the many problems that exist between you and (insert here) rescuers. I don’t know, I don’t care.
-You can’t then get mad at me when I simply point out to you that YOU are actually the one that allowed these individuals to pull under your rescue. You had the past affiliation with them, not me. Just because I’m now exposing you as a cowardly, spiteful fraud, that doesn’t in turn mean that I’m now “defending” the other people by default. There’s a difference, a big one.
-You can’t target my right to freedom of speech, my platform for telling my truth, simply because you “don’t agree with it.” This isn’t communist China, asshole. My initial Facebook post wasn’t even making any statements about you, at all! I can’t help who it attracts, and I can’t help how it causes you or others to emotionally react. I can’t help that you would then initiate a conversation with me, trying to get me to cosign a version of events that I honestly cared nothing about, and then get mad at me when I just wouldn’t believe everything that you stated out of hand. And then what happens happened, and I felt it necessary to post our interaction publicly, as a way to take on the misconstrued blowback that was ultimately going to come. If I’m truly this asshole that you want people to believe that I am, then people who read our conversation will see that too, right? I’d think so. Clearly, that’s the most inconvenient part of all of this for you…
-It’s not “threatening” when I post your own words.
-It’s not “bullying” when I post your own words.
-It’s not “harassment” when I post your own words.
-It’s not “hate speech” when I post your own words.
Lastly, I fully realize that by engaging this person in this fashion, by attempting to report on what I’ve witnessed, that others may paint with a broad brush and discard everyone involved as “problematic.” I’m willing to take that hit, in order to bring you this perspective on this person. I’m fully confident that if people really want to understand what has been presented here, that I haven’t made it that hard. To those that have a problem with my language, I apologize. At this point, it’s warranted, and that’s all that I can really say about it. I’m angry that an individual who claims to be a “Mother Teresa” for animals can consistently act so insanely backwards to her own delusional perception. I’m angry that she’s actually targeting people, and using totalitarian tactics in order to flat out eliminate someone that dare not even state something about her, but just post her own words. Her hypocrisy and lack of perspective is off the charts. Kris, if you want to sue me then go for it. Keep throwing your pointless power around, people can see through it.