RoryOlogy - The morning after................

We will never come together and work through our differences if we (to put it bluntly) keep getting our panties in a bundle. We will never see issues through another’s eyes if we keep closing our eyes as well as our minds to all who are different in any way from who we are. If we truly want to be one and work to make life good for all, take a moment and reflect on how you would want to be treated as the defeated. After all, at some point in time the party you vote for will lose. 

Treat all as you would want to be treated, remember those who are down when you are up. When in the minority, remember the majority won and if you are part of the majority, remember the minority may not always be the minority!

Now pull up them britches and stop bitching and celebrating – we have a job to do and it starts with the attitude of ALL regardless of party affiliations.

A good start might be instead of using Facebook as a place to let everyone know where you are afraid we are going, how about using Facebook not unlike that device known as blinkers as a way of letting fellow Americans know where you are planning to go. If you have chosen a smarter more effective path, perhaps you will lead the way to coming together as one.

A Public Statement...

The following post appeared on social media on October 13, 2016. I have been given permission by writer to post it to my blog. It is powerful, from the heart and very important to read.

A Public Statement.

I would like to take a moment of your time to extend a thank you to The Dewey Gathering Planning Committee, this was my first year in attendance and I had solid reservations and frankly some anxiety on attending this event. I know this year was a bit of a roller coaster of emotions and some fire’s to put out for some. I know many may be confused or do not understand the reason for any separation of events and making statements of “It is all about the dogs” and “He has paid his dues”.

Taking the child attendance out of the equation for just one moment, we need to realize that before these events can be about the dogs, there is a requirement of the human interaction to “make it happen”. Those humans whether they have children, had children or have Grandchildren, all started off as children. What many may be overlooking to place into this equation is, what about the adults who attend who were once children and may be a victim/survivor of abuse? Whether it was Sexual, Mental or Physical.

It has taken me more than thirty years to have a voice and make any statement in public about my past as a child. Much of my family is still not aware of what happened to me as a child. For what felt like eternity, was in actuality many years of sexual abuse by a family member. Each year, 60,000+ children are victims of sexual abuse in the USA alone. These crimes can have a serious impact on the life and development of a child, and can continue to impact the survivor later in life. Which has clearly been the case for me, at 41, I am now able to understand the impact this played on my life and will continue to play a role in for the rest of my life.

So please, before you voice your distain about why you may disagree or choose to ostracize The Dewey Gathering Planning Committee please remember this, there are adults on this forum who are survivors of sexual abuse, be it vocal or not, it is all a personal choice. The Dewey Gathering Planning Committee would like to make their event safe for any children who may be in attendance, may it be just 1 or 100 but also for those of us still trying to navigate through life as a survivor.

At the end of the day we all make choices and many may continue to choose the other side, which is your choice and yours alone but please try and not forget those of us who may be struggling on a day to day basis because an adult took advantage of us as a child, and now we walk through life trying to feel as human and as whole as we possibly can. If he has paid his dues, done his time and the slate should be wiped clean, ask yourself this; what about us, the survivors? How does that help fix us? How do we get to wipe the slate clean and move on with life as a normal human being, we don’t get that option!! So if you still think this event should be “All about the dogs” remember this, think of the owners of those dogs who may be in attendance as they continue to struggle through live trying to be a survivor!

So I will reiterate this again, to The Dewey Gathering Planning Committee, thank you for making me feel safe and making me feel like my life as a survivor is valuable, honored and respected.

It's not always all about the greyhounds...

Many of us for many years have been involved with the placing ex-racing greyhounds into loving homes. Every year people looking to adopt a pet choose ex-racing greyhounds and every year the ranks of adoption volunteers grows.  As a whole, greyhound adoption will be perceived not by how many greyhounds we place, but on whom we follow and who we allow to be present, admired or supported in our family friendly greyhound community. What we do, what we have done, what we allow lays the groundwork for what the next generation of greyhound lovers accept as gospel. An oft quoted phraseology "My goal in life is to be as good of a person as my dog already thinks I am" is tempered with another – “Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful”.

Does an individual's involvement with greyhounds or greyhound adoption make the unacceptable acceptable? 

Let's say a sports figure who was involved in dog fighting became involved with greyhound adoption. Would the greyhound community put their blinders on and welcome this person with open arms? If some point in the future, say 25 or 30 years, a person who was convicted of animal abuse and or animal assault adopts a greyhound, will the greyhound community toss its collective hands in the air and with a shake of the head claim it is not an issue as the crime that a conviction resulted from happened so long ago? Or even worse, a nonchalant "hey it wasn't MY dog so I don't care"?

Yet there are members of the here & now greyhound community sending a distressing message to the world at large - don't abuse animals, but if you molest children it's no big deal.

What other explanation can there be for a convicted child molester who currently has lifetime sex offender registration to be admired and supported and embraced by those in the greyhound community?

This individual's presence leaves a bad impression on the greyhound community, especially as more and more families (and by that I mean with children ranging in age from newborn to 18) are welcoming greyhounds into their homes.  Registering, attending, vending at any event that is associated in any way with such an individual gives credence to the community that we as a whole could care less about children, women and victims of sexual assault and only care about the greyhounds. Continuing on in such a way in our community may well have a negative impact on the greyhounds.

