Michelle Shaw: Where's Freedom... Where's the Puppies?

In response to Michelle Shaw's Truth Time Statement (Dec. 6, 2013)
on the GBU page (reprinted below) by Nikki Craft, December 8, 2013

 

In her Truth Time Statement there are several untruths, misrepresentations and attempts by Michelle, imo, to muddy things regarding recent questions about her care of her dogs, her integrity and much more. In short, she is lying. I do not believe her statement to be accountable, credible or principled and I would like to express here why I have strong concerns about her Truth Time Statement.

First about Justice and the puppies

In her GBU statement Michelle wrote: "The backyard breeding accusation was derived from 2010 when my roommate at the time, who owned Justice (named Precious at the time) had refused to pick Justice up from the shelter after she had escaped the yard. It cost me $90 to get her out of impound. She was already pregnant. She had 9 pups. 8 survived. That one pup which we named Obama, had died at birth and was buried in the backyard."

https://www.facebook.com/America4ever/media_set?set=a.125064797506867.23471.100000100431937&type=3

In her Truth Time Statement Michelle claimed Justice was owned by her roommate who refused to pick her up at the pound. She must have forgotten what she wrote in her photo album entitled, "Justice the Dog with sidekick Snoopy the Cat." written earlier than the period she's defending in May of 2010 when she was so happy that she had gotten Justice back from her ex-husband. She was exhilarated when she wrote : "I got full custody of my dog today from my ex. She missed me as much as I missed her. My baby girl was so excited to see me. She hasn't left my side yet. She is right on my heels. I guess she is making sure that she doesn't lose sight of me again. It's been over an hour now and she has finally calmed down. New to do list: 1. Give Justice a bath."

According to her own words, Michelle had Justice back from her ex-husband a full seven months before her dog had her puppies. Previous documentation clearly shows she (Michelle), and she alone, was responsible for Justice at that time, not someone else as she falsely claimed. The documentation from her own facebook page (screenshots/photo albums/comments) clearly show that Michelle lied to all of us when she said her housemate owned Justice.

About little Obama

Was the dead puppy black or does it even matter? I don't think so. Joked about on the GBU page, the point is, racist, or not, with all the hate and contempt Michelle has aimed toward Obama, to name an innocent puppy that was born dead, to name the poor little guy "Obama" seems to me to have been a disturbed and hateful act. Granted, Michelle's method of operation about rescues on the GBU page have literally costs animals their lives, however I am not presuming to say that Michelle is not an animal activist. That would be absurd in light of all her efforts and work. However, I have to wonder though what animal advocate even thinks like this; much less flips it out in a statement before hundreds of other animal activists that she named a baby puppy Obama as she lowered it into its grave?

And now about the eight puppies

Michelle claims all the puppies went to close friends who she knew "personally" and that they were all vetted by her without the help of anyone. That said, since she placed them all with "close friends" it should not be difficult to provide current photos of the dogs on the GBU page. Bottom line where are the vet records and receipts from their early shots and vet visits? Also as a responsible rescue/er/caretaker, did Michelle require a signed agreement that each puppy would be spayed and neutered at an appropriate age? In that agreement did she include the requirement that if for some reason the new "owner" could no longer appropriately provide for the animal s/he would be returned to Michelle, or adopted by another individual, rather than taking s/he to a shelter? The importance of adherence to these basic protocols are well established in the rescue/animal advocacy community and on the GBU page/blogs. No one gets away with non compliant sloppiness here. Michelle is especially harsh and mean spirited in her own judgements and actions against people in this regard. So why should she not be held to her own standards?

So finally where is the puppy she named Freedom? Where are the other puppies? Where is the second Freedom that Michelle's son adopted who was originally named Piglet when Piglet was a very young puppy? She got Piglet in August of 2011 at only a few months old. Michelle claims she gave this second Freedom away, too, and that she can't locate this dog i.e. Freedom has disappeared. That is two dogs of hers named Freedom that are not accounted for. I know people who have been "burned at the stake" for less than this on GBU and elsewhere? Yet who is questioning Michelle about this? I never saw one question about this in her Truth Time" thread.

I also found it peculiar that a person who is aware of the animal overpopulation problem, as well as people's irresponsibility when they fail to get their dogs spayed and neutered, and one who has in some instances even cruelly skewered others for not altering animals in their care, is being so cavalier and loling about her own dog. Michelle wrote: "And my slut got out just once..... and then backed into the next door neighbors dog. And hocus pocus........puppies." "She wasn't gone very long. The slut. lol. I caught her with the Rotty and he was mounted. lol." OMG this is so not funny. Hocus pocus........puppies? What kind of example does this set?

