OKAY folks - just got off the horn with Dick Green at ASPCA who is also pissed about this situation - so - here is my letter - feel free to cut and paste into your OWN letter and email it to the contact : at naziz@natgeotv THIS MIGHT BE YOUR BEST OPPORTUNITY THIS YEAR TO GET A MAJOR NETWORK TO IMPROVE WHAT THEY OFFER FOR ANIMAL PEOPLE RELATED TO DISASTERS / EMERGENCIES. To whom it may concern: Reference the press release: tvbythenumbers.zap2it/2014/08/12/nat-geo-wild-greenlights-new-miniseries-animal-search-rescue/292636/ This information was posted to a TLAER group facebook page that I manage and generated huge amount of discussion. in particular, I get VERY concerned when I have never heard of a person or organization that supposedly is involved in animal rescue, after I have spent 20 + years in disaster and emergency response all over the world. Our TLAER FB group has several concerns that we would appreciate some response from your organization: 1. Why is a Canadian based organization planning to respond to USA disasters? 2. Does this organization have Memorandum of Agreement with the jurisdictions that they plan to respond to? There are numerous organizations in the USA (especially the NARSC umbrella of NGOs see narsc.net/ ) as well as others that have worked VERY hard to solve some of the issues of self-deployment by animal rescue groups over the last 25 years. Their mission: In the years since Hurricane Katrina, this collective of organizations has developed and grown into a strong Coalition whose mission is to identify, prioritize and find collaborative solutions to major human-animal emergency issues. This Coalition of national organizations represents millions of animal welfare, animal care, and animal control professionals, volunteers, and pet owners. NARSC is arguably the largest collective of experienced, qualified animal rescue and sheltering management professionals in the country. Member agencies have cooperatively responded nationally and internationally to natural disasters such as wildfires, flooding, ice storms, tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, and to man-made animal disasters including puppy mills and hoarders. 3. Why is your show emphasizing the response to disasters with a wing-it type of response and self-deployment of a group that is not legitimately part of the organized planning that has gone into the National Alliance of State Animal and Agricultural Emergency Programs? See NASAAEP at nasaaep.org/ It would appear based on the limited information in your press release that your show is essentially trying to wreck the years of hard work that many people have put into this effort - all for the sake of ENTERTAINMENT and cash in their pockets? I am requesting that you contact the NARSC and please consider using a LEGITIMATE group or groups to do this show.... and change your emphasis onto providing some EDUCATION instead of sheer ENTERTAINMENT... we need HELP getting the public trained to prepare and respond to these types of emergencies, not for anyone to feature unprepared and unplugged members of self-deploying groups as heroes. The only HEROES here are those that have a PLAN, and get their animals and family members out AHEAD OF TIME when possible by evacuating, or by having a good shelter-in-place plan to initiate. Your organization is in a PRIME spot to be able to actually assist people understand the plan working through the above mentioned organizations and FEMA / DHS. Please do not let this slip away. Thank you for listening to my concerns, and for helping to stamp out stupidity on TV. Dr. Rebecca Gimenez President, TLAER, Inc. tlaer.org Cell 214-679-3629
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 02:26:00 +0000
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