God's creation
I read the July 19 article "Kitten attacked by children euthanized" regarding the 3-month-old kitten Heaven that was attacked and hurt so badly that she had to be euthanized. This is one of the most horrible things I have heard of. To some people, animals are not important and they are just breathing our air and have no purpose in life. Well, people like that are wrong! The innocent little animals are God's creation as well as we are. They are loved and needed by families.
People who do not have pets in their homes may not understand how these pets become members of the family.
The children involved in this horrible act should be punished extremely for their deeds. Children like these apparently haven't had any rearing or they would have known better.
These children need to be in detention and should have at least 1,000 hours of chores assigned by the courts to do in and around the community and they should help Heaven's owner, Kayce "Kat" Jenkins, around her home. They should be required to replace Heaven with another 3-month-old kitten and make restitution to Jenkins.
We have a 3-year-old toy poodle, Rascal, that we treat like our children. He goes everywhere we go and even has his own car seat. Adults as well as children need to love and respect not only their own pets, but other people's pets as well.
GLENDA FARRINGTON
Winston-Salem
Unbelievable
I am surprised and saddened by Maya Angelou's recent comment, "I don't want to see five more Trayvons and five Trayvettes get killed by police who've been waiting for that chance" ("Angelou at town hall with Martin's family," July 26). I never believed until now that I would ever hear Angelou say anything so blatantly biased.
I have long respected her talent and intellect and if asked would have strongly stated that she was intellectually and morally above that sort of street-level bigotry. I would really like to think she was misquoted or taken out of context, but the entire statement was printed and the context appears clear.
HERBERT OSMON
Winston-Salem
Help
In reference to the article "Kitten attacked by children euthanized" (July 19), I cannot believe a child would hurt an innocent kitten. I hope the parents seek help for this child.
CHRISSY GALLAHER
Winston-Salem
Not for the front page
I was extremely disturbed to see the Journal's idea of front-page news on July 19. The headline "Kitten attacked by children euthanized" is entirely inappropriate and disturbing to be on the front page. Not only was the headline upsetting, but the article itself went into immense detail describing the way the animal was mistreated.
I understand the article being newsworthy, but I can be sure that it caused a great deal of distress among fellow readers who might not have even planned to read the paper but were just passing by and saw it sitting on the kitchen table. A poorly placed front-page story such as this is no way to draw in readers, and I disagree with the graphic content being positioned in such prominent view. The lead alone, I'm sure, was unbelievably offensive to animal lovers such as me.
By placing this controversial article on the front page, the Journal forced all readers to visualize explicit images. Furthermore, innocent children might have stumbled upon the article and then proceeded to ask their parents the meaning of the word "euthanize," consequently putting the parents and children in an awkward position. These problems could easily have been avoided had the article been placed in a more appropriate area, perhaps even the inside of the front page, where it was out of sight from unsuspecting readers.
RACHEL FRAGAPANE
Clemmons
Gaining insight
Thank you so much for realizing that animal abuse is front-page news by publishing the poor story of the kitty Heaven ("Kitten attacked by children euthanized," July 19). That poor animal suffered a horrific death, and the child responsible needs to be punished. It should not be a choice. An apology is not enough, and community service is not going to change the behavior.
This child is obviously deeply disturbed and in need of major psychiatric help. His parents and the other neighbors should be afraid; very afraid. This is a child. Children do not do things like this. An immediate psychiatric evaluation needs to be ordered and demanded.
I just hope they do get the help they need as soon as possible. As for the children who were present with this child, I bet they have been threatened and were themselves terrified. That does not excuse their inactions; but fear of harm is powerful to a child.
The kitten is gone forever, but maybe since you published Heaven's story, we can all gain insight into what is happening around us and act before it is too late. We must all remember to respect and care for all living things. We must also demand punishment for those who do not — even when it is a child.
