A dispute has erupted in Caledon, Ont., over whether a family with a child with cerebral palsy should be allowed to keep a pony.
Three-year-old Sam Spiteri was born with a form of cerebral palsy that makes it hard for him to do ordinary tasks such as walk, hold toys, eat or speak.
The youngster has been riding his miniature pony, Emily, since he was an infant.
“Taking her away would be devastating to Sam. It is his best friend,” said his mother Antonia Spiteri.
He’s so attached to the animal that his rides usually end in tears because he doesn’t want to leave Emily.
But a neighbour’s complaint about the animal’s smell is now being handled by the Town of Caledon, whose bylaw enforcement manager has ruled the Spiteris’ half-hectare property is zoned rural-residential, meaning they cannot keep livestock.
The Spiteri family, however, argues Emily shouldn’t be classified as livestock because she was bought as a form of therapy.
“We only want the exception for Emily herself to remain on the property for therapeutic purposes,” said Antonia Spiteri.
Sam’s grandfather bought him the pony because the youngster experiences seizures, making it almost impossible to take him on long car trips to a riding facility elsewhere.
According to the Ontario Cerebral Palsy Foundation, equestrian therapy “improves balance, co-ordination, strength and muscle tone, while gently mobilizing the joints.”
Antonia Spiteri says Sam’s pediatrician suggested the riding therapy, and they have seen an improvement in his posture.
“Bouncing from riding her triggers the muscles to stiffen and contract, so that when he rides her, he gets better posture and makes it easier for those muscles to learn those types of things. And then he is better with possibly walking in the future,” she said.
“When his posture is better, it’s easier for him to perform simple tasks such as feeding himself. It also helps with speech.”
The debate over whether Emily can stay on the property will now go before a committee of adjustment.
Well, I happen to believe that this is just wrong, Period. If you agree with this. Please contact the officials in this town:
Mayor Marolyn Morrison
Town of Caledon
6311 Old Church Road, Caledon ON L7C 1J6 Office: (905) 584-2272 Fax: (905) 584-4325 marolyn.morrison@caledon.ca
As always, Be polite and tell her that you think that taking this pony from this boy is wrong.
Emily Zitek is always on the move. She was born blind, but it has not stopped her from doing the things she has wanted to do. In August she started her own business and her lifeline became her laptop.
“It’s kind of like my partner. It’s like my partner in the business. If there are things that I need to find right away, I know where it’s at,” explained Zitek.
But on Tuesday her partner was taken from her. She was riding a Metro Transit bus, her laptop was in her backpack tucked under her seat. When Zitek got to her stop she reached for it and realized it wasn’t there. Other passengers helped her look but came up empty handed.
“That’s when I realized it really, truly is gone,” recalled Zitek.
On Friday police produced a picture of the man they think may have taken the laptop. Zitek said that if the thief was hoping to sell it at a pawn shop he is in for a surprise. The $6,500 computer is solely for the blind and only communicates through Braille.
Zitek is hoping the picture helps. She doesn’t want sympathy, she just wants her business partner back.
It takes all kinds, and based on that picture of the supposed suspect, he was not hurting for cash. Bet he was just some asshole, who would try and hawk it for a quick buck. Hopefully, he gets caught. Of course, he’s the kind that Liberals defend and say, “We can rehabilitate him!” Hmph…. put him under the jail and let him rot. 😡
A pair of Redwood City siblings kept their mentally disabled sister in a backyard metal shed for 20 years with only a thin blanket and heater for warmth while seven pit bulls lived inside their home, according to prosecutors who charged the pair with elder neglect.
Bertha Cano Lozano, 45, is also charged with embezzlement of an elder by a caretaker. Both she and her brother Jesus Cano Ramirez, 53, pleaded not guilty yesterday and remain in custody in lieu of $250,000 bail. They each return to custody Dec. 3 for a preliminary hearing and face up to five years and four months if convicted.
Redwood City police discovered Lozano and Ramirez’s sister, Amelia, Nov. 18 when responding to a call for a teenager brandishing a knife at them. During a search of the MacArthur Avenue property, police reported finding the 58-year-old woman clad in a thin gown cold and shivering in the backyard.
The woman has the mentality of a young child and told officers she lives in an 8-foot-by-12-foot metal shed because her siblings said there is no room in the house, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
Officers also reported finding a small space heater with a frayed cord, a thin mattress on the floor and a rudimentary commode. Amelia had a Barbie doll and coloring book for entertainment, Wagstaffe said.
She had no injuries and was removed from the property by Adult Protective Services.
Officers also reported finding seven pit bulls living inside the three-bedroom home.
Lozano and Ramirez reportedly were cashing Amelia’s Social Security checks and keeping the funds, Wagstaffe said.
I got one thing to say about this. Let those assholes rot in jail. Pitbulls over mentally disabled person. Grrrr. My aunt is developmentally disabled, I’ll be showing this to my mom, and will have to spend the next couple hours, trying to peel her from the ceiling. 😡
For it’s worth, they’re talking about this stupidity here.
For the true record. I was NEVER, EVER, forced to remove a fucking thing at all, ever. In fact, I had the fucking image on my damn hosting server, for a damn week, because I had mistakenly thought I had deleted it and it was still there. Needless to say it was yanked.
I removed the posting AND image because of the idiotic fucking uppity liberals were ready to get the Government after me, and because of the fucking situation I am in, I just did not need the trouble.
So, to the asshole people over at the Flytalk Forum. I personally invite you to kiss my hairy white Libertarian ass.
