Michael Meredith - a servant of the people?
We don' t think so.

From: LRCWebMail@ky.leg [mailto:LRCWebMail@ky.leg]
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 1:41 PM
To: Meredith, Michael (State Rep.) (LRC)
Subject: HB 56

Representative Meredith,
Bill and I moved to Kentucky over ten years ago. In that time, we have found very few people here who are responsible animal owners. We have had to endure many occassions of animal damage due to our neighbors' animals running loose. We have documented over 100 incidents since 1996 of this sort. We do not find many people who care about how people treat the animals here, even the Humane Society has been no help. When we reported the man across the street for abandoning his animals in severe weather with no food or water, they would do nothing. We have found that the laws are either nonexistent, unclear or inconsistent. HB56 isn't harsh enough in our way of thinking but it IS a start. In a state whose laws do not even include decent laws for cats and dogs, we need to do something for all animals that are in our care.

We know there are many things going on right now that also need to be addressed. This is a problem that we have had to deal with personally since we have lived here and we think it is important, too. We would greatly appreciate it if you could see that this Bill gets to the floor and do all you can to pass it. Later, if at all possible, we need to have better education about the treatment of animals here. It is a proven fact that, most people who neglect or abuse animals, will move on to children. We need to stop this where it starts so it never reaches our children.

If there is anything I can do to help with this, anything that I am able to do, I would do it. I have done all I know to do, written countless letters, talked till I am blue in the face, to no avail. I don't have much money and very little time because we must work all the time, but I would do something if I could. Please help if you can. I have yet to find anyone in this state that will step up. To give you one example of how uncaring the people are here, whenever we have the loose animals come on our property, we have been told numerous times by our local Sheriff's officers that WE should build a fence around our place. No one says anything about the owners. We need better laws and better enforcement of the ones we have. We shouldn't have to live like this.
Mr and Mrs. Bill Switzer

____________________________

This was his response, as you can see, MONTHS later...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Meredith, Michael (State Rep.) (LRC)"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2011 10:43 AM
Subject: RE: HB 56

Mr. and Mrs. Switzer,

As I was recently catching up on some e-mails, I found there had been a glitch in the spam folder of my e-mail that had caused me not to receive some of the incoming mail. Your e-mail was one of the ones that for some reason inadvertently went to my spam folder and I did not get in a timely manner. I am trying to rectify the situation for the future and to communicate with all of those who I had not returned as of yet. The e-mail delivery problem was out of my control, but I am still sorry for the situation that happened. My constituents and their opinions are very important to me and I hope that you will still feel free to contact me about this or any other issue in the future. Again, thank you for the opportunity to serve in Frankfort and for sharing your beliefs and opinions about the important issues affecting us. Feel free to call on me anytime if I can be of service.

Thank you,
Michael
Michael Lee Meredith
19th District State Representative

__________________________

As you can see, although he apologized for the delay answering my email, he did not address the reason I had written, successfully skirting the issue. Very politician-like of him. Here is my answer to him:

-----Original Message-----
From: Pat [mailto:bswitzer@scrtc.com]
Sent: Friday, October 14, 2011 9:04 PM
To: Meredith, Michael (State Rep.) (LRC)
Subject: Re: HB 56

Mr. Meredith,
I have had this late reply to the email I sent you long ago, sitting in my inbox until I had time to address it. You did not address MY email at all, only telling me why you did not answer for so long. The problem I wrote about still remains. Right now, the man across the street has brought in yet another puppy, possibly two, that are starving and in need of care. There is no one in this region that will do anything about him or the dozens of others who mistreat animals.

I recently talked to a man from the Barren River Animal Welfare Association - BRAWA - in Glasgow. He told me that Kentucky is the fifth worst state in America for animal abuse. What a wonderful claim to fame. Having moved here from another area, it was immediately obvious to us that something was different about the way people felt about animals here. They do not think that they need the meanest care. Shelter, food, water and vet care are usually necessary to responsible animal owners yet the laws here do not cover this for all animals. Pets are treated like cattle, meaning people need only give them a field and some water, dogs and cats etc need more than that. And it is a proven fact that, people who abuse or neglect animals, will do the same to children.

