The image that started it all, courtesy of Bri Hokanson |
I have, right in front of me, the official MACC paperwork
stating that the “Potentially Dangerous, Needs Training” designation has been rescinded.
Nano is in the clear from the perspective of Minneapolis Animal Care & Control and the City of Minneapolis!
As you all know, this has been an emotional, difficult, and
expensive journey for me. But, the support I’ve received has been amazing. Now that a major part of this situation has been sorted out on one major aspect of things, I do want
to spend some time thanking the organizations and officials and major players who
were involved.
Maybe this information will help someone out there –
I certainly wouldn't wish this scenario on anyone else, but if I've learned anything from this it's that life can throw some very unexpected things your way. Please know there are resources, including me. Seriously, I'm willing to help anybody going through a similar situation if you need advice or ideas for working through things.
This was a group effort – to say the very least. Each person
reading this played a huge part by making calls and donating to Nano’s legal
fund. Your generosity and kindness more than made up for the negative parts of
this experience. I can’t say you restored my faith in humanity, because I never
lost it … but you sure did rejuvenate my belief that most people have good and
generous hearts.
Let’s get to the thank yous – I encourage you to keep
reading so you can get a sense of the massive scope of what each of you helped make
happen.
First, let’s talk about Minneapolis
Animal Care & Control. They are under new leadership and while I have
no experience to compare the former leadership to the new, I will say I was very
impressed with the new Deputy Director, Ms. Caroline Hairfield. She is the
epitome of professionalism, compassion and integrity. You may not know it yet,
but our city is lucky to have her. She and her staff treated me fairly and with
respect from our first interaction. I hope this is okay with all the donors,
but if there is any money left over in the legal fund after I pay my bill, I
plan to donate it to MACC.
Plus, a friendly reminder – dogs, cats, rabbits and ferrets
need to be licensed with the city. To my embarrassment, I did not know this. If
you don’t know about this or haven’t bothered to license your pets, please
check it out and then do it here.
The Minneapolis City
Attorney’s office also played a role in this and I’d like to acknowledge
the time and attention they gave this matter. Especially when I’m certain your
plates are overflowing with other issues. Ladies and gentlemen, you have my
sincere thanks.
The woman behind the scenes in all of this is the dog behaviorist Nano and I worked with,
Carol Propotnik. If you are having
behavior issues with your puppy or dog, get in touch with this woman. I mean
it. She’s truly understands dog behavior and can help you deal with just about
any issue you can think of – 612-869-6451. She is worth every penny plus more.
She works within a dog’s nature to break habits,
develop skills and set up realistic training goals. Working with her will
enrich the relationship you have with your pet and make you a team working
toward excellent doggy manners. Today, I can give Nano commands and he can control
himself when he sees a squirrel. I never thought I’d see that day happen.
Of course, I want to thank my attorney, Mr. Marshall Tanick – he was always rational and
realistic; plus, he talks really fast so he doesn't waste your funds on chit
chat. He mostly does other kinds of legal work (employment, intellectual
property, etc.) but he’s an animal lover, too, and has been working on animal rights cases for many years. I committed to following his
advice during this process and he never steered me wrong. If you find yourself
in a bind with your pet, he’s the best in the biz.
The residents in the
building where I live were on this journey with me – whether they wanted to
be or not. This is an exceptional group of people. I was fully supported
by every person in the building, plus a few who don’t live here anymore (but
used to). It would have been easy to be frustrated or upset with me, but
instead we worked together to resolve our mail delivery issue.
Speaking of mail delivery, I have some words of thanks for the
USPS – thank you for resuming our
mail service ahead of schedule. It was a very nice way to celebrate
Independence Day. As I said in an earlier post, we all went through some tough
days during this experience, but ultimately, a reasonable solution was reached
– for that you have the thanks of all 10 households in the building.
If I may be so bold, while recognizing I know very little
about politics and how organizations can/can’t work together, I’d like to
encourage the USPS to work with MACC. The two organizations deal with different
aspects of the same issue: animals and safety. The USPS puts a lot of effort
into dog bite prevention and they take it very seriously, and rightly so – mail
carriers enter private property virtually every day and encounter our pets.
MACC’s entire reason for existence is to address issues with animals when
something goes wrong and to think of public safety – they know what to do, how
to assess a situation, and recommend reasonable resolutions. In my marketing
mind, this seems like a wonderful partnership opportunity.
I already thanked JonTevlin at the Star Tribune but I want to say thanks again. Mr. Tevlin broke
the story and without him, I’m pretty sure we’d still be stuck in neutral.
KARE 11’s
coverage came at just the right time and really helped get things moving toward
a resolution – Mr. Constantini and Team, thank you for your visit and the great
story. Nano is now recognized all over the city. He’s become kind of an attention hog, to be
honest. But, he’s getting more belly rubs than he’s ever gotten in his life –
and I’m sure he would thank you for that if he could.
Senator Klobuchar’s,
Senator Franken’s, and Representative Ellison’s offices all made calls to
the USPS on my behalf – keep an eye open for thank you letters to the staffers
who worked on my behalf. A big thank you to city councilwoman, Elizabeth Glidden, who called me and personally
wrote a letter to the USPS on my behalf.
To two of the smartest women I know – the co-founders of Union Park Marketing, Patty Radford Henderson and Betsey Kershaw,
your support and understanding means the world to me, and that is a serious
understatement. I'm eternally and deeply grateful for both of you. A heartfelt thanks to Liz
Elert, one of the most loyal and generous people I know. You three
women are role models and friends to me and I’m a better person for it.
Last, but certainly not least, to my family, friends, acquaintances, new friends, complete strangers and
neighbors – thank you so much for your encouragement, understanding,
support and all the things each of you did to distract me, cheer me up, cheer
me on. I hope I never have to do the same for any of you, but please know I
will.
With gratitude –
Alicia and Nano