Letters for July 8, 2004

I am responding to all the people who are saying we don’t need dog parks. I couldn’t believe what people were saying about dogs. Scavengers! Oh, please! Like cats aren’t scavengers! How about rats, mice and birds? Birds make more of a mess than dogs. I actually went to a dog park with my dog. I was happy to have a place for my dog that had no cars, so I didn’t have to worry about her getting hit. For those people who hate dogs, I feel sorry for you, because dogs have been our companions and our protectors. They helped us hunt for game, herd and protect our livestock. They also have been the children for couples who couldn’t have children of their own.

Trina Cooper
via e-mail

People who need animals
Re “Park your dog” (RN&R, Letters, June 17):

I don’t believe Darin Reed understands Reno. Parks are supposed to be ugly in Dog City, U.S.A. I just came back from a month sojourn in Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. Those familiar with my hometown kept asking me why Reno is the Dog Capital of America. As a semi-retired allergist, I know most of the pitfalls of having a dog, but, in a city where people are very isolated and alienated, about the only people walking in the suburbs have a dog. If they didn’t have dogs, they would probably never walk in Car City, U.S.A.

Darin Reed has to come to terms that the parks here are ugly. This isn’t Portland, Ore., or Atlanta, cities with immaculate parks where people jog and meet socially. My two ex-wives sleep with their dogs. While some would find such behavior repugnant and unhealthy, Renoites see it as normal. The bottom line is that people can’t survive here without pets.

I suggest that Darin Reed consider a more sophisticated city where people can function without “scavenger animals.” In some cultures, people need people. In Reno, people need their dogs. The RN&R should really do an article on why Reno is known internationally as Dog City, U.S.A. Dogs will never reject you. With people, you just don’t know what to expect. If I were a dog, I’d be in heaven living in Reno where I could have total freedom. Americans are inherently lonely people. Most have been divorced. Cut them some slack, and let them have man and women’s best friend.

name withheld
Reno

Your vote matters
In a recent Business Week article titled “Does your vote matter?” it turns out that if you live in the state of Nevada, it does. There are 17 so-called “battleground states,” states that will likely decide who the next president of the United States will be. Of these, Nevada ranks fifth in importance. Regardless of whether you’re a Kerry or Bush supporter, feel empowered. Your vote really does matter. Millions have sacrificed for suffrage, and it’s insulting to their struggle when less than half of the populace votes. Voting is a responsibility, not a privilege. Nowhere is this responsibility more important than in the “battleground.”

Jeff Robertson
Las Vegas

I want the facts
I am completely appalled and upset about the fact that there are so many things happening in our country and abroad that our people are being censored from. Why is it that in a “free” country such as ours, that the government’s current administration can dictate what the media will show and exclude? Other countries have a much clearer picture because they have been truthfully informed.

I want to know the truth about what is happening in Iraq, the harm that our troops are causing to the innocent victims and what is really happening to our troops in return. I want to see the dead honored when they come home, not hidden away with funerals censored. I want to see true accountability for what is taking place in our name.

Diane Longoria-Howard
Reno

Who’s right?
On June 16, the 9/11 Commission reported that Saddam Hussein had absolutely nothing to do with the horrific massacre of Sept. 11, 2001. Right away, Vice President Richard Cheney said, “I know that Saddam was involved.” And then, like an echo, President George W. Bush said, “I know that Saddam was involved.”

They want us to believe that they are never wrong, but I have reached the conclusion that they are never right.

Brad MacKenzie
Reno