An owner of one of ?them?

February 24, 2004

Dear Sir,

After reading today?s headline, I am once again most concerned and frightened that dogs are being put down simply because they are from an illegal litter and may have some Pit Bull in them. To this point, whenever this topic has come up in the past, I have hung my head and remained quiet, hiding a little family secret; you see our pet, Brindle, is one of ?them?. Our little Princess, graduate of Good Dog 101, Beginner and Intermediate Agility, blue ribbon holder from a previous agility competition, SPCA donor, and wonderful, spoilt family member is part lab, part pit, and parts unknown. We adopted Brindle from the SPCA in September 2000 and she is the absolute joy of my life (child and husband notwithstanding). The is one of the gentlest, sweetest dogs I have ever owned and is well-liked by all. In fact, she?s a bit of a ?social hound?, always stopping to say ?hi? to people that she comes across.

Our vet thinks it?s simply wonderful (and perhaps a bit odd) that this ?pond dog? trots in on Saturdays in her Coach collar to have her nails clipped (manicures are ever so important for a lady these days.) If someone told me today that I would have to put her down because she was from an illegal litter and has a bit of ?that kind? of dog in her, I would say ?may the God Lord help them?. This dog is like a child to me. They?d have to put me down first! I understand that we have serious issues here with dog fighting, dogs being bred and trained to be violent, and dog cruelty. These are serious issues that we should all stand up in arms against. But putting puppies down because they are of the wrong ?type?? Surely, others can see how ludicrous an idea this is. Obviously, the mastermind behind this policy has never seen ?101 Dalmatians? or they would know that the puppy killer never comes out on top! In all seriousness, could someone please explain to me how, exactly, killing adorable, sweet puppies is going to decrease our dog fighting, dog cruelty, or the training of dogs for violence? I seem to be unable to make the link. Purchasing dogs can cost hundreds ? up to thousands of dollars, involve a wait of months, and isn?t to the liking of everyone. The ?Bermuda Special? is a wonderful, loving mix that is perfect for the average dog lover and family. I understand that if a dog is a biter or shows aggressive tendencies that they must be put down. There are tests for these kinds of behaviour that SPCAs and vets are more than capable of conducting. One does not need to ?kill all of the illegal puppies?.

Bermuda ? the issue is ?nurture versus nature? and if anyone wants to say to me that my dog is ?a potential killer?, I invite them to my home to watch our Princess in action; she?s a wonderful hostess. I hereby issue a challenge to every other ?Bermuda Special? Mom and Dad ? write your letters now; enough is enough. Because it?s not that far of a leap from putting puppies to sleep to banging on your door and putting puppy to sleep. This has got to stop. We must speak for those that cannot speak for themselves. What would want you to do?

What of the neighbours?

February 11, 2004

Dear Sir,

Congratulations to the Dog Wardens. Finally doing something truly wonderful for those poor abused Pit-Bulls. I?m puzzled though. The article states that the police acting on a tip was originally going there for some herb trees that were planted. Are these so-called informants saying they didn?t see, smell or hear all those dogs over there? Obviously they?ve been there for some time, maybe years, looking at the equipment acquired for Dog Fighting.

Sixteen abused, traumatised dogs barking, howling fighting to the death and in all this time no one reported this barbaric situation. Those houses are side by side over there, and yet the call was about the marijuana growing. I just find it amazing that them people didn?t care enough about one of God?s creatures or sixteen in this case to report these perps to the authorities. Whomever you are. How do you sleep at night?

A neighbour responds

9th February, 2004

Dear Sir,

This is in response to your article on the front page of your paper on Saturday 7th headed ?Buried Alive?. I would like the public to know that neither of the dogs KeKe and Solo, to my knowledge ever attacked anyone. They surely didn?t attack my children or myself who are the closest neighbours to them. KeKe and Solo were the most loving dogs that anyone would want. They were never aggressive to my family, my friends or myself, in fact we would feed them dog biscuits. KeKe would take the biscuit out of your fingers ever so gently. We miss seeing them come up to our wall, waiting for a treat from either one of us. My daughters would go over the wall and sit on the ground to play with them. Solo, the puppy, would sit on their laps and KeKe would come up while her puppy was on my youngest daughters lap and kiss them all over their faces.

