Contact us          SHARK ALERT   April 12,  2012     Join our Email list     
IN THIS ISSUE
YouTube Age Restricts Video of Children at Rodeo
AKC's Coon Hunt and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
SHARK's Angel Shootdown and the Colleton County Sheriff's Department
SHARK Challenges Bensalem Police after Response from Deputy Director of Public Safety
YouTube Age Restricts SHARK's Video of Children at Rodeo

 

Yesterday morning SHARK posted a video taken at last years' Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo (CFD) that showed the local YMCA had brought a group of children to the "slack" performance of the rodeo. Slack is the part of the rodeo where some of the worst cruelty occurs and animals are routinely abused, injured, and killed. That the YMCA would expose children to such abuse as acceptable is a grave disservice.  


Within a half a hour, SHARK received the following notice from YouTube:

The YouTube Community has flagged one or more of your videos as inappropriate. Once a video is flagged, it is reviewed by the YouTube Team against our Community Guidelines. Upon review, we have determined that the following video(s) contain content that may not be suitable for all viewers.

As a result, we have age-restricted this content. For more information on YouTube's Community Guidelines and how they are enforced, please visit the help center.

Sincerely,
The YouTube Team
 

 
Teaching Children Cruelty 101 @ CFD
Teaching Children Cruelty 101 @CFD
 
It is highly ironic that YouTube is saying the violence to animals that the YMCA children witnessed at the rodeo is inappropriate for children to witness on YouTube. 
We find it interesting that a video showing children attending a rodeo is "age-restricted", while rodeo folks claim rodeo is "family entertainment" and bring their children to the rodeos.

American Kennel Club Holding Raccoon Hunt -
St. Jude Children's Research Hosital Recipient of the Blood Money



SHARK has been contacted about an American Kennel Club (AKC) coon hunt scheduled this weekend with the proceeds going to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  This has been an annual event for 37 years in Parsons, TN.  For more information click Here.

Understandably, this event is generating quite a bit of controversy.  There is concern for the safety of the raccoons being live-trapped for this event and worse yet - during the baby season, leaving their babies to die without their mothers to care for them.  Concerns abound of some of the raccoons being mauled by the coonhounds.  It appears there may be unlicensed youth participating in the regulated hunting event in violation of Tennessee laws. 

While the AKC and St. Jude's claim no raccoons are injured during this event, SHARK's offer to attend and videotape this event to clarify the controversy was rebuffed.  Of course, there is still the issue of the dying abandoned baby raccoons of the mothers live-trapped for this atrocity.

What You Can Do:

Please contact St. Jude and let them know what you think of their association with the AKC and the subsequent animal cruelty and deaths. 

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
(901) 595-3300
South Carolina Sheriff's Misbehavior and Lack of Investigation
of the Shootdown of SHARK's Angel



In February while SHARK was at the illegal Broxton Bridge pigeon shoot, SHARK investigators were harassed by the Colleton County Sheriff's office (see video below). This was before SHARK's Angel was shot down by pigeon shooters in retaliation for forcing the end of their pigeon shoot on Sunday.
 
SHARK has since contacted the Colleton County Sheriff's office about both the shootdown of our Angel aircraft and the intimidation tactics of their officers. SHARK has yet to hear about the status of the investigation of criminals who shot our Angel, nor the justification for their officer's unprofessional and unethical misconduct. 

More SC Police Intimidation at Broxton Bridge Plantation
More SC Police Intimidation at Broxton Bridge Plantation

 

What You Can Do

 

Please contact the Colleton County Sheriff's Office and politely ask why they allowed their officers to make baseless threats, and why they have not investigated who shot down our aircraft.    

 

George A. Malone, Sheriff
Colleton County Sheriff's Office
Phone: 843-549-2211
Fax: 843-549-1449

SHARK Still Awaiting a Response from
Bensalem's Deputy Director of Public Safety


 
Last week we asked you to contact the Bensalem Police Department and ask why they have allowed the wealthy members of the Philadelphia Gun Club (PGC) to violate the law, including shooting at us when we are on the Delaware River.

Pat Ponticelli, the Deputy Director of Public Safety for the Bensalem Police department, wrote the following to one of our supporters:

Thank you for your concern regarding the reputation of Bensalem Township. However the facts regarding the Philadelphia Gun Club and the animal activists, including Mr. Hindi are much more complex than what you have depicted in your email.
 
Pat Ponticelli
Deputy Director of Public Safety
Bensalem Township Police Department
2400 Byberry Road
Bensalem, Pa 19020
(215) 633-3725 (Office)
(215) 633-3759 (Fax)
pponticelli@bensalem-township.org 

Much more complex? They aim their weapons at us and we get hit by shot. Pretty straight forward. We wrote the following back to Mr. Ponticelli:

Dear Mr. Ponticelli,

Regarding the Philadelphia Gun Club matter, I reviewed your response to --- in which you state:

"Thank you for your concern regarding the reputation of Bensalem Township.  However the facts regarding the Philadelphia Gun Club and the animal activists, including Mr. Hindi are much more complex than what you have depicted in your email."

This is not a response - it's just a blowoff. I join --- in requesting a detailed explanation.

For more than two years SHARK personnel have wondered why the Bensalem Police Department refuses to do its job on so many levels. The police allow PGC members to drive on public roads with obscured license plates to avoid identification as they enter and leave club property. The police allow PGC members to use their vehicles to threaten and intimidate protesters. The police allow PGC members to pollute and commit cruelty.

Most particular to this letter, the Bensalem Police Department, with the knowledge of Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo, allows PGC members to hit people legally boating on a public waterway with shotgun discharge.

I am looking forward to your detailed explanation of "much more complex."

Sincerely,

Steve Hindi

Meet "Chris," one of the PGC thugs who has shot at us

A week later, and Mr. Ponticelli still hasn't responded back, but we have a right to know what he is talking about and you do too. So let's all ask him, the Mayor and the Director of Public Safety again, what exactly he meant and why they still haven't charged anyone for shooting at us.

What You Can Do

Please ask why the PGC is allowed to violate the law by firing their weapons at us.  Bensalem Police have absolute authority to take action, yet have refused to do their job.


Frederick Harran
Director of Public Safety
fharran@bensalem-township.org
Phone: 215-633-3700

Deputy Director of Public Safety Pat Ponticelli
pponticelli@bensalem-township.org
(215) 633-3725 (Office)
 (215) 768-5919 (Cell)

Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo
mayorsoffice@bensalem-township.org
215-633-3603, 3604, 3605

Kindest Regards,  

Steve Hindi and Your SHARK Team

 
"Kindness and compassion towards all living beings is a mark of a civilized society.   Racism, economic deprival, dog fighting and cock fighting, bullfighting and rodeos are all cut from the same fabric: violence.   Only when we have become nonviolent towards all life will we have learned to live well ourselves."   - Cesar Chavez, civil rights and labor leader, founder of the United Farm Workers