{"id":360329,"date":"2022-01-24T06:02:33","date_gmt":"2022-01-23T20:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=360329"},"modified":"2022-01-24T06:02:33","modified_gmt":"2022-01-23T20:02:33","slug":"petition-calling-for-sca-location-extension-nears-3k-signatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/petition-calling-for-sca-location-extension-nears-3k-signatures\/","title":{"rendered":"Petition calling for SCA location extension nears 3K signatures"},"content":{"rendered":"
File photo shows Beth Pliscou attending to some of the puppies at Saipan Cares for Animals. (Bea Cabrera)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A change.org petition calling to extend Saipan Cares for Animals\u2019 stay at its current location has garnered almost 3,000 e-signatures as of yesterday. <\/p>\n

According to the petition, the Commonwealth Zoning Board recently denied the animal welfare nonprofit group\u2019s request for an extension to stay at its current As Gonno location, and as a result of the board\u2019s decision, SCA will be forced to stop all operations by Jan. 31.<\/p>\n

According to the petition, stopping all operations, even temporarily, is something that SCA cannot afford and may lead to the permanent closure of the group. With Jan. 31 nearing, \u201cSCA is now faced with the prospect of finding homes for the 150-plus animals in their care, or face the horrendous prospect of being forced to euthanize those who could not be [rehomed],\u201d the petition states. <\/p>\n

Saipan Tribune previously reported last July that SCA\u2019s Beth Pliscou had signed a lease for SCA\u2019s new site in As Lito where it will soon transfer, in compliance with Zoning regulations.<\/p>\n

In the petition, however, it is shared that much development on the land is and will be needed before SCA can begin setting up its clinic, fencing, and kennels. SCA hopes, though, to accomplish all the needed development and setting up within six months. <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever this land is not developed at all and will need to be bulldozed and cleared before we can even begin to think of fencing, kennels, or building a new clinic complete with power, water, and sewage. \u2026SCA is hopeful that they can accomplish all of this within six months. This is due almost entirely to donations of time, services, and funds from supporters,\u201d the petition said.<\/p>\n

In closing, the petition recognizes SCA\u2019s contributions to the CNMI through its commitment to providing \u201ca public service that is accessible to all\u201d, and that SCA\u2019s continued existence is made possible through the \u201cconstant meaningful support and contributions from [the] CNMI community.\u201d<\/p>\n

A link to the petition can be found at https:\/\/chng.it\/TrDYryFYtQ.<\/p>\n

The petition was created by Kayla Brin on Jan. 22 and, as of writing has already received 2,944 signatures toward an initial goal to reach 5,000 signatures. \u201cI\u2019m glad the petition has picked up a lot of traction,\u201d Brin said last night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you read the comments on the petition the positive impact that SCA has on the Saipan community is so apparent. Buying more time for a transition right now will save the lives of over 100 animals that are currently under their care and hopefully motivate the community to aid in viable long-term solutions for this incredible organization that does so much for the animals of this island,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

In a Jan. 21 Facebook post, SCA said that 12 shelter animals so far have been adopted. However, 106 dogs and puppies and 40 cats and kittens are still in need of \u201cforever homes\u201d before SCA closes its shelter on Jan. 31. SCA asks all those to stop by its As Gonno location and adopt a new pet for free. SCA\u2019s Facebook page can be found at https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/saipancaresforanimals.cnmi. <\/p>\n

Zoning officials could not be immediately reached for this story as this happened over the weekend and Saipan Tribune will attempt to solicit comments from Zoning this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A change.org petition calling to extend Saipan Cares for Animals\u2019 stay at its current location…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":360318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[9405],"class_list":["post-360329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-sca"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/360318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}