Lawyer Fees for Animal Advocate
I am being sued for $100,000 by a local dog shelter for “whistleblowing,” and speaking out against animal neglect and abuse in the form of unsanitary conditions, failure to seek medical treatment in a timely manner, failure to follow proper medical intake procedures, physical and verbal abuse, and failure to act from the board of directors who were made aware of said issues. At this time, I am financially unable to afford an attorney on my own to fight the lawsuit, but I have found an attorney willing to take the case with a $5000.00 retainer.
I began volunteering at the shelter in August of 2014, and became a paid employee around March-April of 2015, and I was wrongfully terminated in December of 2015 after myself and community members threatened to go to the local newspaper about the neglect, abuse, and failure of the board of directors to correct the problems that had been reported repeatedly over the course of a year.
After I was terminated, myself and several community members and former volunteers did go to the local paper with eyewitness accounts, audio recordings, videos, pictures, text messages, and email documentation proving when and what had been reported to the board of directors over the course of a year, and the responses from the board of directors, which was a lack of care and a lack of action to correct the problems reported.
The local paper ran a 3-part series of newspaper articles in which they were provided with said documentation, they interviewed me, community members, and former volunteers, and they also interviewed member(s) of the board, who denied having knowledge of said reported abuse and neglect, and changed the story from one article to the next.
During my time at the shelter I was very active in the community, and had gained a very large following via social media and through community events in which I would represent the shelter; my goal while at the shelter was for the community to be actively involved with the shelter and vice versa, thus being able to quickly reunite lost and found dogs with their owners, helping with spay/neuter resources to reduce the number of unwanted and abandoned animals that would end up at the shelter, and using social media as a platform to thank volunteers and community members for their time and donations, post adoption stories, pupdates on said adoptions, and greatly increase the number of adopted dogs at the shelter.
When the community, which I had become very active in on a daily basis, learned of my termination via my 'goodbye' post on the shelter’s social media page, through newspaper articles, and through word-of-mouth, many people were heartbroken and outraged by the news. My intent was never to hurt the shelter or for the dogs to suffer more than they were already suffering, but as a direct result of my wrongful termination, and the evidence which I had provided to the newspaper, many community members stopped supporting the shelter financially and in the form of donations of dog food, blankets, toys, volunteer time, etc.
My goal was for the board of directors to investigate and act on the multiple reports of neglect and abuse and get proper, up to date training for the employees. After realizing the board of directors was not going to do anything to remedy said problems, I, along with a licensed dog trainer, informed the board we would be going to the newspaper with evidence and documentation if they would not do anything about the issues at the shelter. I was informed by the secretary/treasurer that they did not like threats, and she and myself became engaged in a hostile discussion via text message, resulting in my termination; they are claiming I was fired for insubordination, and admittedly, I was slightly “insubordinate,” as I could no longer be silent about the injustices taking place, tolerate the excuses from the board, and I could not, in good conscious, continue to stand behind and support the animal shelter knowing what was taking place.
Leaving the shelter that day, knowing I was no longer going to be there to monitor the situation and provide for and protect those dogs, was one of the most heart wrenching things I have ever had to do. I made a promise to those dogs that I would fight for them and continue to be their voice, and that’s exactly what I did, and what I intend to continue to do.
Months after my termination, I was sent a letter by the shelter’s attorney threatening a lawsuit if I did not write a retraction in the local paper stating that everything I said was untrue; my writing a retraction would have been a lie, and I decided to stand firmly by the truth no matter what the consequences might be.
On May 7th, 2016, I was out of town and my mother, the former office manager at the shelter who had quit in September of 2015 due to the board’s failure to act on reported incidents known to be true, was served papers informing her that she and I were being sued by the Upper Rio Grande Animal Society, dba Conour Animal Shelter and the president of the board, James Leist, for the amount of $100,000 for libel against URGAS and James Leist, civil theft from URGAS, and civil conspiracy; all claims of which are untrue and can be proven in court. This lawsuit is in retaliation for speaking out against the shelter, and refusing to write a retraction in the local paper when initially threatened with a lawsuit, resulting in their loss of community support in the form of business, monetary donations, donated goods, and volunteers.
We have found an attorney who is willing to take our case and believes this is a frivolous lawsuit, also referred to as a SLAPP case, and can easily be dismissed or won if taken to court, but we are unable to finance said attorney at this time. He is willing to accept the case and begin working on it immediately once we have secured an initial retainer of $5000.00, and the case itself could cost at least $10,000.00 to fight. My mother and I are at a financial disadvantage as we cannot, on our own, afford legal representation, whereas the Upper Rio Grande Animal Society and Jamies Leist is using the shelter attorney and the shelter’s monetary resources to bring about this lawsuit.
We need all of the support, prayers, and positive vibes we can get right now; any support, financially or otherwise, would be very helpful and greatly appreciated. If you can’t donate, please share our story.
The case is through Rio Grande County District Court in Del Norte, Colorado (81132), and the case number is 2016CV30013.
We will be having a CMO conference call with the judge and the shelter attorney on Monday, June 27th, 2016 to find out where we will go from here.
Thank you for your time and your consideration.
UPDATE: We had our CMO Conference on June 27th, 2016 and their attorney did not call in for the conference after denying our request for an extension to obtain an attorney.
The judge rescheduled our conference for August 11th, 2016, and their attorney did call in for this conference. The judge asked their attorney how he felt about granting an extension of the conference for us to obtain an attorney, and naturally, he denied our request, but the judge graciously granted an extension, so we now have until September 22nd, 2016 to financially secure an attorney to be present with us at the next CMO Conference.
Making friends with Buddy, a dog from a hoarding situation, pt. 1
Making friends with Buddy, a dog from a hoarding situation, pt. 2
Cleaning up Benny, now known as Gatsby, when he first came to the shelter injured
Cleaning up Benny, now known as Gatsby, when he first came to the shelter injured, pt. 2
Making friends with a new pup, Sylvia
Making friends with a scared pup, Houston, pt. 1
Making friends with a scared pup, Houston, pt. 2
Dodge
Griffin on transfer day
Introducing myself to new pups at the shelter
