Dear Editor,
I am very disturbed by the pit bull attack, on 11-year old Christianburg Primary School pupil, Daquan Gordon. He was recently mauled by two pit bulls, and now the matter has been settled at the Christianburg Magistrate’s Court in Linden. The end result is that there was some form of monetary compensation and the two dogs will be put down humanely (maybe the latter has happened already). Now I have problems with this kind of thing.
Let me first state that a criminal act is far more than something personal. The owner of this dog must be made to realize, that even though he was compassionate, his inability to safely keep his dangerous animals must be attended to. Too many people have untended animals of all descriptions, and some are not just dangerous, but are also quite disruptive.
On our roadways, it makes no sense to only catch and impound animals, and then just have a fee exacted from the owners. These owners must be dealt with in a more serious manner. If they do not have adequate facilities, then they must be made to come up to that level. If not, the problem of animals on our roadways will never leave us.
I also have been hearing a lot of bad stories about how animal owners, caught in the act of having their animals untended, bribe their way out. In some cases, they have cried foul, as they lost a sheep or goat (at the station), or were asked to give one or two.
I suggest that this animal-on-the road problem be looked at from the angle of really prosecuting the actual owners. I also think that strays, such as cats and dogs, should be humanely put away. They make for a very unhealthy environment.
Yours faithfully,
Matt Singh
