Letters

Have the winter blahs — crummy weather got you down? Well, I have the instant fix for this!

The editorial page of the Chicago Tribune of March 9 has an article that will give everyone who is a taxpayer the shudders.

To the Editor,

I am writing this to show support on the articles written by Mr. Becker and Mr. Brown on the subject of abortion. I suppose these doctors think the unborn child is just a glob of something that has no feelings or can feel no pain. It has been proved that the unborn child can respond to music, so there has to be some life there.

The Illinois Supreme Court recently struck down the state’s medical malpractice reform law, ruling that the caps on non-economic damages violated the separation of powers clause in the Illinois Constitution.

The Census Bureau estimates the cost of the 2010 Census will be from $13.7 billion to $14.5 billion. It will be the most expensive census ever. With the economic crisis this country is in, did we really need to have to spend that much money for a 10 question survey?

People who complain about FOS should go in and help or help by donations either with money or food. Why should some people dump cats and dogs, or let cats and dogs roam around in the cold, wet, freezing weather, or in the summer in the hot heat, or let them be subject to animal fights, hit by cars or get infested by insects or diseases and not care about them or the place that takes these animals in and takes care of them? Why complain? That does not solve the problem, and let’s face it, there is a stray problem.

Where are the jobs? Is there any reason for the millions of unemployed to be optimistic when most of our manufacturing base is overseas? Today the only jobs available are minimum wage jobs in the service industry — Walmart, Target, etc. that sell mostly foreign products not made in America.

For the last two years, my life has been dealt a bad hand. I have been afflicted with multiple medical problems causing me to become fully disabled. With Social Security  thinking I can still do cartwheels, my financial status has been a nightmare. I have been put on a waiting list after hiring an attorney. I am owed more than $25,000 in child support. So I cannot depend on that for help. 

This is in response to the letter from Cindy Morris. Yes, 400 cats is a big number, but those who have been to the shelter know it’s a large building with many rooms. Those 400 cats are not crammed into one room! Surely, she knows comparing Friends of Strays to puppy mills is ridiculous. Every animal that enters the doors of FOS is spayed or neutered, so that at least that cycle is broken. Any outrage felt should be aimed at the irresponsible cat and dog owners who allow their animals to breed and produce litter after litter and then don’t take care of them! Those are the animals that are dumped outside the shelter, or worse yet are “taken for a ride!” Know what you’re talking about before you criticize good people doing good things!

Friends of Strays doesn’t sound like friends to me. I, for one, wouldn’t donate money or anything else to a place that keeps 400 cats. If I were a cat, I would much rather live in a garage or take my chances outrunning a dog than being trapped in a place with 399 other cats. This sounds like an obsessive disorder or someone lacking any common sense.

I have been a volunteer for Friends of Strays for more than 15 years. It is very rewarding when you have saved an animal’s life, when the bottle babies are adopted and go to a good home, when a dog comes in scared for being yelled at and also hit and turns around and starts licking your face and many other instances too many to list. There are sad and frustrated times, too.

I was shocked at the letter from Nanette Smith of Princeton about Friends Of Strays shelter. How dare she say that FOS needs to be run more like a business and workers should keep their emotions out of it!  To say that she is an animal lover is quite unbelievable because no true animal lover would have such reproach for a place like FOS that is trying help save animals (not hoard) that people have abused, neglected and/or abandoned. To say that they need to be more responsible is absurd, since they are taking responsibility for all those people out there who see animals as objects; those who do not spay or neuter and allow the animals to run loose; those who chain a dog outside for the duration of its life and think they are providing a lov

My job can be tremendously rewarding in a variety of aspects; it is like most things in life in that the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. I chose law enforcement because I enjoy the daily diversity this profession offers. Don’t misunderstand; there are certain tasks and complaints which seem to be routine based on the season, shift or even the lunar phases. Some officers might say they chose this career for the adrenaline rush, immediate job satisfaction or perhaps the coffee and donuts. I doubt any of us entered into it so that we could corral domestic animals on lonely highways or referee family disputes donning polyester uniforms and Batman style utility belts. Personally, I could finish my career without ever havin

In response to Friends of Strays article, while I am sure that they find some folks “suitable” to adopt their cats, the ones they deem “unsuitable” are being turned away and would provide good homes for these animals.

This is in response to the story you reported on Friends of Strays.

Well, we citizens of Illinois, and the residents of Bureau County especially, have certainly done ourselves proud (NOT) with our voter turnout during this latest primary election. What a pathetic example we’ve set for the rest of this once great nation! A chance to make our collective voices heard at the local, state and federal levels and most of us willingly abdicated our right and responsibility. It is a sad, sad situation when people just don’t care.