Merritt Clifton Calls Me An Ignoramus

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Several weeks ago Merritt Clifton commented he was not interested in my ideas, even though I offered no ideas. He responded:

That's the bottom line. What I do works, & has worked in many situations, involving many different species, around the world.

Brad Jensen replied, what is it that he has done that works?

I commented what works is that he has been able to convince a lot of people he is an expert.

Merritt has just replied:

I understand you are unaware that I lived for 10 years on the premises of the model animal shelter that ANIMAL PEOPLE maintains for teaching, training, & testing techniques; am a trustee of a foreign humane society which operates two no-kill shelters handling about 500 animals per year; previously helped to manage a successful 5-year 320-cat neuter/return project; was an interim animal control officer in Quebec for about six months, filling in for a predecessor who died on the job; have been a certified rabies control educator since 1991; have 11 years experience as primary caretaker for equines, 12 years experience helping with a working dairy herd, & 1 year helping on a working sheep farm; for 12 years spent an average of about an hour a day as volunteer assistant to a Quebec deputy game warden, chiefly detecting & removing unauthorized traplines and gathering evidence against deer poachers; and have managed wildlife habitats for maximum biodiversity and demonstrated nonlethal wildlife management techniques at a variety of rural locations for more than 30 years.

In short, you are as usual an ignoramus.

This sounds like Boks doesn't it, except Boks is not so rude.

If you add up all the years experience, I think he has 80 years of experience. This is a lot like Boks who started at Maricopa County's Animal Control in 1985, and added seven years of experience.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used to respect the guy a little but that was some crazy email. He jumps from one odd job to the next. That doesn't make him an expert in animal statistics which I believe was the main issue. Does he have a masters in statistics or research? It's starting to sound like anyone can just call themselves an "expert" with "years of experience." Anyone can make up lists of best and worst shelters and we're all just supposed to believe it. He is the one who made up the formula euth/1,000 residents which is no real measure at all to gauge all shelters.

Anonymous said...

On top of which, a person who is secure in their expertise doesn't usually react to someone questioning their methods by instantly erupting and calling them an "ignoramus." A real expert is usually more than happy to show you why it is that they're an expert.

Sounds like Clifton's been bamboozling idiots into giving him large paychecks, and he's scared his gravy train is being threatened.