Do away with ‘cheating’ Olympic Games, reader says
LETTERS
If we are going to ban Russia from the Rio Olympics, we may as well ban the U.S. as well. Anyone remember Marion Jones? How about Lance Armstrong, Tyler Hamilton and Crystal Cox? And in 2012, Tyson Gay lost his silver medal.
In fact, there's so much cheating going on, it's just down to who gets away with it.
Let's do away with these Games because it's just a party for the rich elite anyway. Every country who hosts goes into debt and has to hide the poor people from view.
We can put all that wasted money to better use. Joseph Verhagen, Vancouver
Cyclists out of their minds?
I've been hearing and seeing a lot about cyclists in Vancouver, about these so-called people who have no respect for pedestrians on the sidewalk — that the folks on the sidewalk have to dodge cyclists.
I do a lot of walking and have been knocked onto the roadway from the sidewalk and now I'm walking with a bad hip. I will never dodge another bike on the sidewalk. The city and/or police should do something about that.
What is wrong with these people, are they out of their minds? Or do they think they have the right-of-way wherever they are until the government licenses and teaches them about the proper rules of the road?
The cops better start enforcing the law.
Also, a lot of cyclists like to ride on streets that have bike lanes, but where do they ride? Yep, on the sidewalk.
Let's see some enforcement. Douk Parson, Vancouver
Pit bulls aren’t ‘bad’ dogs
If The Province is going to publish a column regarding pit bulls, a bit of fact-checking might be in order. This piece is so biased. I'm curious as to whether The Province would consider publishing an article from someone who runs a pit-bull rescue operation? I'm guessing not, but it might be a good idea.
One disturbing part of the article is when the columnist speaks about all the types of dog breeds that can take abuse without becoming aggressive. Not only is this inaccurate, it's immoral. How can we condone saying that pit bulls are “bad” because they react to abuse as opposed to these apparently more-subservient breeds that “take abuse lying down?”
Pit bulls are the most emotionally intelligent dogs I have ever spent time with. So it stands to reason that when abused, their expression of hurt would be more pronounced. This doesn't make them “bad dogs.” This makes them the canary in the coal mine for animal abuse.
The reaction to aggression by any kind of dog should be to tighten animal-safety rules to better protect the animals.
The pit-bull breed isn't going to disappear, or as some would have it, be forcibly removed from their owners and put down. So why not use harm-reduction strategies and look at how we can better treat the animals in our communities? Simone Page, British Columbia
Listen to trained experts
I was disturbed to read in The Province how Andrew Cronkhite, director of operations at the Burnaby youth detention centre, disputes the findings of Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, B.C.'s representative of children and youth, and Dean Purdy, chairman of correctional and sheriff services with the B.C. Government Employees Union.
Yet, as the centre's director of programs, he was unable to provide a reason why he thought this riot materialized. Why is he not listening to the trained government officials and constructing a plan, based on their findings, to ensure that this doesn't happen again? I. Prinsloo, North Vancouver