Also it really upset me that Michelle repeatedly calls her dog Justice a "bitch slut". Many may think that is fine. However each time Michelle does this she is directing misogynistic (woman hating) hostility toward Justice when *she* is the one responsible for letting Justice out, *she* is the one responsible for not spaying her dog and for not spaying Justice *immediately* after she witnessed the male rottweiler mounting Justice. She knew exactly when Justice got pregnant and she did nothing.  How is any of that fine?

In closing here's some of her comments she wrote in her photo album
about Justice and the puppies:

"Well the second one has arrived and it has the same exact markings only the while stripe behind the shoulders is a little thicker. It was the Rottweiler across the street that tagged her when she took off near the end of her heat. They didn't even lock up so I thought I got lucky.. but obviously she was the one that got lucky. lol"--December 3, 2010

"I know. I had an appt to get her spayed but she was in heat and the vet wouldn't do it. Well, it would of cost a lot more. And my slut got out just once..... and then backed into the next door neighbors dog. And hocus pocus........puppies."--December 6, 2010

Michelle writes: "They have boxer markings. But no. Pitbull and I thought rottweiler but now I'm thinking he didn't get to her first. She wasn't gone very long. The slut. lol. I caught her with the Rotty and he was mounted. lol. A couple of them have markings on their faces like a St. Bernard markings. They are huge."--January 4, 2011

"They are all huge. They were born Friday morning. My slut bitch was due to get spayed when she went into heat. She escaped and had relations with the rottweiler next door."--December 5, 2010

"OMG third one is already here. She's shooting them out like marbles now."--December 3, 2010

"This slut is getting fixed. I can't do this again. lol To nerve racking. I'm so glad I didn't having daughters. lol."--December 3, 2010

"The puppy in this picture... the first born and a male.... is named Freedom. Will get photos of the rest soon."--December 3, 2010

"We have eight puppies. Think she's finally done."--December 3, 2010

"I am going to look for homes for them. There are eight. There were nine, but Obama died at birth."

(Facebook person writes:) I'll take a male. Michelle Shaw replies: "You want Freedom? He is the biggest one and the leader of the pack. lol"--January 3, 2011 at 7:11pm

I have other concerns about Michelle's statement that I will reply to soon. For now, suffice it to say that her statement is not accountable and that she continues to manipulate and mislead people. She does this all the while as she flies a banner of "Truth" over her group and personal page. I sent her a message through a friend recently that I am sorry it turned out as it did, and I am. After reading her statement it's easy to conclude that I cannot accept her apology. I wish I could have.--Nikki Craft, December 8, 2013

***

At the end of her statement Michelle posted if anyone has further inquiries to post to the GBU page. I do not have a facebook account that I am willing to forfeit for being reported, at least. I hope someone reading this might post the url on the GBU page and other appropriate groups and blogs.

 

Printed below is Michelle's original statement

The Good, the Bad, the Unforgivable of Animal Rescue

Dec 6, 2013

Truth time- I'm Michelle Shaw and I am the creator of this (the GBU) page.

I have a felony for drug possession and I also have a horrible driving record. I am NOT a drug dealer, I just got caught up in a situation that i never should of been in.

I NEVER surrendered any dog to any shelter either. I am NOT a backyard breeder either.

I have been accused of mistreating a handicapped person I was in charge of caring for. The truth is that the person I was caring for was in Hospice and was released from Hospice care during my time of caring for her because she was thriving so well. She had bed sores on her bum and they were completely healed by the time I had l left.

Freedom, a dog my son and I had rescued from an abusive home, was placed with someone i trusted. Her whereabouts is still unknown at this time but not for lack of trying to find her. I NEVER surrendered her to any shelter and the director of the Flagstaff Humane Aociety can confirm that if the person who made the accusations would give a date and time she was supposed to have been surrendered. To this date, the person who made the accusation has yet to give that information.

The backyard breeding accusation was derived from 2010 when my roommate at the time, who owned Justice (named Precious at the time) had refused to pick Justice up from the shelter after she had escaped the yard. It cost me $90 to get her out of impound. She was already pregnant. She had 9 pups. 8 survived. That one pup which we named Obama, had died at birth and was buried in the backyard.

As for those 8 remaining pups, they were vetted by me without any help from anyone and placed in homes with people I knew personally.

