Okay. I am asking for courage now. I know that this is a difficult situation, but the bottom line is, we know that everything isn’t always on the “up and up” with the many different sheltering systems. I want to know what you know. I am reaching out. Attn: Shelter staff, volunteers, rescuers, animal control officers, knowledgeable advocates… Please consider what I have to say. I intend to begin doing video exposés centered around some of the horrific things that many of us hear, and that many more of us have no clue about. If YOU, on the inside, see something that you cannot live with then please consider sending your claims (and preferably whatever will document your claims) to whistleblowers@swaylove.org.

Depending on the response I’ll either just start putting together a list of the worst monthly claims and publishing them in a straight forward fashion, or if I receive enough corresponding documentation, will create media serving to reveal whatever it is that’s potentially happening. Long term, many of these things may be used and/or discussed in future video projects put out by me. I’ll likely not publish everything, so don’t feel as though you’re getting ignored if there’s no response from the actual email address. It’s just acting as a dumping station for complaints, and the most awful will be put out there. Preferably I’m looking for documentation or first person accounts regarding treatment of animals, processes, breed discrimination, body rendering information, staff moral, etc.

I absolutely, positively WILL NOT divulge who you are to anyone publicly, unless of course you note that you don’t give a damn. In that case, I salute you harder. But just to address the elephant in the room… I fully understand the dynamics behind why many of you feel as though you cannot speak out. I see the vindictiveness of many of the shelter bosses, or many on the staff, and these realities handcuff good people who genuinely love animals and have immense compassion. If you are a staff member, well, you’re likely in fear of your job. If you are a volunteer, well, you’re likely in fear of your access to the dogs that you love. If you are a rescuer, well, you’re likely in fear of your pull rights being taken away. This list goes on and on. Some of these shelters will aim to do massive harm in order to not have their practices examined by a public who is, for the most part, unaware. Let’s change that together.