GAIL POPLIN
Tobaccoville
Finish the Thought
Briefly complete the sentence below and send it to us atletters@wsjournal.com. We'll print some of the results in a few days. Only signed entries, please — no anonymous ones.
"People continue to abuse animals because ..."
I am surprised and saddened by Maya Angelou's recent comment, "I don't want to see five more Trayvons and five Trayvettes get killed by police who've been waiting for that chance" ("Angelou at town hall with Martin's family," July 26).
ReplyDeleteMr. Osmon
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Mr. Osmon: The Trayvon Martin shooting is a fine example of how 'some' people can't objectively look at incidents without interjecting race into the equation. Our forum nitwit is a perfect specimen of that type of individual.
In their defense, many of these people grew up watching 'cowboys and indians' on TV where often times the 'good' guy shot the gun out of the hand of the 'bad' guy. And life was good.
Reality, sadly, has to get involved in shooting situations, and the 'good' guys can't, no matter how 'good' they are, always shoot guns out of people's hands. And, deadly weapons are not always guns.
African Americans, in particular, have been protected from criticism of their racial views by the public at large, primarily because the politically correct world has allowed it.
I, too, am sadden that such a poetic talent has apparently fallen into world where racial obsession lives.
People continue to abuse animals because ..." It is a marker on the path of our culture's continual search for the bottom.
ReplyDeleteThere's little chance for Dr. Angelou's statement, "I don't want to see five more Trayvons and five Trayvettes get killed by police who've been waiting for that chance", to be misconstrued; it CLEARLY infers that police GENERALLY wait for THAT chance (such the one she mentioned). Additionally, the incident she mentions involved an INDIVIDUAL in a NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH group, NOT the police. Dr. Angelou's statement is a disservice to race relations and law enforcement.
ReplyDeletePretty pathetic coming from someone like Angelou. It just goes to show that even very smart people can be idiots on certain topics.
DeleteHow many unarmed black teenagers have been killed by police in the last year...last five years...last 20 years?
DeleteHow many teens and young adults die in cities like Chicago each weekend at the hands of their peers? I'd say the carnage is far higher than that wrought by police gunfire, but seems to cause far less concern in the quarters of the Perennially Indignant.
DeleteShe made a connection between the Zimmerman/Martin shooting and some kind of implied, improper, police shooting, when there was none.
DeleteThat kind of race baiting would understandable had it come from Al Sharpton. However, coming from her, it's really quite disturbing.
Drat, cuz, you messed up my trick question. I was counting on Dunce to make up a number, as he is always willing to do.
ReplyDeleteI got curious some time ago about the answer to that question. Believe it or not, the only correct answer is "no one has any idea". That great repository of crime data, the FBI, which can tell you how many chickens got stolen in your neighborhood last year, does not keep track of the number of people killed by policemen, nor does anyone else.
The only attempt to quantify that act was made by the Department of Justice. Their 1998 report says that:
• From 1976 to 1998 police nationwide killed 8,578 suspects — 56 percent white and 42 percent black.
• White police officers, who make up 87 percent of the nation's police force, committed 82 percent of justifiable homicides in 1998. Both black and white suspects are overwhelmingly more likely to be killed by a white officer than by a black officer.
• Black officers make up 11 percent of the U.S. police force and were responsible for 17 percent of the justifiable homicides in 1998.
• Overall, 1,820 law enforcement officers — an average of 79 a year — were killed between 1976 and 1998; on average, 86 percent were white and 13 percent were black.
• The number of officers killed each year declined from 93 in 1978 to 61 in 1998, which the report attributes to the increased use of body armor, and better training, communications and police practices.
Note that those numbers include only cases in which investigators found the killings justified.
As to how many teenagers are killed in Chicago, an organization known as The Black Star Project, created to try to reduce those numbers in the Windy City, held a demonstration last March. The names of teenagers who were murdered in the past year in Chicago were read and a bell tolled for each one. Their were 100 names on the list.
