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Are Linda Merfeld and Bill Shaffer being 100% truthful?

H

HerpOly

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Linda & Bill are you two saying that you NEVER kept pythons, boas, or false water cobras at your residence in Dubuque? Remember the truth will come out if you are lying, as it inevitably does on this forum. While we are at it, do you deny keeping western hognoses and bull snakes, Iowa state protected animals, at your home in Dubuque. If you can not TRUTHFULLY answer these questions yes, I believe you OWE Jim a public apology here on this forum and any other place you have been spreading this nonsense. Be truthful and this whole stupid thing will end today. Continue the lies, and no one wins. Also what became of the two milk snakes you took from the wild in Wisconsin, and the Indigo that you did not have the permit for?

Tim Ollendick
 
You missed the obvious reason they should apologize (IF JIM WAS NOT THE ONE WHO TURNED THEM IN), and that is accusing the wrong man. This implies that you know he is the one who did it.

Further, IF it turns out that he did it in retaliation for a lawsuit, he will be getting anything but apologies.
 
HerpOly said:
Linda & Bill are you two saying that you NEVER kept pythons, boas, or false water cobras at your residence in Dubuque? Remember the truth will come out if you are lying, as it inevitably does on this forum. While we are at it, do you deny keeping western hognoses and bull snakes, Iowa state protected animals, at your home in Dubuque. If you can not TRUTHFULLY answer these questions yes, I believe you OWE Jim a public apology here on this forum and any other place you have been spreading this nonsense. Be truthful and this whole stupid thing will end today. Continue the lies, and no one wins. Also what became of the two milk snakes you took from the wild in Wisconsin, and the Indigo that you did not have the permit for?

Tim Ollendick
Click to expand...


Tim, can you prove these accusations you've made are true?

If so, post the proof.

Simply making counter accusations doesn't prove anything, much less that they are lying about who tipped off the DNR.
 
Tim, while I am not saying that you are or are not telling the truth.....think about it.

I could come on here, and get a couple of my buddies to come on here, and say, "Yeah, I know Tim Ollendick, and he keeps his animals in filthy conditions". Again, NOT saying that you do.

But anyone can make a post on the internet claiming anything. If you can prove these accusations, it would be a lot more believeable.....just as I would like to find out how Linda and Bill know undoubtedly that it was James who "turned them in".
 
monkeywrench133 said:
Tim, can you prove these accusations you've made are true?

If so, post the proof.

Simply making counter accusations doesn't prove anything, much less that they are lying about who tipped off the DNR.
Click to expand...

I understand everyone wants proof right off the bat, but sometimes its better to let the person come forth and deny the allegations first. Let them come here and say it isn't true. Why would someone lay all there cards on the table right away? :shrug01:


Right now the burden of proof is on them, they haven't provided any proof that this person turned them in.

Another thing I've always wondered, why do people that get in trouble for doing illegal activities always blame the people that turn them in? If they were following the laws they wouldn't be in trouble.

If they were doing the right thing before they were turned in, why are the animals now outside city limits? They obviously had to move them to get them back. :shrug01:
 
I understand what you're saying, Bill, and agree somewhat. I think, however, that since it isn't just a question of who turned them in, that this person has made further accusations, shouldn't they be just as responsible for showing proof of the further accusations as the OP is of the original accusation?

(Did that sentence make sense?)

And there is a big difference between the 3 snakes that were removed and the seemingly numerous violations this poster is contending.
 
Bill, I understand what you're saying. But the way I read Tim's first post, he's asking Linda and Bill to prove that they didn't do something. He's asking them to prove a negative, which can't be done. So, in my opinion, it falls on him to prove his accusations are true.

But I fully agree with the rest of your points. Linda and Bill have an awful lot of questions to answer at this point.

I'd also like to know why the snakes are outside town limits.

I'd also like to know if they were actually penalized for having those animals, along with the kingsnakes and Indigo. And if they bought the Indigo from an out of state breeder, did they have the federal permit required to transport it across state lines?

Unfortunately, no one is coming up with any facts, just finger pointing. :shrug01:
 
I have not accused Bill and Linda of anything, I am just asking them if they kept any of those species at their home at any time. If they have, then calling Jim a liar is just plain wrong. The truth in these matters always come out no matter who is lying. How many threads start out with one guy looking bad, and in the end the other guy is the bad guy, and many threads end with both parties end up being wrong. Bill and Linda have done some shows around the midwest, and some people will remember the types of animals at their table.
 
HerpOly said:
I have not accused Bill and Linda of anything, I am just asking them if they kept any of those species at their home at any time. If they have, then calling Jim a liar is just plain wrong. The truth in these matters always come out no matter who is lying. How many threads start out with one guy looking bad, and in the end the other guy is the bad guy, and many threads end with both parties end up being wrong. Bill and Linda have done some shows around the midwest, and some people will remember the types of animals at their table.
Click to expand...

I agree, that Bill and Linda should back up their claim, that Jim is a liar. This thread is not about whether or not they owned a python (or, God forbid, a sand boa), at some point in the past, but rather, whether he lied to the DNR for the specific purpose of getting their home raided.

Until these parties come forward, we may never know.
 
jsrocket said:
FWIW, the news stories about this are here:

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93798
Click to expand...


Jim, I read through that thread a couple times, and the original article posted in it, but I didn't see anything saying they were fined, or they were found guilty. I saw the part were it says they are facing fines, but not that the fines were actually assessed.

If I missed that part, could you point it out?
 
jsrocket said:
No, Erin, that's the same way I read it.
Click to expand...

OK, its been a long day, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.


So, does anyone know what, officially, the outcome of the raid was?

I spent some time trying to google stuff this afternoon, but couldn't find anything. There has to be paperwork on it somewhere, but I couldn't find it :shrug01:
 
Well, the problem is there is alot of second-hand info floating around about this right now. All of which is completely useless here.
 
monkeywrench133 said:
Bill, I understand what you're saying. But the way I read Tim's first post, he's asking Linda and Bill to prove that they didn't do something. He's asking them to prove a negative, which can't be done. So, in my opinion, it falls on him to prove his accusations are true.

But I fully agree with the rest of your points. Linda and Bill have an awful lot of questions to answer at this point.

I'd also like to know why the snakes are outside town limits.

I'd also like to know if they were actually penalized for having those animals, along with the kingsnakes and Indigo. And if they bought the Indigo from an out of state breeder, did they have the federal permit required to transport it across state lines?

Unfortunately, no one is coming up with any facts, just finger pointing. :shrug01:
Click to expand...

According to Bill and Linda, they had the paperwork on the indigo.

The officials were "not sure" if the (unspecified subspecies) of milksnakes were legal.

Sand boas are illegal within their city limits, because they belong to the "family" boidae, and according to "city officials", all members of the boidae are dangerous.

This is why the three deadly sand boas had to be moved outside the city limits.

Well, hey, on the plus side, at least they gave them back.

All this info came from the media articles, so TIFWIW.
 
Bill & Amy said:
Well, the problem is there is alot of second-hand info floating around about this right now. All of which is completely useless here.
Click to expand...

That is the only statement here I would not question. Some of if might come in handy later, but right now, it's all useless.
 
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