Better ways to deal with cats
Editor:
If Rancho Viejo officials are looking for a humane way to address feral cats, trap-neuter-return programs, in which feral cats are sterilized and dumped back on the streets or in the woods, aren't the answer.
While spaying and neutering feral cats keeps future generations from suffering, it does nothing to protect existing cats from the hardships they endure on the streets.
On their own, feral cats routinely starve; suffer and die of untreated injuries, infections, and contagious diseases such as rabies; are poisoned and shot by people who don't want them on their yards; hit by cars, and worse.
Sterilizing doesn't remove cats' instinct to hunt either. Feral cats (that are not native and do not fit into the predator-prey ecosystem) terrorize, maim and kill countless native birds and other small animals that aren't equipped to deal with such predators.
TNR programs are simply not in the cats' or wildlife's best interests.
A better way to reduce the number of homeless animals in the community would be passing a spay/ neuter ordinance and providing low-cost spay/ neuter services.
To learn more, visit www.HelpingAnimals.com.
Teresa Chagrin
Animal care and control specialist
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Norfolk, Va.
Via the Internet
National defense is still important
Editor:
A letter to President Barack Obama:
Even though I voted for John McCain, you were elected and you are our president. What you do in office affects all Americans just as President Bush's terms in office did. I wish you well, but please remember that a good or bad economy can be replaced with no economy and that is the aim of our enemies. They have vowed to take revenge on you (and us) for abandoning your father's beliefs. President Bush faced Sept. 11, 2001 and has kept us from another. I can only hope you can duplicate what he has done.
In the Navy in 1948 I used to make money ironing uniforms for my shipmates. Sometimes the wrinkles were pretty bad, but like the Duke (John Wayne) said, he loved America "even with all of its wrinkles." Some wrinkles are very tough to get out. In this case one of those wrinkles is racism, which will be hard to iron out.
With all of the wars going on all over the world, President Bush is more than happy to hand the job over to you. Once again I hope you do as good a job at national defense as he has since Sept. 11, 2001.
Wayne Johns, USN (ret.)
Kenedy, Texas