Some may say this is political mudslinging. I call shenanigans on that. It is simply about good judgement and what is in the best interest not only for our greyhounds but for the humans that share their lives with greyhounds. 

I get contacted almost daily from victims in our community. If you think it is ok to continue to support a convicted child molester with lifetime sex offender by registration, attending, vending or paying registration fees (whether you attend or not) at one of this individual's events, think about this - you have most likely offended a dear friend or adoption associate in the greyhound community by showing support for a child molester and opened up very traumatic wounds or triggered flashbacks with your declarations of an event that happened years ago is not important today. 

Tomorrow I will share an open letter from an individual who is a victim of sexual assault that was posted on social media a few weeks ago. I was granted permission to share it and feel it is too important, too powerful and extremely insightful not to stand on its own. The pain sexual assault victims go through each and every day should be more than enough to make us all say – No more! I will not register, attend functions nor vend at any event sponsored by or coordinated by an individual who has lifetime sex offender registration resulting from a conviction of first degree sexual molestation of innocent children.

The character of our adoption programs, our events, and our vendors reflects on the whole. If just one member continues to support a person who has a requirement to register for life as a sex offender due to the sexual assault of children it will negatively impact our community thus impacting the greyhounds.

Some profess the mantra “it's all about the greyhounds” but for some who hide behind that phrase, it is not about the greyhounds at all.

Choices…………….

Did you know verbal assault is defined as?
•    Yelling
•    Lying
•    Name-calling
•    Insulting, swearing
•    Withholding important information
•    unreasonably ordering around
•    Telling a person she or he is worthless or nothing but trouble

Sounds very unprofessional, huh? Certainly not something that an individual running greyhound event would do to a greyhound adopter, right?

Recently I was contacted by someone in the greyhound community who posted the following on social media: 

“The other day, after receiving an email from the other Greyhound event taking place next week, I sent an email back to them with a few general questions: Who were the speakers? What was the schedule for the speakers? Who were some of the vendors? What adoption groups were benefiting from the event? I also wanted to know if it was a family event where children could attend and if a person with a lifetime registration as a sexual offender would be present. I asked these questions previously on their Facebook page and in response I was kicked off their page. I did get a response this time, before being removed from the mailing list.
I felt I should share it with you:”

The person who asked is a greyhound adopter and volunteer as well as someone who donates funds and time to both greyhound and animal causes. This person is also female and did state her name and email address in the inquiry to the organization that runs the greyhound event in question.

Now take a moment to carefully read the response that was sent to the woman by the organization that runs this family friendly greyhound event and who's president and "public face" is an individual who is a convicted child molester with lifetime sex offender registration: (please note -any and all spelling errors are left as they appeared in the original response)

"On Sep 29, 2016, at 6:05 PM, <admin@xxxx.org> <admin@xxxx.org> wrote:
Thank you for writing. It's rare to connect with such a hateful and ignorant person like you.
Not that you care, but we help greyhounds. We don't attack people or spread ignorance or hatred. Just not what we do.

We raise funds for greyhound adoption through holding greyhound events. We have run 18 successful events over the span of 11 years. We have raised over $100,000 for greyhound adoption. And we have done so with a perfect 100% safety record for all attendees. (Don't you hate facts like that? It's so hard to be ignorant!)
Now that said, because you are a selfish and ignorant troll, we know that none of these facts matters in the slightest to you.

So please, if you don't like our event or you don't like any of our volunteers or --what is more obvious -- you don't like yourself very much, please stay home. We won't miss you.
We have hundreds and hundreds of event goers who love greyhounds and support everything we're doing. So, please, crawl back under your bridge and spew your ignorance to those who will listen.

We don't care.
Good luck,
Admin"

Does anyone see a bit of irony that the "Admin" of an organization that runs family friendly greyhound events whose president is a convicted child molester with lifetime sex offender registration makes the statement…

"We don't attack people or spread ignorance or hatred."

Yet proceeds to call a woman in the greyhound community "a hateful and ignorant person" and "a selfish and ignorant troll" in addition to telling the woman “you don't like yourself very much" and to "crawl back under your bridge and spew your ignorance".

So much for this organization taking the high road and not verbally attacking someone, huh?

There are still people in the greyhound community who attend and/or vend and/or support a group and/or individual who authorizes their "Admin" to send out such a missive. Well, that is their right and I can only guess they are proud to continue to have ties to such an organization and such an individual. Now perhaps these attendees and vendors and supporters might be able to inform the rest of us in the greyhound community exactly what amounts and exactly where this "over $100,000" is documented and can be accounted for? My math could be off but 100K over 18 event comes out to a bit over $5000 per event and this amount is supposedly divided up to the adoption groups that assist this organization which runs family friendly greyhound events, claims not to attack people or spread ignorance or hatred and is run by an individual who has lifetime sex offender registration as a result of a conviction of sexual assaults to children.