As for the Rip Off Report.... that was written by Barbie Nemeth who also wrote a retraction. The information is false.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to message the page with your inquiries.

http://michelleshawwhereisfreedom.blogspot.com/

Michelle wrote this apology to me on November 19, 2013 and my reply

Michelle wrote this apology to me on November 19, 2013
From: Who is Burning The Dogs of Arizona

"Thank you, Please tell Nikki that I am so very sorry for everything. I fucked up trying to play a game of nice with her [Susan Barrett] and I was warned by everyone. I take full responsibility for my actions and it has caused a great deal of heartache and loss of friends that I respected very much. I don't expect to be forgiven for my lack of judgement and I'm sure I will continue to pay for this for a very long time. I would rather face death than the continued persecution I foresee in my future for very long time to come. Yes I brought it on myself and I will bear this cross but please know that I am truly sorry for my actions."


This is my reply to Michelle's apology:

On Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 11:41 PM, Who is Burning The Dogs of Arizona wrote:

Michelle,

This is Nikki. Alarica is my internet nom de plume since i got thrown off facebook for organizing against Michael McDade who was trying to steal Sea Shepherd's identity.

Yes, I can forgive you if i see you being accountable and if you stop--S.T.O.P.-- ALL--A.L.L.--attacks done by yourself and fronted by others, and this includes against Laura Leigh and others. If you can begin publicly naming what you have done. I have seen no public accountability by you only the most vile hateful misogynist language imaginable, manipulation like i have seen no one else do as much in my whole life, and that crap email with you conspiring with Susan Barrett, which was no game and was so unbelievably slimy, instructing her how to censor and take down my website (do you have any idea how much that infuriates me?) and listening to her lies for months about me and everyone else without saying word one to the victims of your conspiracy; and your blaming others and your false claims that everyone else is lying but you; you have explicitly betrayed the trust of many. If you want to begin to crawl from the place you dug for yourself and others it takes public accountability; many many apologies, even to people who don't know they are owed apologies from you and real humbleness on your part non stop.

If you chose any other way than public explanation and accountability where you and every one can learn from your mistake I would never believe you are telling the truth. You have proven yourself to be a proficient liar, well practiced and strategically on your toes to be able to lie on cue and even by preference. You are in real trouble Michelle. I warned you in those previous emails of what might come without you taking responsibility and with the type of people who would align with u even knowing you were a liar; and where you all might go; what you might do with that lack of ethic and responsibility. Now, if not then, maybe you can understand what I meant. But however bad you think it might be now know that it can be worse. I don't know what you can do with your life. I don't know you that well. People can always have new beginnings. There are always second changes. I have seen you are an exemplary liar. If you are lying with this apology don't be too self satisfied with yourself because you do not harm to anyone but yourself. If you are sincere, like I said, I do accept your apology, but i will have to see that serious accountability i discussed above before your apology will mean much to me or anyone else at this time. Be aware however that even tho i will accept your apology if it is accompanied by public acknowledgement of self awareness on your part, that I will continue to warn people to use extreme caution in all dealings with you.

thank you for your email tonight and best wishes for your future life and your work with animals. Nikki Craft

Michelle Shaw & Susan Barrett, Cyber Stalkers: First They'll Try to Silence You...

by Nikki Craft, November 15, 2013

When someone shows you who they are,
believe them the first time.
~ Maya Angelou

These screen shots (below) are reproduced from a small private group in August of 2012. They stand as incontrovertible evidence to show who was conspiring against [poor poor] Susan Barret with lies, manipulation, distortion and malicious libel. And surprise surprise it was not--as Ms Barret claims--in all her [poor poor me] pity party emails and public postings on her facebook page the great conspiracy that Barrett always refers to, including me. The names may change, but one thing remains the same and that is that she is the victim of one type of persecution or another.

It was Michelle Shaw who, back over a year ago, accused Barrett of being a dog broker and transporting dogs to Canada, selling dogs to labs that can, she said, "all be traced back to Susan". Shaw posted this on her Facebook page GBU. Why would Shaw post such lies? I have a personal suspicion that she did it to divert from the mess she had gotten into by going after Barrett and realizing Barrett had her criminal behavior. Shaw (and Barrett, too) have diversion and obfuscation down to a fine art. But what Shaw did admit was that she did this to rile Barrett up, to get a response from her. I know she also did it for her own entertainment because she told me once something like "Nikki you know me I like to stir things up." Indeed she does and indeed she has; and she colluded a year later, for at least four months, with Susan Barrett to do some more of the same.

Their collaboration has recently been revealed in a long, intense and conniving email exchange between the two from the beginning of June 2013 until just two weeks ago on Oct 24, 2013 when they were caught in working together to spread a bunch of lies and disinformation about numerous animal rights activists. The wicked web they were weaving is too convoluted to examine thoroughly here. However to list only two of their escapades, Barrett sent Shaw off to report me to IRS for fraud about chipins. Her M.O. is to get other people to do her dirty work. And Ms. Shaw told her how to get this/my website taken down i.e. censored.

