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Some animals are not adoptable, 11/21

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published November 21, 2006

Re: It's not necessary to destroy dogs, letter, Nov. 17.

I have been a volunteer at the Humane Society of Pinellas for 10 years, and in that entire time, I have never had a family come in and ask to adopt a previously aggressive or fearful dog that has been rehabilitated.

Not all animals that are surrendered to the shelter are adoptable. People bring in dogs that they have mistreated, trained to be aggressive or neglected to the point that the poor animal does not know how to respond when approached by a human.

If they tell the shelter about the dog's pre-existing problems, they are told that the animal might not be put up for adoption but that it will be evaluated by the staff to determine whether the issue is correctable. This has always been the policy, even under the previous management team at the shelter.

People come to the shelter to adopt an animal that they can take home to their family. They trust that the dog will interact with family members and allow them to hug, groom and feed the dog without fear, that it can be walked and taken to a dog park, and that it has no aggression or fear and biting issues.

How would the shelter handle the adoption of a "rehabilitated" dog? Do staffers inform the public ahead of time regarding the previous issues the animal had? Do they have the person sign a waiver releasing the shelter of all responsibility should the issues resurface? Is this the kind of animal you would adopt when there are 50 others there without issues?

So then you condemn this dog to months in a kennel awaiting the one person willing to take on the responsibility. During this time, other issues arise surrounding long-term confinement in a kennel environment.

The decision as to what animals go up for adoption has always been, and should remain, with the shelter management team. The Humane Society cannot be run by committee. The decisions are not easy ones to make and nobody enjoys making them, but they are decisions that are made for the sake of the animals and in the interest of the potential adopters.

Maybe we should devote our attention to the 30 or 40 dogs that are ready, willing and able to go home and need the volunteers to give them the love and care they deserve while they await their new homes.

Lynn Harmon, Safety Harbor

Re: Seniors should not be as fearful, letter, Nov. 13.

Geocachers dug into fear factor

Hey, watch it. Fire in the hole! The letter writer is blasting seniors. He should be more careful. One of us might get hurt.

Why the supposed "bomb" placed in the Dunedin cemetery by geocachers (scavenger hunters using GPS technology) ignited his antisenior fuse is a mystery to me. I reread the story, and the geocacher was 68 years old. But I could find no indication that seniors reacted in fear to the sight of this thing.

And antisenior fuse it was. It finally led to an explosion of hurtful bits and pieces such as, "If you (seniors) sit in your house all day and never experience life, you'll probably think everyone outside is a criminal."

Another burning fragment was, "Senior citizens of Dunedin live their lives based on fear." Ouch. Hot.

But this lit a fire under me: "When getting your mail is the most important activity for the day, you need to get out." Okay. That's enough.

Hey, I am 75, substitute teach, play tournament pool and write extensively. Lots of seniors do lots of things.

Writing explosive statements can hurt innocent people. Why the writer used "fear" as the incendiary device, so to speak, for his bombing of seniors puzzles me. At the risk of sounding like a pop psychiatrist (no pun intended), methinks he used the cemetery story and the reference to the guest column about fear to unburden himself of some baggage.

Who knows? I can only hope he feels better. We are now in "the most wonderful time of the year," and not a minute of it should be wasted by anger.

Here's wishing him a happy Thanksgiving and a joyful Christmas.

Jack Bray, Dunedin

Except for traffic, event is run well

I'm a frequent critic of Clearwater, but I tip my hat to the folks at City Hall for their handling of the Ironman event. For a first-time event, it went off as well as could be expected.

The traffic situation along the bike route was indeed the only real problem, but some spectators at the suggested best viewing location - the east base of the bridge - thought the multiple laps of the running route made it difficult to follow the running order. The only way to spot a leader among the churning horde was to see who the motorcycle cameraman was filming.

Also, the Ironman was a bit of a disappointment for the retail establishments on the beach. The visiting contestants and supporters did little shopping, and the congestion kept the local patronage away.

Otherwise, a big success for Clearwater. Congratulations to all!

Dave Spath, Clearwater

Teach-in widens kids' horizons

Once again, I had the pleasure of participating in the Great American Teach-in on Wednesday at Leila Davis Elementary School in Clearwater.

I spent a very enjoyable class period with Mrs. Long's third-grade class in which the daughter of friends is a student.

As usual, the delightful young people impressed me with their knowledge and unpredictability. Among other things, our wide-ranging discussions focused on the arctic and antarctic, U.S. presidents, capital cities and, of course, the U.S. Coast Guard.

Thanks to their Discovery Channel viewing, many students were familiar with leopard seals, elephant seals, polar bears and penguins, so all I had to do was enhance their knowledge by telling them stories about my experiences with these creatures.

When we got to U.S. presidents, a subject of particular interest to me, I asked them to name their favorite presidents so I could tell them some facts about them.

I knew Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson would be mentioned, but one young man surprised me when he said, "Garfield." Not many adults know the name of James A. Garfield, our 20th president elected in 1880.

Finally, we discussed out-of-the-ordinary world capitals. I noticed that many students were taking notes so they could impress their parents and older siblings with their knowledge that the capitol of Burkina Faso is Ouagadougou.

Because I was in my Coast Guard uniform, I had to end with a little recruiting pitch in the hope that some of these bright young men and women might end up serving our country in my favorite service. But whatever they do in the future, I know they'll be great American citizens.

Retired Rear Adm. Bill Schwob, U.S. Coast Guard, Clearwater

Your voice counts

You may submit a letter to the editor for possible publication through our Web site at www.tampabay.com/letters, or by faxing it to (727) 445-4119, or by mailing it to Letters, 710 Court St., Clearwater, FL 33756. You must include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity, taste and length.

[Last modified November 20, 2006, 20:42:26]