We as a family have found it very hard to deal with what had happened next door and all have shed many tears for two dogs that gave us love in return for our affection. The only offence they did was to love their owner and that is how he repaid them. They did not deserve what was done to them. Just because a complaint was made about the smell or barking didn?t give him the right to do that to poor KeKe and Solo. KeKe & Solo will rest in peace now that justice is done. KeKe and Solo are not human, but they both had a heart and blood running through them, and what was done, in my eyes, was murder.

Advice for seniors

February 18, 2004

Dear Sir,

I offer this advice especially to my fellow senior citizens, sufferers from arthritis and anyone else who finds that the Bermuda Telephone Directory is too heavy to lift with one hand or is otherwise cumbersome. What I have done for several years is to open the Directory a few pages beyond the White Section and cut down the spine to produce two books. I then dump the one containing the yellow pages and am left with a user friendly telephone book about three quarters of an inch thick and very light. Any looseness at the cut can be cured neatly with Scotch tape. A bonus for the hoarder is that your new book will fit beautifully into those elegant leather covers which once graced our telephone tables and you may still have.

Move fair from St. Paul?s

February 23, 2004

Dear Sir,

Let me start by thanking you once again for this space in your column. Sir, I am all for the Pembroke Rotary Club and there fairs they do a great service for Bermuda but St. Paul?s Christian Education Centre is a very bad venue to hold the fair as parking is not suitable. I?ve lived in Paget for 41 years and have never seen so much chaos. I could barely drive on my own drive way there where cars all over the place people seemed to park where ever they saw a spot. Valley Road was a mess people parked up as far as SPCA at some spots on both sides and Valley road is a two way lane that turned into a one lane.

Some even parked at the A1Shop making it hard for those who wanted to shop to park. Unfortunately they could not use all the field due to the fun castle. I don?t know why they could not use their regular venue which was better for parking. St. Paul?s is not a good venue for this fair for those who say that other organisations have fairs there, like PALS. But not on a high attendance scale as Pembroke Rotary. I guess its because they cater to more things for the children like the fun castle, the train rides, etc. I really hope this won?t be a regular venue for everyone?s welfare. I saw a few near missed accidents.

Stand up for that puppy

February 24, 2004

Dear Sir,

I wholeheartedly agree with the statements made by Heather Wood on the front page of this morning. My husband and I visited the SPCA on Saturday, looking for a companion for our dog Ginger ? who was adopted eight years ago from the SPCA. We came across a lovely black and white, healthy and playful puppy who seemed an ideal match - only to be told by volunteers that this lovely puppy was to be collected by the dog wardens and euthanised, as it ?looked like? a Pit Bull. We were appalled by this situation and promised that we would contact Neletha Butterfield, the Minister of the Environment and express our concerns at this wholly unacceptable situation. So far we have been unsuccessful in contacting Ms Butterfield, but will continue trying and encourage all responsible dog owners to do likewise.

Tidy up Causeway area

February 18, 2004

Dear Sir,

Congratulations to the team that designed the latest issue of stamps to celebrate our West End heritage. Such excellent prints of scenes that depict Bermuda?s inheritance. These scenes show Bermuda as an island beauty: colourful, clear, evidence of wealth and a quality of high standard. Shame however, of Bermuda?s gateway i.e. as one exits Bermuda International Airport, one is confronted with debris from Hurricane Fabian which happened some six months ago and the remain of supplies from the Causeway repairs months before. Our frequent travelling MPs and indeed our Premier, flies in and out of the island, yet the main entrance to our Island, our visitor?s first impression of our Island, is littered with stones and tree limbs laying about the area, including plastic and other litter, even the equipment of the spring repairs remain.

May I please call upon the authorities, before our seasonal visitors return, to make good the area between the exit area of the Airport and the entrance to the swing bridge, and clean up the debris and properly landscape the area so that those first impressions are pleasing ones. Unfortunately we have already had the Theatre group here and the International Race Week folks visit our shores and yet nothing had been done prior to their visit. Where are the priorities. On a separate issue, I would like to ask the BLDC authorities, to take action against those who have left old and rusty vehicles on the St. David?s land. There has been a derelict taxi in the new housing area and an old truck near the Ice Cream shop for months ? longer than I can remember ? these should be removed. Also attention needs to be given to Marginal Wharf as garbage is building up everywhere.?