First question....where is Skye? It's been 10 years since I wrote the emergency story about Skye and Milo, the two New York City shelter dogs entitiled "A final kiss goodbye before Skye is killed in New York City
Skye will die in New York City."
Here is a reprint of my original story which was removed at the request of Rhonda Roland Shearer and Imedia Ethics - the Skye adopter whose efforts had me fired from Examiner.com. I had been writing articles in my column American Pit Bull Examiner for over 5 years which had resulted in countless thousands of dogs saved from death row shelters and other stressful and abuse situations.
Take a look at the article I wrote posted below and ask yourself, should I have been fired for quoting the dates written on all of the Facebook urgent pleas for Skye and Milo?
Skye and Milo article:
Skye and her brother Milo were together in their home since they were only 9 weeks old. Their lives were ripped apart when then owners left the brother and sister to die at the very high kill Manhattan, New York City shelter.
Skye kisses her brother goodbye from FB thread Julie Carner UPDATE: Skye is safe and has been rescued by Amsterdog Rescue. Brother Milo is still in jeopardy. Please save Milo. Skye used to lay at her owner's feet to get attention, but now she lays on a cold cement floor waiting to die along with thousands of other unwanted pets in New York City.
One volunteer wrote, "With the cutest little pink and tan nose on the planet, and wearing a gorgeously groomed caramel coat. She’s friendly, tail waggy and happy to be out for a walk, showing off her housetraining skills the moment we’re out the door." "Her leash manners are lovely, she lets me put a coat on her and after stopping to take some pictures we head into the backyard. Skye explored the pen, hopped up on the bench for some hugs and kisses, comes when I call her and checks out everything going on around her. Skye is a delight, easy to be with, friendly and gentle. A proven family dog."
Over 9,000 pets per day are being killed in our nation. New York City shelter system which has received millions from Maddie's Fund has been accused of falsifying their numbers while innocent pets like Skye are been murdered every day of the year, 365 days, and even on Christmas day.
"There is a group in NYC called the Mayor’s Alliance which was formed to pursue a grant to transform New York into a No Kill community. Despite their name they are not part of city government and have nothing to do with the Mayor. In 2005 they got that grant which continues today from an philanthropic organization called Maddie’s Fund, a foundation that provides grants to communities seeking to be No Kill. The original target to make New York City a No Kill community was 2008, that goal has since been extended to 2015."
A last minute effort has been launched to try and save Skye. Please share her Facebook page. Skye rated perfect scores on all behavior assessment. This is consdered walking on water at this substandard excuse for a 'shelter'....please don't let Skye die.
This article was based on tons of emergency posts about Skye and Milo, posts STILL currently running on Facebook. In fact, I was able to find 17 pages of this post which I've archived in a pdf file (see below.) Note: each of these and many other posts were made on the date the article was written - January 31, 2016.
NOTE: these original posts were posted on 1/31/2016 when the article based on the posts was written. After Amsterdog and Rhonda Roland Shearer of Imedia Ethics began their attack the caveat "safe 1/30/2016" was added. This is important because their data does not reflect their claims.
I wrote the article to bring attention to a wonderful story about a brother and sister dog which had landed in a very high kill shelter.
After being fired by the Examiner, Imedia Ethics which still has their 'lip smacking' article on their website rejoiced in the removal of the entire American Pit Bull Examiner articles which, again, have been responsible for saving huge numbers of dogs. The Imedia Ethics article is filled with untruths and misprints of my original work, literally changing the wording of my piece to fit their agenda.
Since the takedown what has happened?
Rhonda Roland Shearer, Imedia Ethics owner and Sky adopter called Reunion Rescue board members and offered false information in a threatening manner. To date, no photos or progress reports on the dog Skye. Where is she? Whatever happened to Skye?
Katie Kausch who was the original Imedia Ethics "reporter" falsified her credentials and tried to join Reunion Rescue's community group no longer employed by Imedia Ethics.
Amsterdog Rescue is still active in NYC even after posting untrue facts about Cindy Marabito and Reunion Rescue.
The hate groups who wrote lie-filled blogs to hurt pit bulls Craven Desires, Dogsbite.org and pit bull killer Merrit Clifton at Animals 24/7 are still going strong and recruiting other pit bull haters to join their effort to eradicate the breed. These groups tout the "work" of Imedia Ethics, Rhonda Shearer and Katie Kausch so our question is this. If you call yourself an animal advocate, how can you join forces with hate groups like the above mentioned? Is your own hate that great?
