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We advocate on all animal protection and exploitation issues, including experimentation, factory farming, rodeos, breeders and traveling animal acts.
Animal Defenders of Westchester
P.O. Box 205
Yonkers, NY 10704 |
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 29, 2013
CONTACT:
Kiley Blackman
[email protected]
www.adow.org
GOOSEBUMPS! MILLER GOES ROGUE, DEFINES POLITICS IN MAMK; SCARSDALE SIGNS GEESEBUSTERS
WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY
March 29, 2013 In a move straight out of 'Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington,' Mamaroneck Trustee Ilissa Miller defied convention and a
despotic mayor on 3/27, to politely demand that Mamaroneck's existing
contract with the USDA to kill their geese residents be immediately
cancelled, and that the Board 'start over' by looking at alternatives to
slaughter. As reported in THE JOURNAL NEWS, a routine Board
of Trustees meeting on 3/27 was thrown into chaos when Miller spoke out
toward the end of their meeting, while they listened seemingly
nonchalantly to impassioned speeches about why the geese should not be
killed - in addition to other agenda items such as alternate side
parking and presentations from a Sandy-relief counselor, a local
furniture restorer, and a vote on an official declaration of 'Autism
Day' in Mamk. As these items neared completion, Miller politely
requested to speak - and stunned the mayor and audience by making a
motion to terminate the existing USDA contract with Mamk to kill geese
beginning early May, elaborating about the Board's need to explore
alternatives to this needless killing. Mayor Rosenblum attempted to
silence Miller a number of times, but Miller persisted. Then,
'out of the blue,' Trustee Andres Bermudez Hallstrom seconded Miller's
motion - with an ensuing heated debate over how and if the contract
could be terminated... till finally an 'Executive meeting' was called in
private, including the village attorney, while the entire board and
Mayor retired to speak behind closed doors. When the Board
and Mayor returned to the meeting, they announced that this issue would
be discussed on Monday, April 1, when the USDA is scheduled to speak at
a work session of the Board of Trustees - the 'issue' being requesting
the USDA use an 'alternative method' beside slaughter - though that is
exactly what the USDA does, and is the only thing they are retained for.
In other breaking news, the Village of Scarsdale has decided
to stop all contact with the USDA and, by unanimous vote, agreed to
contract with Geesebusters, a humane alternative to slaughter which uses
a robotic predator as a deterrent. This decision is applauded by both
animal advocates and concerned residents in the community who were vocal
about the message the slaughter of the geese would send to their
children and to the world about what Scarsdale stands for. Kiley
Blackman, spokesperson for Animal Defenders of Westchester, which
spearheaded the efforts in both Scarsdale and Mamaroneck against killing
the geese, said, 'What Ilissa Miller did was a defining moment in
politics, unlike anything I've ever seen before. To not only
passionately stand up for what she believes because she could no longer
be silent...but to do in in the face of the iron-handed
repeatedly-stated opposition of the mayor, was breathtaking and
admirable for many reasons. Common decency and integrity have
two heroes today: Ilisa Miller and the Village of Scarsdale, both of
whom represent the political landscape could be and should be, with
honest, courageous, enterprising people at the helm.'
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