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Dog show people work hard to rescue shelter animals

Re: Don't forget homeless dogs, letter, Jan. 18.

I agree with the writer about the plight of homeless dogs. However, if she had attended the AKC Eukanuba National Championship dog show held in Tampa Jan. 15-16 and visited the 125-plus individual "Meet the Breed" booths, she would have found a large majority of them promoting breed rescue and advocating the adoption of purebred shelter dogs. Our booth was proud to have such a shelter dog as one of our breed representatives.

People involved in dog showing are much less likely to have their dogs end up in shelters, because their puppies are usually accompanied by a contract requiring an unhappy owner to return the dog rather than simply leave at a shelter. Breeders that I know will go to extraordinary ends to make sure that their dogs do not end up in a shelter or to retrieve them from a shelter when the contracts are not honored. When the breeder is not known, breed people will make every attempt to adopt the dog from the shelter and place it in a new, loving, permanent home. Not all pet stores or back yard breeders can make the same claim.

Our slogan is "If you don't rescue, don't breed." Respectable dog show people are one of the solutions to the unwanted pet problem, not one of the causes.

Remember how we treat people

Re: Don't forget homeless dogs, letter, Jan. 18.

The letter writer relates to the dog show and bemoans the fact that some dogs get more attention than others. The writer should be familiar enough with the dog world to compare it with the people world.

There are rich people and homeless people. There are dogs that are well taken care of and there are homeless dogs. That dogs should share equally is a noble thought. But if we are not sharing wealth among people, how in the world can we expect humanity to treat dogs differently?

Don't be down on dogs

Re: A pooch out of place, letter, Jan. 18.

I can only say that not staying at the Wyndham Harbour Island Hotel because of some dog that "didn't know its place" is the letter writer's loss!

I dare say that half of the guests in any hotel aren't as clean as those dogs. I am soooo heartened, however, that she can "appreciate animals."

Think about pet owners in evacuations

Re: Prance of canine royalty, Jan. 17.

Kudos to Knotty the bloodhound who won Best in Show at the AKC Eukanuba National Championship. My questions are simple: Where did Knotty and his owner sleep while visiting Tampa? Where did the other 2,450 dogs and their owners sleep?

As someone who lives in an "A" evacuation zone, I am routinely denied emergency accommodations during hurricane season at most hotels in the Tampa Bay area because of my two Labradors, Hi-Pointe and Shasta. Probably 75 percent of the time if the hotel allows pets, there is a weight restriction of about 35 pounds.

I am more than willing to pay a deposit even if it is nonrefundable. I have crates to contain the dogs. My dogs are leashed whenever we step out and they are instructed to sit if we encounter people in the hall. We clean up after our dogs.

On behalf of a large population of pet owners, please allow us to bring our pets to your hotel. We will be responsible and courteous.

What about personal responsibility?

Re: Ex-smoker gets his money as life slips away, Jan. 15.

I can only say two words after reading about the gentleman who was awarded millions from the tobacco industry: personal responsibility !

It was this gentleman's own choice to smoke four packs of cigarettes a day, as it was my father's, my mother's and that of millions of other smokers and ex-smokers out there. Common sense also should be considered. Let's see - I inhale smoke into my lungs over and over again, and nothing will happen. Come on!

What about obese Americans trying to sue the fast-food industry? Again, personal responsibility !

Wake up, sue-crazy America! Take personal responsibility for your choices in life. If you want the big industries to pay, stop supporting them.

King would side with the oppressed

Re: Honor Dr. King by working for peace, justice, Jan. 17.

I was elated to see the editorial written by Bernice Powell Jackson of the national offices of the United Church of Christ in the Times.

I also believe that Martin Luther King Jr., were he alive today, would stand in solidarity with lesbian, gay and bisexual people, who are experiencing a very high degree of oppression due to the current hostile political climate.

Jesus stood in solidarity with those who were poor, oppressed and marginalized - and I believe Christians are called to do the same. Instead of causing oppression, we should be following in the footsteps of Jesus by resisting oppressors and creating justice, peace and progress.

After reading Jackson's letter in last Monday's paper, I must say that I am proud to belong to a United Church of Christ congregation.

A miscarriage of the law

Re:Killer freed after 44 years, four juries, Jan. 17.

The Louisiana jury's reduction of Wilbert Rideau's conviction from first-degree murder to manslaughter was, in my opinion, a miscarriage of the law. His worthy acts of rehabilitation in prison were cause for parole consideration, not absolving his first-degree murder conviction.

Think about what he admittedly did: He robbed a bank, which is a felony. He kidnapped three hostages, which is a felony. He emptied his gun into his hostages. It is also a felony to use a gun in the commission of a crime. When the poor innocent, wounded girl tried to get up, he seized her and slaughtered her with his hunting knife.

Murdering someone during the commission of a crime is first-degree murder in about every state, not manslaughter. I contend a juror who finds a defendant innocent because he is black is equally despicable as a juror who finds a defendant guilty because he is black. Reducing a clear case of first-degree murder to manslaughter may give the NAACP cause to celebrate but, in my opinion, it sends the wrong message to all our young people.

Is this what we have come to?

Re: Killer freed after 44 years, four juries.

This front-page article was extremely disturbing to me. The fact that now a known thief and murderer is lauded as a "hero" of sorts makes me sick with fear that this is what society has come to.

I'm terrified for my children and grandchildren.

[Last modified January 24, 2005, 12:56:39]