County gets stray program all wrong

This week the Palm Beach County Commission ruled that panhandlers should be banned from county roads. This affects a broad range of entities; the poorest of the poor (includes families), charitable groups that rely on roadside funding, even firefighters (boots).

On the same day, the commission voted that stray cats be vaccinated, neutered, implanted with microchips, have a quarter inch tip of their ear snipped and returned to the communities from which they were found (re-stray the strays?). Why are we allowing this?

If you or I own a dog or cat, even an animal that never leaves the house, we are required to have them licensed and vaccinated (at a rather high cost) yearly for rabies. Animal owners have to do this, but our government does not? The government is only required to do this one time?

The county is planning to return a once-vaccinated animal back into the community without an ongoing vaccination program? This is acceptable? What happens if one of these animals is found rabid later on. No one is responsible; no one is accountable?

It seems that we are losing our focus. We have panhandlers or charities asking for help; and we turn our backs on them. Yet we can be irresponsible with stray animals?

This county wants to do more for stray animals than for our people? Obviously the “cat” project is not free, there are costs. Wouldn’t we be better off helping our panhandlers get help? David Melendez, Boynton Beach