A shy dog?
To the Editor:
I would like to respond to last week’s letter “Man’s best friend.” There was some important information missing from that letter. It sounded as if a poor innocent dog was killed just for the sake of killing.
Every time I walked past the house where “Lizzie” lived, she would run out into the road while growling and baring her teeth. I would purposely walk on the far side of the road in hopes of keeping a safe distance between us. It never helped. She would always run across the road and come barking and growling at my feet. She was becoming more and more aggressive.
“Lizzie’s” owner knew this because when I was on my walk on the night of September 12th, he said to me, “If you walk past here you’re liable to get dog bit.” I had told him that if she continued to come into the road after me, I would shoot her.
As I walked back past the house, she came all the way into the road and was once again between the house and me. She was growling and coming at me and would not leave the road. I truly felt she was going to bite. According to the law, a person has the legal “right”: to protect himself/herself. Unfortunately, that is what I had to do.
Tricia Bowling
Support new shelter
To the Editor:
The Board of Directors of Swiss Friends of Animals (SFA) would like to let the community know how grateful we are for what the County Council and Commissioners have done in funding and providing a new animal shelter to meet the problem of stray and uncared for animals in this county. We extend our congratulations on the high quality of the completed facility.
In addition to a great facility, operation and maintenance of the shelter require dedicated and quality personnel. The people selected to operate the facility, Terry Scudder and Keli Hall, are dedicated, local citizens committed to the task, and SFA would like to congratulate the Council and Commissioners on their selection.
There is an overwhelming need in this community for the services that the new shelter will provide, which SFA has had neither the facilities nor full-time personnel to meet. We want the community to know that SFA supports the new shelter and one of the supporting roles that we will play is to increase public awareness of our spay/neuter program which provides financial assistance to any Switzerland County resident who owns a cat or dog that needs to be spayed or neutered. There is no reason for unwanted litters of kittens or puppies to be born in this county.
Any new endeavor faces challenges and unexpected obstacles that will create problems and mis-steps along the way. A patient attitude and positive encouragement and support from the people of the county will help assure success of the new shelter. Please take the time to let the Council, Commissioners, Terry Scudder and Keli Hall know that you are behind them and appreciate their efforts.
Swiss Friends of Animals, Inc.
Board of Directors: Pat Hillis, Evelyn Fried,
Tara Flint, Marjorie Busching, Marie Byrd,
Kathryn Turner, Traci Weber