> SOUTHERN INDIANA — Reader: Don’t release feral cats



It was reported in the News and Tribune on Jan. 24 that new J.B. Ogle Animal Shelter Director Sarah Green discussed at a council meeting possible changes at the shelter. One was a spay and neuter program which will catch, fix and then release feral cats.

This is a bad program for Jeffersonville and Clark County and will have effects beyond our boundaries. I personally have adopted cats, cats that have been dropped off. I love cats. I feed and vaccinate my cats which have all been spayed or neutered, but enough is enough. I can handle and shelter my cats. They are not feral.

Feral cats carry disease. They kill songbirds, wild rabbits, etc. To release these cats to the wild is inhumane. They will be killed on roads and shot by hunters. Coyotes and foxes love them for a good meal. If these cats cannot be approached, handled or adopted, they need to be humanely put to sleep.

Another program discussed, providing transportation to and from the city’s SNIP Clinic, is a very good thing, and I couldn’t agree with Mrs. Green more on this.

I do not agree with releasing feral cats that have been altered back to their colonies whether they are healthy or not. Putting cats back to the wild is a national problem Clark County doesn’t need. Street dogs that are running wild, sometimes in packs, need to be picked up. Shelter employees should try to find their owners, adopt them out to loving and caring homes or put them to sleep. We must all understand this is a national problem created by people in a terrible economy and those that simply don’t care.

Education is very important in schools and even churches, and I truly support any responsible spay and neuter program. I’m a member of a local spay and neuter program that has helped Clark County residents by issuing vouchers to help them get their pets fixed.

I request that the shelter not participate in the “catch, fix and release” program, but instead focus on other spay and neuter programs that decrease the stray animal population in Clark County.

NOTE: Since this letter was first drafted, the entire Animal Shelter Advisory Boards, Spay and Neuter committee has resigned due to conflicts with the Mayor Mike Moore administration and with Green.

— Garland Grant Oakes III, Clark County Spay and Neuter committee member



It’s time for the Electoral College to go



Is there a rush to choose a Republican presidential candidate for the party? Do our votes count if they run contrary to the Electoral College Institutions antiquated policy of how a presidential candidate is chosen?

It is high time all legitimate votes be counted and the Electoral College Institution fixed, or thrown out entirely. This election year like 2008 is being bought lock, stock and barrel. We will be told who we are to support by an aged political party — Democrat or Republican.

Whatever happened to “We The People.” There is something inherently wrong with an institution that picks and chooses who you should vote for. The Electoral College system was wrong pre-Civil War and it is wrong-headed in these times of great personal wealth, cronyism, special interest and political party strong arming the voters.

Gone are the days when an aspiring youth would proclaim, “I want to be president when I grow up.” With so much wealth and corruption sown into American politics, a child from the back of the classroom hasn’t a chance of ever becoming president — even if their credentials and qualifications greatly exceed their opponents. Many a time throughout our great history has the better man taken a back seat because he ran into the stonewall of the Electoral College system. How much greater would this nation be today had the voters been heard and rightly tallied?

We the people need let our voices and votes be counted and the most qualified individual elected to represent us. The Electoral College Institution needs fixing, then an amendment added to the Constitution so the voters are fairer and more evenly distributed. Otherwise, throw the system out and rely on the whole vote so that the better qualified person may take his or her position to lead this great nation.

— Leroy Heil, Jeffersonville