The number one cause of death for black teenagers nationwide is homicide. The number one cause for white teenagers is automobile accidents, which is the number 2 cause for black teenagers. The number 2 cause for white teenagers is suicide.
Worldwide, the US, which makes up about 4.5% of the world population produces 87% of all teenaged deaths by homicide. That is a shameful fact for all Americans, white, black, yellow or brown.
How many black youths were killed by police officers in Chicago vs the number killed by their same race peers? Precisely....
DeleteWhich is why Angelou's comment is so utterly ridiculous.
And you tricky? PuleeeeaZZZZZZZZe!
You fall for my tricks all the time, Dunce, and others are constantly laughing at you for it. The idea that you "win" any debates on this forum comes from your own deluded "mind".
DeleteDebates are won with facts, stated logically, not by ad hominem attacks and made up bullshit from Limbaugh and crackpot websites. We're still waiting for your "facts" regarding the "thousands" of illegal aliens registered to vote...LMAO. If there were any, they would be easy to find.
Cuz, sorry for the mess-up. No argument re the number of teens killed or the waste. Add the young adults caught in the carnage and the numbers become much more depressing.
DeleteStab, I was just kidding...he just didn't bite this time, as he usually does.
DeleteThe whole thing is appalling...teens, young adults, everybody. When you've got nearly one gun for every man, woman and child rolling around the USA, that is a recipe for disaster. Guns are not made for sitting in drawers, they are made to be fired, and sooner or later, they will be.
One of my favorite old sayings comes from the world of playwrights and stage designers: "If there is a gun hanging over the mantle when the opening curtain rises, at some point in the play, someone must take it down and use it, whether on or off stage."
Unfortunately, too many shootin' irons are taken down from above mantels, so to speak. But a very large majority aren't or are removed under appropriate circumstances. I still own quite a few guns, haven't fired any in several years, and for me over the years they have been noisy tennis rackets, so to speak, recreational implements. Mind you, I have employed them to get out of youthful tight spots years ago, but those were salutary examples of injudicious selections of venues.
DeleteMore important than the matter of guns themselves is the lack of values on the part of so many, from the Aurora fiend to Chicago hoodlums to the little scum who tortured the kitten. I have scant idea how to change this state of affairs, but I suggest a mass boycott of the purveyors of certain entertainments and the shouting down of panderers who say there are too many people locked up. It appears to me that there are too few, and that too few includes some of the panderers.
"...salutary examples of injudicious selections of venues."
DeleteLove it. What a politically correct way of putting it.
I imagine that I frequented some of those same venues...probably not with the same name, but the same places.
Today, my oldest friends and I prefer a different venue...rocking chairs on the porch at the beach, where, while imbibing bottles of exotic craft brewed ales made in Farmville, NC, and freshly harvested shrimp from our rapidly dwindling NC coastal supply, our favorite topic is what quirk of fate allowed us to survive those wonderfully bad old days of ill chosen venues.
I'm particularly thinking of a biker bar in Forsyth County where we met many "interesting" women, three of whom very nearly got us tortured to death, and a "club" in east Durham where we had the joyous experience of meeting and listening to the recently "retired" Thelonius Monk as he participated in a fabulous jam session. How were we to know that that "club" average about 2 1/2 shootings per week?
And not to forget the notorious Beach Club at Myrtle Beach. We once took some very naive girls there to hear Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs perform their half hour version of "Stay". Returning from the ladies room, the girls asked why their were streaks of red paint on the walls.
Not wanting to screw up our dim chances of scoring, we tactfully avoided the truth. They would not have understood the concept of girls punching each other out.
Our favorite NW always throws a bunch of irrelevant stats and statements up, and then I guess he sticks his chest out thinking he's smart.
DeleteI've got a novel suggestion to the forum NW: How about addressing the salient facts in the discussion for a change instead of throwing a bunch of BS against the wall and hoping it sticks.
I've got a novel suggestion: Anna Karenina.
Delete