As this organization only files a 990N with the IRS and no information is available via the normally used, trusted verification sites for not-for-profit organizations, many are in the dark about the expenditures and if they might be a bit over the top. If an organizations bills or expenses far exceeds what is actually donated to individual greyhound adoption groups, perhaps those in the greyhound community would be wiser to send their donations and event registration fee amount directly to a greyhound adoption group they support rather than run donations thru a 3rd party event planner who offers no full financial accounting that anyone has ever put forward.

"Don't you hate facts like that?"

Excuse #1 - They have paid their debt to society.

Many in the greyhound community say that a convicted child molester with lifetime sex offender registration has paid their debt to society and the individual's molestation of two innocent children was a long time ago. 

Actually the individual is still paying on that debt to society in the form of being required by law to register for life as a lifetime sex offender due to the sexual assault of two innocent children. And while not all child molesters are required to register for life, it is only those who commit the most serious assaults and who experts in the judicial system, law enforcement and child protective services believe to be a lifetime risk. If an individual is required to register for life as a sex offender, why are there some in the greyhound community who feel this is nothing to worry about?

Will board of directors of organizations, and in particular a board on which such an individual sits and who have personal responsibility for this individual, be warning all attendees and hosting establishments of such an individual's presence so that all attendees and hosting establishments at such events are given full disclosure, much the same as communities do when a registered sex offender moves into a city or town, in order to make attendees and local residents in the area aware of the liabilities and risks?

The excuse is moot. A debt to society is still owed and the community has a valid and existing reason to know about an individual that may be standing beside them and their families at family friendly greyhound events.

***If you liked this blog, you may want to also read this entry.***

http://rorygoree.blogspot.com/2016/04/before-you-hit-enter-key.html

Excuse #1 - They have paid their debt to society.

Many in the greyhound community say that a convicted child molester with lifetime sex offender registration has paid their debt to society and the individual's molestation of two innocent children was a long time ago. 

Actually the individual is still paying on that debt to society in the form of being required by law to register for life as a lifetime sex offender due to the sexual assault of two innocent children. And while not all child molesters are required to register for life, it is only those who commit the most serious assaults and who experts in the judicial system, law enforcement and child protective services believe to be a lifetime risk. If an individual is required to register for life as a sex offender, why are there some in the greyhound community who feel this is nothing to worry about?

Will board of directors of organizations, and in particular a board on which such an individual sits and who have personal responsibility for this individual, be warning all attendees and hosting establishments of such an individual's presence so that all attendees and hosting establishments at such events are given full disclosure, much the same as communities do when a registered sex offender moves into a city or town, in order to make attendees and local residents in the area aware of the liabilities and risks?

The excuse is moot. A debt to society is still owed and the community has a valid and existing reason to know about an individual that may be standing beside them and their families at family friendly greyhound events.

***If you liked this blog, you may want to also read this entry.***

http://rorygoree.blogspot.com/2016/04/before-you-hit-enter-key.html

Second Chance or Ounce of Prevention……..

Why do we give our greyhounds heartworm medications? We do so to prevent them from getting heartworm and risking their health.

Why do we keep our greyhounds on leash? We do so to prevent our greyhounds from getting away and running into harm.

I recently heard an individual remark that a child molester who must register as a sex offender for life due to the conviction of molesting two innocent children should be given a "second chance". 

Which raised the question - shouldn’t potential future victims be given an "ounce of prevention"? 

The individual runs greyhound events that have minors present. (Please do not doubt this fact as there are photos that clearly show children at events this individual runs and also attends) A child molester who while out on bail molests a second child does not appear to be a trustworthy individual, and a child molester who when one reads the court and parole records is acting and conducting himself in same manners he did when he was caught is not someone to trust!

Would you trust and give a second chance to a significant other who molested your child?

Would you trust a neighbor who molested your child?

Would you trust a sport team coach who molested your child?

Would you trust a teacher who molested children?

Wouldn't you wonder how many children may have been molested but were too fearful to come forward?

Would you willingly allow your child or your wife or your girlfriend to be offered a ride by a convicted child molester with lifetime sex offender registration? Perhaps you did not know of the sex crimes done by an individual however now that you do know, is a ride with such an individual really worth it? There have already been two recorded strikes. How many second chances are you willing to give?

Is your adoption program ready and willing to give a convicted child molester with lifetime sex offender registration a second chance in exchange for a monetary donation that is given only if you work...excuse me, volunteer to work at an event run by such an individual? The care and placement of ex-racing greyhounds is of utmost importance to me as it should be to all in the greyhound adoption community however exactly what are you willing to turn a blind eye to in order to receive a donation?

You say give the individual a second chance but tell me what do you say to children who have been raped, who have been molested, who have endured a childhood of hell due to sexual assault? You say people change but if you knew nothing of the individual previously how can you honestly say such a person has changed when you know nothing about them? You say that was a long time ago, yet are you sure? You preach that anyone who adopts a greyhound must be a good person.  Do you also feel that someone who is aroused by children is a good person?

Just as we give our greyhounds an ounce of prevention, the children and women of our community deserve the same. Those whose lives have been forever altered by sexual assault never get a second chance at innocence. 

So whats it going to be?