Pennsylvania: A bad place to be an animal
When the Pennsylvania legislature returns to session this fall, our state representatives will have the opportunity to pass House Bill 1750, which will, finally, outlaw the barbaric practice of killing pigeons for sport.
Pennsylvania is the only state in the union that allows live pigeon shoots. Hundreds of these birds are caged and left to get hungry and dehydrated to the point of becoming completely disoriented. When released from their cages, they fly around frantically while hunters shoot them down for entertainment.
Sometimes, mercifully, they die instantly, however, in other cases they are only maimed and left to suffer a painful and prolonged death.
The Women’s Humane Society has been actively lobbying state representatives to ban live pigeon shoots since 1883. Anytime a sympathetic legislator introduced a bill to end this heinous sport it was defeated. This year, we have an opportunity and an obligation to finally make live pigeon shoots illegal.
House Bill 1750 also proposes to make the human consumption of dogs and cats illegal. It’s fairly safe to say most human beings in our culture abhor the thought of eating a cat or dog and, at the very least, consider it immoral.
Most of us would agree that animals enrich our lives. Scientific studies have shown people who have pets are happier and seem to live longer. But, in Pennsylvania, animals are considered property. Can you imagine being loved or greeted at your door by a piece of property? And, yet, we still kill pigeons for sport and are permitted to eat dogs and cats.
The Women’s Humane Society does not have an opinion on gun ownership or the constitutional right to bear arms. We do, however, object to any form of animal abuse or cruelty regardless of how it is inflicted.
We hope your readers will stand with the Women’s Humane Society in our plea to lawmakers in Pennsylvania to pass House Bill 1750 before any more animals are senselessly killed.
Caroline Unger
The Women’s Humane Society
Decriminalizing pot is wrong
Philadelphia is about to take the risky step of “decriminalizing” marijuana. The fines will be so small, that everyone knows the city won’t even bother to collect them. There will be no deterrent. Soon, the drug may be everywhere. This is coming at a time when City Council has banned smoking tobacco cigarettes even while walking in a park. Talk about misplaced priorities.
Today’s marijuana is mostly synthetic, and much more potent than the “hippie” stuff smoked in the 1960s. The drug has been proven to damage brain function, and even reduce IQ It can be a gateway to other drugs. Why encourage it?
As for enforcement — ha! How do police respond to a suspicious driver? You can’t do a breathalyzer test for marijuana — you need to take blood. Will cops be tied up sending hundreds of drivers to hospitals for tests?
Our city has enough bad behavior — nuisance bars, disorderly conduct, public lewdness. Just imagine 100,000 Philadelphians using marijuana for recreation, and what that will do to safety in our public places, highways and our schools.
Richard Iaconelli
Rhawnhurst
Political ads are useless
Do the political ads for governor really mean anything about our current or future concerns?
Who really cares if Wolf gives his employees shares of his company’s profits? Do we get any of it? Do you think he’ll continue to drive his own vehicle if elected governor?
Gov. Corbett now wants us to know the “truth” about education funding under his administration. Do we really care if the numbers without the “stimulus” money are slightly higher than under the previous administration?
During the three-plus years of Corbett’s administration, all we see is our real estate taxes going up, school employees being laid off and our children doing without.
Mayer Krain
Modena Park
