Speak up for castoffs
Regarding the article “Castoff local pets not adopted are euthanized by thousands” in the Oct. 13 Sentinel:
The picture of the dog that was euthanized broke my heart. Why don’t people understand having a dog is a lifetime decision? The reasons animals are dumped are so selfish.
We are their voices, and those of us who do rescue are frequently overwhelmed with the abundance of healthy homeless animals who are waiting for love and a home and find death instead.
It angered me when I saw a grandfather turning in to the shelter a cute, happy puppy after a holiday. He told me that he got it for his visiting grandkids. Now that they had returned to their homes, he didn’t want it anymore.
The only solution is to spay and neuter your animals, and don’t buy pet-store pups that come from puppy mills, especially from the mills where the animals are treated so badly. You wouldn’t want to see the parents of the cute puppy-mill puppy. There are some purebred dogs at the local shelters. I got mine there, and I’m happy with them. I know this article touched many hearts. So speak out.
Joyce Danglade points.
House members have to assure the American people they are not going to do this again, or they will not get the approval (and votes) they crave. Until that happens, voters should take a hard look at candidates who put self-interest above national interest.
Vic Ogilvie
Enlightening column on Scott’s donations
Thanks to Scott Maxwell for his column, “Scott now flush with cash he once criticized,” in the Oct. 13 Sentinel. It provided the inside scoop on big campaign donations steering Gov. Rick Scott’s disappointing reversals in not accepting distasteful contributions and backing off on undocumented immigration.
I’m a voter who clips out columns like these and reviews them come election time.
Scott may be counting on his conservative base, loyal Republicans and forgetful voters next election, but some of us Republicans are a lot smarter than we’re credited.
I was forced to pick either Democrat or Republican when I signed up decades ago, but I’m really an “indie-Republican.”
This means I vote for the candidate — and more important, his or her record — when using my black marker on the ballot.
I hear the same sentiments from Republican friends as well as Democrats. Very encouraging and intelligent, but bad news for party leaders.
Obviously, we can’t compete with the half-million dollars in campaign contributions mentioned in Maxwell’s column, but it’s amazing the power black ink can deliver when it’s not placed in the box beside certain candidates’ (or incumbents’) names.
We’re not all follower-sheep to our registered party — and many of us are sharp enough to recognize a wolf when it tries to cozy into the group dressed as a friendly sheep.
Fran Hudson Wyatt Winter
We deserve better
Regarding the Sentinel editorial “Defective debt deal” on Thursday: Amen. A plague on both of their houses. We deserve better.
Ronald H. Roby Winter
Proud of lawmakers who stood ground
I have read several articles and have watched hours of television leading up to and since the vote to end the government shutdown took place.
Instead of standing up and saying, “We are going to take steps and correct how we do business in Washington, D.C.,” both sides of Congress and the President continue to play the blame game.
The problems of how our elected officials do business are not going away until the voice of the people is heard and acted upon in the nation’s capital. The voters sent senators and representatives there to carry out the voters’ wishes, not to vote based on their own wants and desires.
I will proudly state that I am a conservative. I am proud of those in Congress who stood their ground and voted against this bill that only adds problems down the road. If you polled the voters in their districts, I’m sure you would find that these representatives and senators did exactly what their constituents wanted. Can those who voted to kick the can down the road say the same? I wonder.
The only way we — yes, I mean all of us — are going to get our beloved nation back on track is to stand up for what we know is right and place only those in office who will do the same.
William F. Eads