Birkin's Cause: Holding Upland and Friends of Upland Animal Shelter Accountable
The Issue
To read the complete letter on Google drive click here.
Please sign this petition on behalf of a cause that has recently received significant media attention "send Birkin back home"(https://www.facebook.com/groups/313802148826751/?pnref=story). This is about a $6,000 Pedigree French bulldog named Birkin belonging to a new Upland resident Jingyun Li and her family. Birkin had wandered away from his home and was impounded by city Animal Control on Tuesday June 7th and taken to the Friends of Upland Animal Shelter that same day.
Birkin was purchased from a certified breeder for $6,000 and is an American Kennel Club registered purebred dog. Despite the fact that Birkin was microchipped, he was treated as a stray by the animal shelter, and was placed for adoption only a day after his impoundment in an ad on the website adoptapet.com. The law requires a microchipped dog to be held for a period of six complete days before being placed for adoption. If the shelter decides to place the dog for adoption, they must wait at least four complete days before placing any adoption ads. Birkin was held for a period of four days, not including the day of impoundment, and was allegedly adopted by a woman living in Arizona.
The original owner visited the shelter on June 12th and asked the shelter if they had seen her dog. The shelter denied having seen the dog. If it was not for the owner’s insistence she would have never found her dog in a glass kennel with a sign showing that he had already been adopted. The mishandling of the situation doesn’t stop there. Instead of the shelter finding a resolution to the problem then and there (and not to mention before an AKC registered dog was neutered) they decided to remove the dog elsewhere.
We know that at the time the original owner arrived to the shelter on June 12th the adoption had not yet been complete, because Birkin had not yet been neutered as required by the adoption policy. After the original owner, Jingyun, confronted the shelter about her dog, 2 workers removed Birkin from his glass kennel and hid him in a room that was only accessible to employees. The animal shelter then demanded that Jingyun leave the premises and threatened her with the police.
An anonymous source and volunteer of the shelter, who witnessed these events, reached out to us and said that no adopting family ever came to pick up Birkin and that after work, the 2 workers took Birkin to their home and completed the adoption paperwork at home.
Due to this information, as a community we feel that an investigation should be conducted to determine whether Birkin’s adoption was in fact legitimate. The shelter has claimed that the adopting family came from the state of Arizona, but has provided no evidence to show that the adoption was conducted in a legitimate manner.
The shelter did not act in diplomatically on June 12th when the original owner visited the shelter and the adoption was not yet complete. Their actions also showed no indication that they had been in communication with the adopting family nor that they were trying to find a resolution to the situation. It was not until news soon spread throughout the Upland community and hundreds of people, including the media, began to question the adoption process and holding period that the animal shelter finally took steps to return Birkin to his family.
Although the dog has now been returned to the original owner, 1) we ask the City to investigate Friends of Upland Animal Shelter to ensure that a legitimate adoption took place, and that there was no wrongdoing on behalf of the parties involved in the adoption process 2) we ask that if any wrongdoing has been found by any board members, employees and/or volunteers of the shelter, that the City and Friends of Upland discharge them from their positions immediately. 3) We ask the City and shelter for proof that amendments are being put in place in the adoption contracts, to ensure that this situation does not occur again. 4) We want an apology from the board members of the shelter addressed to the owner and her family for LYING and deceiving them, and for failing to resolve the situation diplomatically on June 12th, 5) we want an explanation from the board members as to how the dog was returned to the shelter on the very same day a protest was held in front of the animal shelter 6) we ask that any adoption records and medical records belonging to Birkin be made available to the original owner Jingyun Li and her family.
We are disappointed that the City has tried to shift the blame to the shelter, when in fact the shelter answers to the City, even though they are a separate entity. We are aware that the City has been in contact with the shelter throughout the process, and ask that the City take action to hold Friends of Upland and its board members accountable.
On behalf of Jingyu Li, her family, and supporters of Birkin’s cause
Media
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/06/18/2-families-1-lost-dog-huge-tug-of-war-in-upland/
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/06/19/dog-dispute-has-happy-ending/
http://m.appledaily.com.tw/realtimenews/article/new/20160621/890323/
Petition Closed
The Issue
To read the complete letter on Google drive click here.