To quote Barrett herself from a graphic she just posted on Facebook, "Cyber Stalkers: First they'll try to silence you. Then they'll try to discredit you." I doubt Shaw can spot the absolute hypocrisy but Barrett and her usual obtuse self, lacking much introspective capabilities fails for the umpteenth time to distinguish irony.



Note in the screen shots below that Michelle Shaw writes under the nom de plume of "The Good, the Bad..." and I have replaced mine with my actual real-life legal name so it will be obvious to any reader that I wrote what I did in these threads. Nothing else has been deleted or altered. This conversation took place in August, 2012.

Michelle did say she staked her life on it and contrary to her earlier claim she did publish it on her facebook group The Good, the Bad, the Unforgivable of Animal Rescue. And she removed it early the next morning, probably when she sobered up. Then she lied once again when she denied doing it, hoping that no one would notice. Fortunately I had taken a screenshot (see above) before she quietly deleted her false claims about Barrett on the public page.

This is Shaw's typical M.O. when she realizes she is in error. She does not apologize. She is in no way accountable that I have seen. She just deletes the thread and silences the discussion. She constantly puts the blame on others. On her group she deleted a thread about Barrett's DUIs to protect Barrett and herself as well, then loudly accused her other admins of making the deletion. She maintained that she did not make those deletions for one year and it has only come out just now that she secretly censored the Barrett thread.

She allowed Barrett on GBU to post lies about me and especially vindictively an almost 90 year old man who is no relation to me by blood or legally who has advance diabetes who got DUI's 35 years ago I think and unlike Barret who continues to get DUIs over a decade period with impunity, never drank again after that. He hasn't even driven for five years at all. He lays there now pretty much on this death bed, in fact. So while Barrett seeks all kind of aid and comfort because of illness in her family, that we have all been hearing about for years and in public and private correspondence. She wrote me in email about it just last month asking me for consideration and to remove the website. Where is her empathy for my mom in her 90s and him in his condition? Barrett lacks compassion? Instead she brings their names, addresses and phone numbers onto the internet when they don't even know how to use email. Barrett with no evidence claimed this man was my father and he is not. Then when Barrett threatened to disclose Shaw's criminal past Shaw quickly deleted the thread and closed the discussion off for fear of her own past and criminal behavior being revealed by Susan Barrett.  This destroyed any context for me to respond to the lies that Shaw allowed to be posted, unverified, on her group. Then, due to her own self interest, Shaw censored the complete discussion. The said no discussion would be allowed any further on the topic. That censorship protected Shaw for one year. It looks to me there will not be much that can protect her now.

 

In case I might have thought what I had said might have mattered in some way and I wasn't just wasting my breathe, this graphic (above) was posted on Michelle's wall minutes after I left the group and moments before I signed off her facebook page.

So now a little over a year later Michelle Shaw plots in facebook PM's, privately behind my back in a duplicitous and pretty shitty (imho) way to conspire with Susan Barrett to censor my website http://www.susanbarrettsfolieadeux.com and instructs her how to misuse the DMCA complaint against me. Nice to have that in writing, to verify, just in case she (Barrett) attempts it (censoring my website) that she is fully aware of the potential fine she can receive when she knowingly breaks the law and complains against the legal publication of her criminal record; her attempts (according to North Carolina law enforcement) at leaving the scenes of accidents, her multiple refusals to take breathalyzer tests, and her problems with alcohol and her multiple convictions for driving under the influence. And Michelle Shaw with her own drug and drinking problem, where she and Barrett both will throw anyone under the bus; that Shaw was apparently paid by the state to narc on her fellow druggies to get off lighter; just like with Barrett--who throws people under the bus on a daily basis for one reason or another as it suits her. These problems of theirs bleed over into the AR and rescue movement and cause immeasurable harm and damage to this movement and dare I say, with great trepidation, "community"; and that is what makes their criminal convictions relevant to this discussion and this website.

So they both can use screenshots and do exposes on bad behaviors until the cows come home, but they are going to try to censor me when I do? Self-serving hypocrites of the worst kinds. Make no mistake Susan Barrett does not own the copyright to screen shots of her criminal record; nor does Michelle Shaw either. My website is not an "attack" site, as Barrett complains to anyone who will listen. It is a public warning to others about her and now her colleague Michelle Shaw, and it is warranted. It's a place where I can put up my side of the events, and as I have said for years now, this website will not be taken down by me no matter how she libels me to others--no matter how she bullies and threatens.
                                                                               ~Nikki Craft, November 15, 2013

P.S. please feel free to post in appropriate forums and share freely.