Brindi's life in the balance

Brindi is a dog out in Halifax whose life or death will be decided by a judge on March 9. I'd posted about Brindi before but then let it slide, waiting for the outcome of the legal proceedings. Well, the trial for Brindi's owner, Francesca Rogier, concluded last week and she has been found guilty on three charges: 1. owning a dog that was running at large, 2. owning a dog that attacked another dog and 3. failing to comply with a muzzle order. So, under the eyes of the law, Rogier is guilty and will be sentenced next week. At the same time, Brindi will also be "sentenced" the difference being that Brindi's sentence could be life ending.

During the last 19 months which Brindi has spent confined at the Nova Scotia SPCA awaiting all the legal proceedings to finish, she's made some friends. Here's a recent letter written by the NS SPCA on her behalf to the prosecution:

(click on image to enlarge)




And Brindi's got a lot more supporters than that especially given her on-line presence along with coverage in mainstream media. It would seem that no one wants Brindi dead except for animal control and city prosecutors - and how often have we heard the same story here in Ontario? (Why are so many municipal agencies at war with their citizens over their dogs?)

The drama isn't just about Brindi, though. Rogier has become quite a controversial figure herself recently, polarizing many people within the animal welfare community with her strong pronouncements on various matters and people. In some ways, the story about the owner's behaviour has overshadowed the story about the fate of the dog and that's unfortunate.

If you want to find out more about Rogier and Brindi you can just google "Brindi Halifax" and you'll get hundreds of links - a most impressive use of social media to advance a cause. The online chatter is more like a roar at times, though not always very accurate or civilized.

This is Rogier's own site, Free Brindi.

This is the Facebook site, Save BRINDI From the City of Halifax.

Joan Sinden's site has a lot of information about the whole Brindi/Rogier affair. Sinden has come under attack by some of Rogier's supporters for questioning certain aspects of Rogier's actions in this whole ordeal and I think she's removed her earlier posts because the hate mail started pouring in. She's got some recent posts, though. It's a very interesting read, especially if you go through some of the many comments, that perhaps gives insight to why the animal welfare community so often eats its own. Just type in "Brindi" in the search box on her blog and the posts will come up or you can start with this one, Deconstructing a BAD newspaper article.

If you have a moment, please express your concern for Brindi's fate. Here's the contact info:

Director of Legal Services Mary Ellen Donovan at
HRM Legal Services
POB 1749
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3J 3A5
Fax: 902-490-4232
http://www.halifax.ca/legal/index.html

AND

Mayor Peter Kelly at kellyp@halifax.ca, phone: 1-902-490-4010, fax: 1-902-864-6917