East-west route
Greg Rossel’s letter (BDN, April 11) succinctly outlines the economic and environmental values of the proposed east-west route being by rail instead of by road.
But will Gov. LePage listen? Probably not — no more than then Gov. Baldacci listened to my plea three and a half years ago to rehab the rail line between Calais and Brewer to bolster transportation between Maine and New Brunswick instead of making a multiuse trail of the road bed.
So why do our governors of such different political stripes ignore the obvious economic and environmental savings?
Maynard Clemons
Belfast
Chemical waste
I would like the people of Old Town to know that as the former mayor of Biddeford I opposed transferring Juniper Ridge to Casella Waste. I was in the legislature when Gov. Baldacci, in the name of jobs, took over the Georgia Pacific landfill and turned it over to Casella. Now Casella has a sweet deal with the University of Maine and wants to have Juniper Ridge transferred to them as part of our deal to get rid of our incinerator.
Sen. Hobbins and the entire Biddeford delegation has failed us miserably. We have been taking in waste from 33 other communities, and out-of-state waste on a daily basis. Our lungs are the new landfills and I know what it is to fight the good fight. In the end it is about money and not pollution, it is about dioxin, furans, heavy metals and lead. It is about polluting our water aquifers. I care and want you to know that I will never agree to pollute another part of Maine in order to make my community better. We are all in this together.
Janne Twomey
Biddeford
Animal control officer deserves kudos
Regarding the April 11 article about the Franklin family that wants its dogs back, the obvious question that remains unanswered is why the original owners abandoned their efforts to find them after only a few half-hearted attempts and why they did not make a timely call to the Small Animal Clinic. Now after six months have transpired and they discover the dogs are alive and well they think they deserve them back.
The story, particularly as it refers to the animal control officer Marie Zwicker, infers that she failed to properly perform her duties, when in fact she went above and beyond the call when she followed up after delivering them to the clinic by arranging for their transfer to the Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue in Massachusetts, thus avoiding the potential necessity of the clinic having to euthanize the dogs after keeping them for the statutory time limit. This was a voluntary action by her and she deserves accolades rather than criticism for this action.
The job of animal control officer is a tough one. One deals with all sorts of people and situations, from outright cruel perpetrators to careless and neglectful owners and severely injured animals both domestic and wild. They are the unsung heroes of our communities — grossly underpaid, on call 24/7. Many spend money unreimbursed in performing their daily duties. It takes special person to undertake this job and Marie Zwicker is undeniably the best.
Paul S. Von Till
Hancock
This is the second event recently, where dogs are not reunited with owners.
Perhaps dog owners should be more responsible in taking care of their pets.
I have a dog that, I have to watch like a hawk . that being said once in awhile he gets away from us.
I too have a dog, and we invested in a petsafe shock collar that allows him a certain range around the house. Once he was conditioned to it the batteries can die and he still wont leave the zone.
Shocking your dog is more responsible? Maybe you should try wearing it “until the batteries die” and see how responsible you feel then?
Problem with shock collars, invisible fences, etc…it conditions the dog to view people, animals as causing the shock, not the collar. In other words, some dogs become aggressive BECAUSE of the shock collar.
There’s plenty of blame to go around where the dogs are concerned. In my opinion the AC Officer should have made those phone calls and was lax in her duty to the public & the dogs. By the same token I think the owners should have put more effort into finding their beloved pets. They should have made daily calls to all the shelters in their area as well as to the AC officer, the police etc. They need to look in the mirror when they’re busy pointing fingers. Happily it sounds like the dogs are in a good home now. Perhaps all will learn from this.
Defending Zwicker is risky business, sir- she is not a well liked person in this area at this time. For you to say she went above and beyond, I find highly offensive since NO- she did not! She could have found the owners within an hour had she tried or cared enough to put in a little effort. Hopefully these people get their dogs back and soon!