What about me? I still write books and blogs, save dogs and other animals with Reunion Rescue and Animals First Rescue. I always ask people what do you get when you cross an elephant and a pit bull....me. It's no accident I rescue pit bulls and I have an incredible and long memory.
Lastly, it's sad I cannot access the archive of American Pit Bull Examiner articles and share stories to help other dogs in need. The resources in these pieces are invaluable and would be able to help new rescue advocates in their fight to save dogs. Every penny ever earned from over five years of writing articles for American Pit Bull Examiner went toward saving dogs. Can any of these other entities who enjoyed the takedown of these efforts claim they have spent their salaries helping animals?
An analytical deep dive into the "Skye and Milo" controversy reveals two diametrically opposed narratives. One side frames the incident as a standard media-ethics investigation into a journalistic fabrication, while the other side counters that it was a targeted, bad-faith attack orchestrated by special interest groups to dismantle a highly visible pit bull advocacy platform.
ReplyDeleteThe two competing perspectives breakdown as follows:
1. The Institutional/Media-Ethics Perspective
This narrative, led by the media watchdog iMediaEthics (edited by Rhonda Roland Shearer) and supported by animal welfare journalist Merritt Clifton (Animals 24-7), treats the case as a textbook failure of journalistic verification.
• The Core Allegation: They claimed the American Pit Bull Examiner column fabricated a dramatic "imminent death row" narrative about the pit bulls Skye and Milo to generate clicks and emotional outrage. They asserted the dogs were already safe at the time of publication.
• The Institutional Action: Presenting their findings to Examiner.com, they successfully lobbied for the writer’s termination. Out of an abundance of caution regarding factual integrity, Examiner.com opted to scrub the reporter’s entire multi-year archive.
• The Adoption Outcome: Following the investigation, Shearer herself stepped forward to adopt Skye through the New York rescue group AmsterDog, subsequently removing the dog entirely from the public eye.
2. The Advocacy Defense and Counter-Analysis (Cindy Marabito)
In a detailed public rebuttal, the column's author, Cindy Marabito, directly refutes the fabrication narrative and frames the event as an orchestrated takedown by anti-pit-bull special interest groups.
• Real-Time Aggregation vs. Fabrication: Marabito demonstrates that her January 31, 2016 article was a direct aggregation of frantic, public emergency pleas circulating on Facebook. She argues that she was accurately reporting the information being disseminated by rescue volunteers in real-time to save the dogs' lives.
• The Retrospective Timeline Shift: Marabito highlights a critical digital discrepancy: the Facebook threads she utilized were actively pleading for the dogs' lives on January 31. She asserts that the caveat stating the dogs had been "safe since 1/30/2016" was retroactively backdated and added to the threads after iMediaEthics and AmsterDog launched their critique, effectively manufacturing a false "timeline error" to discredit her.
• Targeted Deception and Intimidation: The defense alleges deceptive tactics by the investigators, specifically noting that the initial iMediaEthics reporter, Katie Kausch, allegedly used falsified credentials in an attempt to infiltrate Reunion Rescue's community group. Marabito further claims that after the firing, Shearer placed aggressive, threatening calls to Reunion Rescue board members. [1] (https://doggirlpitbull.blogspot.com/2026/02/skyes-story-dog-used-to-kill-thousands.
• The Weaponization of Media Ethics: From the advocacy perspective, mainstream media-ethics apparatuses were co-opted by known anti-pit-bull blogs (such as Dogsbite.org and Craven Desires). Marabito argues that by completely deleting her 5-year archive—the proceeds of which went entirely to direct animal rescue—these entities actively harmed the broader animal welfare community by destroying a massive repository of educational and rescue resources.
⚖️ The Ongoing Lack of Transparency
A central point of agreement across the timeline is that since the 2016 adoption, no verification, progress reports, or photographs of Skye have ever been released by Rhonda Roland Shearer or iMediaEthics. Marabito points to this decade-long media blackout as a lingering red flag, questioning how groups claiming to champion transparency and animal advocacy can completely shield the animal from accountability or welfare updates.