Dog owners create bad situations
12/18/2010There has been a lot of finger-pointing about what does or does not go on at the Lucas County Dog Pound.
We should look at the irresponsible dog owners who create the situation, rather than at the warden who cannot adopt or euthanize her way out of this crisis.
Prevention is a major component to resolving this problem and one that Planned Pethood has been advocating for more than 30 years through education, surgical discounts to members, and financial assistance to those who need it.
We have helped thousands of people spay and neuter their animals.
For those who have ignored the importance of sterilization, Litter Patrol is offered to people who run “free” puppy and kitten ads.
It means that all animals will be spayed or neutered, especially the young as well as any adult pets in the household.
If we can, we will offer to take young animals into our adoption program. In addition to grant money we secure specifically for spaying or neutering, a significant part of all funds we raise goes for spaying or neutering-subsidies.
Dog Warden Julie Lyle has brought a refreshing approach to the pound. Let her do her job.
Stop second guessing her or any other animal rescuers in the area.
You too can lend a hand by discussing the need for prevention and the resources to make it happen with family and friends.
Let's all make a difference by putting our hands to work on needs rather than pointing fingers at each other.
Carol Dunn
President, Planned Pethood Inc., Glenwood Avenue
I was impressed by the cleanliness at the dog pound and by its hard working employees and their genuine care about the welfare of the animals.
Although we already had a dog, we adopted a second one — whose picture appeared in The Blade.
The adoption process was easy, quick, and inexpensive. The dog has been a blessing and has brought much joy to our home.
The solution to the dog warden's problem is easy: Lucas County residents need to step up and adopt one of the homeless animals.
It's that simple.
Lisa Chandler
Maumee
Other departments in Lucas County government will see a 7 percent to 10.5 percent reduction in budgets and have 70 positions eliminated. The dog warden's budget will increase by 27 percent.
Lucas County really is going to the dogs.
Gregory L. Arnold
Sylvania
I do not respond well to arm-wrenching to get the response desired from voters (“TPS plea for new funding fails,” Nov. 3).
The most recent Toledo Public Schools' levy bid failed, and TPS said it was forced to make some cuts. That was understandable. I have children in the district, and their education is extremely important to me, so I voted for the levy.
However, the cut TPS chose to make was to eliminate bus service for all children who live within two miles of a school.
Sounds plausible, until you realize it's not very practical to send a young child off to school and have him or her cross major thoroughfares such as Bancroft Street and Nebraska Avenue.
This cut also puts a two-parent working family in the dangerous position of sometimes choosing between getting the child to school or putting a job in jeopardy.
And the front of the school at dropoff or pickup time is sheer chaos. Cars line up blocking traffic and double and triple park in front of the school.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that TPS chose to make cuts that would mostly punish the voters for the defeat of the levy in the hope of assuring its success the next time it is on the ballot. My problem is this: It's difficult to accept these cuts when new schools are being built, some of which are replacing adequate buildings.
It has been argued that building funds come from other appropriations and cannot be included in the operating budget. But if capital can be found to build dozens of buildings costing millions of dollars each, then several hundred thousand dollars can certainly be appropriated to meet the basic needs of the students — and taxpayers already stretched to the limit. There are other programs that can be cut.
Matthew Parenteau
Judge Drive
As musicians in the Toledo Symphony, we recognize that some people disagree with the use of city funds to support the Symphony's trip to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York (“City can't afford musical vacation,” Readers' Forum, Dec. 11).
Such an opinion does not, however, justify the unthinking and uninformed characterization of that trip as “a New York vacation” for the Symphony's musicians. It is anything but.
We will be there first and foremost because it is our job. We will be as accountable for our work on the Carnegie Hall stage as we are on the stage at the Peristyle. Our individual and collective reputations will be on the line just as much in New York as they are in Toledo. It will be our further task to represent our community in our country's foremost economic and cultural center.
These are responsibilities we take with the utmost seriousness. With or without city funding, it is work — work that we love, but work nonetheless. And, with or without city funding, we hope our success will be our community's success.
Daniel Harris
Meadowood Drive, Chairman, Toledo Symphony Orchestra Committee
What the writer of the Dec. 8 Readers' Forum letter “Help, not harm will bring peace” fails to understand is that you can be the nicest guy in the world and still be attacked.
Dec. 7 was, for those who have forgotten, Pearl Harbor Day — in the words of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “a date which will live in infamy.” This country was attacked while at peace with Japan. We responded in the American way and attacked Japan. Had our troops not done so, we would be part of the empire of Japan or Germany.
So, until others learn to not pick fights with us, as a former serviceman I say we need to do what's necessary. It is their choice. We can be their best friend or their worst nightmare.
Robert M. Houser
Swanton
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) caved in and voted for President Obama's “sellout” (“Senate OKs negotiated tax-cut deal,” Dec. 16).
Senator Brown must agree that the Bush tax cuts for the rich were a good idea, that continuing to dig a bigger hole for the future by increasing the deficit is a good thing, that reducing payments into Social Security is a good thing, that extending benefits indefinitely for a select few of the unemployed is a good thing.
What about all of the people who are unemployed whose benefits ran out long ago? What about the “hard-core unemployed”?
If the Bush tax cuts for the rich were allowed to expire, the federal government could create a jobs program for everyone who is unemployed.
The federal government could send money to every county in the country to put people to work painting over graffiti, shoveling snow, repairing fences, filling potholes, recycling rubbish, clearing illegal dumps, dismantling abandoned houses for recycling, etc.
How about a little Franklin D. Roosevelt-type leadership?
Austin Kuder
Cleveland