You did not tell us if you even care about this issue, let alone if you are going to try to do anything about it. We have noted this lack of response and will remember it as will we remember anything you will do to help the situation instead of ignore it like everyone else seems wont to do in this state. I am in the process of trying to rescue 8 cats this same man across the street threw out to starve. I do not have the funds to do this and we do not even have a shelter in Hart County. We are supposed to use the one in Edmunsen but the people there are not nice, I have tried to deal with them before and they do their job for the money, not to help the animals. I believe in euthenasia when it is necessary but they seem to put it to far more use than anyone around. Go look at their website, they have NO cats available for adoption. And you KNOW there are cats turned in. Where did they go?

Let's see if you can answer this email in a timely and responsible fashion. We are keeping track of who does what they should and who is just in office to look pretty and make money. As a government official, you are supposed to be serving the people, not yourself.
Pat Switzer

_______________________________

Below is his answer, once again he did not address my original request - did he see that it got on the floor for a vote or did he just ignore it? I have no idea, he never said. Every bit the politician, he once again manages to skirt the question. He states that cruelty is objective, some people don't think something is cruel while others do. Cruelty is just that, cruelty. When you have to pick it apart to make sure that's what it is, then you just don't want to deal with it. I was not talking about saying, "No no" to an animal. I am talking about starving them for food, water, care and love. And he knew that, just didn't want to deal with it. He found it safer to sit on the fence and do nothing.

Also notice that he says that this is a problem for local government, not the state. As I understand it, He is the Representative for District 19 and it is his job to take our concerns to the state. That means he IS part of the local government.

Then there's the part about being more civil in future communications. The dictionary defines civil as: "polite, especially in a formal way and without being friendly." I offered to help if I could, I did not use any offensive language, I simply stated my questions and my disappointment in his lack of interest. I was polite, and even offered to be friendly although that is not required. He, on the other hand, was greatly disrespectful when he did not address my inquiry in either letter. Being rude and disrespectful is not being civil.

Mrs. Switzer,
I regret that it has taken me some time to get back with you on this, but I wanted to wait until I was able to adequately address some of your concerns. First, I do not believe that anyone should mistreat and animal or be cruel to it. That being said, however, I do believe that animal care is a very objective subject. What some people refer to as cruelty or neglect would not be referred as the same by others. In directly addressing your concerns about food, water, shelter and veterinary care you alluded to saying that people treated pets as if they were cattle. The general assembly passed livestock care standards that mandate proper amounts of food, water, shelter and veterinary care even for livestock animals like cattle. Also, many would say that disciplining an animal and trying to teach it how to act could easily be construed by some folks as abuse when that is not at all true. Enforcement of these issues is local, though, so the local county or city government, not the state government, is charged with the duties of dealing with animal cruelty and neglect and enforcement of animal related laws. You mentioned the situations about cats at the shelter in Edmonson County. I wanted to be sure on this, so I specifically asked the operators of the shelter to find out. Neither Edmonson nor Hart County has a contract with the shelter to pick up cats, which might explain why there are so few at the facility. Also, you mentioned that you wanted to know who do their job of serving the people and who do not. I will tell you, I am here to serve the people, but as you mentioned in your comments, most people in this area do not have the same feelings about this issue that you do. I am not necessarily saying you are right or wrong in your assessment of this situation, I am saying that it is my job to not only listen to one or two people that I represent, but to listen to as many as possible and make a decision based on what the majority of my constituents think and what I feel is the right thing for our area. In short, just because we don't agree on every issue does not mean that I am not serving the people or either of us is wrong. I do understand your frustrations about the situation with your neighbor and I hope that situation will get better, but the local governments are the enforcing agencies on those laws not the state. Also, I will be glad to discuss this and any other issue in even more detail with you, but I hope that the tone of further communication will be more civil in its nature. Lastly, when you mentioned the shelter you mentioned that the people there do it for the money. I don't know whether that is true or not, but if there is no one willing to step forward and create a facility out of love for the animals, then someone whether they are in it for the money or not will step forward because it has to be done according to law. I would encourage you or some other animal lover to pursue this type of facility if you are not happy with what you are getting from the current facility and provide an alternative. I hope you will accept my apologies for not getting back with you immediately and look forward to hearing from you on future matters.

Thank you,
Michael

I can't help but get the feeling that Mr. Meredith is just another politician. And that doesn't work that well anymore. People are tired of the old ways. They want people who want to serve the people. That's what we hire them to do. Mr. Meredith, you have lost two votes AT LEAST due to your lack of concern and your obvious intent to do political business as usual. That don't fly anymore.

Bill and Pat Switzer