Help Tammy Rothrock

We don't have time to rewrite this and we know that some of our readers don't click on links, so since Artsy Craftsy gave permission to post it and time is of the essence, we borrowed it to post here in its entirety and we will be emailing non-blogging animal lovers to ask for their help too.

URGENT HELP NEEDED!

Yesterday I received a Best Friends email about the plight of a cat rescuer -- located 15 minutes from me, so I contacted her to offer my help. Tammy Rothrock lives in Brazil, Indiana, where she and her husband, in their home of more than 20 years, have been rescuing stray cats and providing them with safe, healthy lives. At present, they have 31 kitties in their large home, all spayed, neutered, and vaccinated, with regular vet care.This is all being done legally: the City of Brazil issued a kennel license to Tammy last year, and the Rothrocks were in the process of organizing as a non-for-profit rescue shelter. Now the city has suddenly decided that her area isn't zoned for "business" and they've ordered her to get rid of all her cats. And they've also ordered her husband to immediately shut down the auto repair business he has operated on the property for more than 20 years!

This loving couple is using their own money to do the city's work by taking in and caring for stray animals that would otherwise be out on the streets breeding ... and instead of thanking them and supporting them, the city is making Tammy get rid of the cats she loves, fining them, destroying the family business and taking away their income ... and ultimately making them give up their family home, because rather than give up their beloved cats and their rescue efforts, the Rothrocks have put their house up for sale!THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS and I ask the entire Cat Blogosphere to join forces to prevent what their city is doing to the Rothrocks. Here's what we can do:

1) First, I ask you to please read the full information and watch the news video:

Video & TV news: Rescue Shelter forced to shut down

Newspaper: The city of Brazil has gone catty

2) Then, I hope you'll join me in immediately emailing the following city officials to protest their actions and suggest more humane solutions before their "work session" next Thursday:

Michele Altman, City Plan Administrator: michele@brazil.in.gov

Mayor Ann Bradshaw: ann@brazil.in.gov

Sam Glover, City Council Member: samglover@brazil.in.gov

Patricia Heffner, City Council Member: patheffner@brazil.in.gov

Karen McQueen, Clerk/Treasurer: karen@brazil.in.gov

3) You can also email a Letter to the Editor of the Brazil newspaper.

4) If anyone has any experience with this kind of situation and might have some advice for the Rothrocks, please email me at artsycatsy(at)yahoo(dot)com and I will immediately pass your info on to Tammy.

5) Finally, if you could put a link to this story, or re-post it on your blog or Catster, or anywhere else you can think of, it will help get even more emails to these people.

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Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention, Artsy Catsy. We hope lots and lots of kitties and doggies will get their humans to respond and bombard the city with complaints in order to help these folks. We do ask you to be polite, though. Anger and bad words will only make the situation worse for the Rothrocks.

Update: Artsy Catsy is posting correspondence to/from the city officials here. And AC has is requesting that you forward Artsy Craftsy a copy of any response you receive from the city of Brazil because they are not being straightforward in their responses. To email AC, click here.

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Oh, scroll down if you're visiting JFF, or if you arrived by the link to this particular post click here to read the regular post for today, the after photo from Karl's party. Boy, did we have fun!