Public Opinion Poll: Should Humane Societies be classified as Government Agencies?

AUGUSTA, Maine - March 25, 2015 - PRLog -- **UPDATE**  On March 30, 2015 the Supreme Court of the United States DENIED the Petition for Certiorari in 14-8391, Turcotte v. Humane Society Waterville Area.

GinA will be reserching other state and federal laws to gain access to the humane society's records.

***

YOUR opinion is important!

Should humane societies and animal shelters be classified as a 'public agency' for purposes of public records requests, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (regarding service animals) and legal liability for misconduct under 42 U.S. Code 1983?

This controversy took its first breath on September 18, 2012 when Gina Turcotte called the Waterville Maine Police Department and was instructed to call the Humane Society Waterville Area for help to recover her service animal from the backyard of the Budget Host Hotel on Kennedy Memorial Drive in Waterville after being illegally evicted the previous day and threatened with arrest by the hotel manager, Patel Umesh, because GinA refused to produce certification or documentation that her cat, Smokey, was a service animal when she attempted to pay for a 4th day at the hotel.

When GinA called the Humane Society Waterville Area on September 18, 2012 to report her missing service animal and ask for help to locate him, the Humane Society employee expressly indicated she was making a report of the information GinA was providing and would make immediate contact with GinA if anyone brought her cat to their shelter.

GinA called the Humane Society every day for the next several days asking if the cat had been surrendered to their care. Each time GinA was told no.

On September 22, GinA gave the employee a website address to a public notice on craigslist.org with pictures of the cat and other identifying information which GinA asked the Humane Society employee to download, print and include in their shelter records. GinA expressly asked the employee to take copies of the photographs which were posted on the website so they would have pictures for reference when cats were brought to their shelter. The employee indicated they would fully comply with GinA‘s requests, they understood the cat was a service animal, and that GinA was not surrendering her legal title or right to possess her cat at any time to anybody for any reason.

These pivotal material facts have never been denied by the Humane Society.

The question GinA has raised may be answered by the Supreme Court of the United States this year. Their decision will be publicized on Monday, March 30, 2015 after the Supreme Court holds a private conference THIS FRIDAY, March 27!

If SCOTUS agrees to hear Turcotte v. Humane Society Waterville Area, No. 14-8391, your opinion will be used in the merit brief as part of public opinion to support the Petitioner's request for a change in federal laws to hold humane societies and animal shelters equally responsible with state and local governments when misconduct occurs or when public records are requested.

Please take this quick yes/no survey and let your voice be heard! You can be part of history in the making.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vPIGznHWBYyv6NQRWiGGq79_...