Please sign this petition on behalf of a cause that has recently received significant media attention "send Birkin back home"(https://www.facebook.com/groups/313802148826751/?pnref=story). This is about a $6,000 Pedigree French bulldog named Birkin belonging to a new Upland resident Jingyun Li and her family. Birkin had wandered away from his home and was impounded by city Animal Control on Tuesday June 7th and taken to the Friends of Upland Animal Shelter that same day.
Birkin was purchased from a certified breeder for $6,000 and is an American Kennel Club registered purebred dog. Despite the fact that Birkin was microchipped, he was treated as a stray by the animal shelter, and was placed for adoption only a day after his impoundment in an ad on the website adoptapet.com. The law requires a microchipped dog to be held for a period of six complete days before being placed for adoption. If the shelter decides to place the dog for adoption, they must wait at least four complete days before placing any adoption ads. Birkin was held for a period of four days, not including the day of impoundment, and was allegedly adopted by a woman living in Arizona.
The original owner visited the shelter on June 12th and asked the shelter if they had seen her dog. The shelter denied having seen the dog. If it was not for the owner’s insistence she would have never found her dog in a glass kennel with a sign showing that he had already been adopted. The mishandling of the situation doesn’t stop there. Instead of the shelter finding a resolution to the problem then and there (and not to mention before an AKC registered dog was neutered) they decided to remove the dog elsewhere.
We know that at the time the original owner arrived to the shelter on June 12th the adoption had not yet been complete, because Birkin had not yet been neutered as required by the adoption policy. After the original owner, Jingyun, confronted the shelter about her dog, 2 workers removed Birkin from his glass kennel and hid him in a room that was only accessible to employees. The animal shelter then demanded that Jingyun leave the premises and threatened her with the police.
An anonymous source and volunteer of the shelter, who witnessed these events, reached out to us and said that no adopting family ever came to pick up Birkin and that after work, the 2 workers took Birkin to their home and completed the adoption paperwork at home.
Due to this information, as a community we feel that an investigation should be conducted to determine whether Birkin’s adoption was in fact legitimate. The shelter has claimed that the adopting family came from the state of Arizona, but has provided no evidence to show that the adoption was conducted in a legitimate manner.
The shelter did not act in diplomatically on June 12th when the original owner visited the shelter and the adoption was not yet complete. Their actions also showed no indication that they had been in communication with the adopting family nor that they were trying to find a resolution to the situation. It was not until news soon spread throughout the Upland community and hundreds of people, including the media, began to question the adoption process and holding period that the animal shelter finally took steps to return Birkin to his family.
Although the dog has now been returned to the original owner, 1) we ask the City to investigate Friends of Upland Animal Shelter to ensure that a legitimate adoption took place, and that there was no wrongdoing on behalf of the parties involved in the adoption process 2) we ask that if any wrongdoing has been found by any board members, employees and/or volunteers of the shelter, that the City and Friends of Upland discharge them from their positions immediately. 3) We ask the City and shelter for proof that amendments are being put in place in the adoption contracts, to ensure that this situation does not occur again. 4) We want an apology from the board members of the shelter addressed to the owner and her family for LYING and deceiving them, and for failing to resolve the situation diplomatically on June 12th, 5) we want an explanation from the board members as to how the dog was returned to the shelter on the very same day a protest was held in front of the animal shelter 6) we ask that any adoption records and medical records belonging to Birkin be made available to the original owner Jingyun Li and her family.
We are disappointed that the City has tried to shift the blame to the shelter, when in fact the shelter answers to the City, even though they are a separate entity. We are aware that the City has been in contact with the shelter throughout the process, and ask that the City take action to hold Friends of Upland and its board members accountable.
On behalf of Jingyu Li, her family, and supporters of Birkin’s cause
Media
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/06/18/2-families-1-lost-dog-huge-tug-of-war-in-upland/
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/06/19/dog-dispute-has-happy-ending/
http://m.appledaily.com.tw/realtimenews/article/new/20160621/890323/
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on June 22, 2016