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Mailbag: How about leashes for cats?

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I have read recent columns and letters on dogs, and leashing them, with interest (“Keep your dogs safe — on a leash,” In the Pipeline, Feb. 24; “Rude dog owners flout the law,” Sounding Off, March 10). I agree with the goal of preventing people’s dogs from harming others, although I think those with a chip on their shoulder about “killer dogs” might be best off staying indoors to avoid the panoply of more-serious threats they face. And I, as a dog owner, resoundingly support the edict to “clean up after your dog” (and occasionally others’) to make up for things you may have missed.

However, if avoiding feces and injury or death to other creatures is an objective, we must consider leashes for cats when they are outdoors. Cats regularly attack birds and are decimating the songbird population of the U.S.

If foul conditions are a concern, we need to consider cats as well. Cats leave feces barely — or not at all — buried in the yards of people who do not have cats. Cats “spray” foul-smelling liquids all over people’s property. And cat owners do not wish to be responsible for their pets’ behavior.

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If these public safety issues are truly a concern, rather than an effort to vent frustration or something, they should be addressed as: 1) Define a problem worth attention; 2) Find causes; 3) Devise rules/regulations to deal with the problem.

The column and letter I saw seemed to consist of: 1) Find something you can say bothers you; 2) Find a rule/regulation to say is being “flouted”, 3) Complain about it. Not very constructive

If these so-called “concerns” are real, we should find out how bad the issue is, find out the contributors and devise corrective actions. Your columnist should step up and immediately demand control of cats — that would even fit into his “what can I complain about today” rubric.

But dog and cat owners should clean up after their pets and have them spayed if they are befouling neighbors’ property.

Henry Kerfoot

Huntington Beach

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Plan not a danger for bats

Regarding “More like a ‘heart attack for the mesa,’” Natural Perspectives, Feb. 10:

Although numerous distortions and untruths are stated in this column, I must take exception to the commentary on bat deaths that would be caused by Community Promoted Restoration for the Mesa’s use of on-site wind turbines for electricity generation. Lou Murray’s claim is entirely false.

Bat deaths from wind turbines, as implied in the column, are totally related to the turbulence at the tips of the large rotor blades of horizontal-axis wind generators. The project will use vertical-axis helical Savonius rotor wind generators specifically chosen to avoid bird and bat deaths and injuries. This type of wind generator is used in quite a number of dedicated habitat areas, ecological reserves and national forests and parks in the U.S. and abroad. A minimum of research and reading of the CPR plans would have made this obvious to Murray.

Furthermore, wind generation has the least ecological and environmental impacts of any method of generation including photovoltaic (solar) cells and panels. This is well known to true environmentalists.

Though a newspaper publisher is not directly responsible for the information and opinions printed in a “column,” it does have responsibility to its readership to maintain factual accuracy — including that of its columnists.

David Hamilton

Huntington Beach

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HB overdue for skate park

Time to get real. Huntington Beach would benefit greatly by having its own local skate park (“Developer challenges skate plans,” Jan. 27)! My son, now 8 years old, spent many of his early years learning at the skate park at Huntington Beach High School, which was torn down.

The park at Murdy was engineered so horribly, no one can skate it! We have to go to Costa Mesa, Lake Forest or Orange to go to a skate park. Having a child who skates — quite well, I must say — I can tell you there is a very large community of children in need of a local park. We live in Surf City. Why not accommodate the “sidewalk surfers” and spread the joy? I totally support a skate park in HB.

Martha Hope

Huntington Beach

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