Letters from the Issue of May 28, 2009

First Came the Greyhounds

Balanced: Michael J. Mooney's May 21 story "Track Star" was incredible. You had me in tears. You were so good about showing both sides of the story. And if it does upset the industry, I'm fine with that! Please kiss Jailamony for me. (But I still wish you had changed her name!) Hope all your feedback recognizes how well you handled a very difficult subject. Love, peace, and greyhounds.

Michelle Weaver

Friends of Greyhounds

Sunrise

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Hopeful: I've been a greyhound owner for nine years. My beloved Picoola is now 13 years old. Even to this day, being retired for nine years, she still has trouble with stairs. She didn't really have a cool name — "Punky Sally" — when I got her, so I changed it. I like "Jailamony," though. It's got character. I'm glad you included the thread about the dogs getting treated nicely at one kennel. My dog was from a good kennel, and from what I heard, she was one of the best dogs there. I know the horror stories exist, but being an optimist, I just don't like to think about them. Thanks again for your story; let's hope some more greyhounds will get adopted because of it.

Miguel Rionda

North Miami

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Then Came the Pit Bulls

Activist: I just wanted to let you know that I thought Tim Elfrink's May 21 story "Dog Fight" was great! Finally someone has stood up for these poor dogs and is fighting back against the county! I plan on trying to get involved myself with this and I have already started to spread the word. Keep up the amazing work!

Veronica

Miami

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Disgusted: Bad dogs are created by bad owners. If there wasn't a lame, stupidly macho, gangster-obsessed subculture of dog owners that takes pit bull puppies, throws chains and weights around their necks in order to "bulk them up," starves them to make them more aggressive, forces them to fight, and then chains them in yards as "guard dogs," this wouldn't be an issue. Poor pit bulls are victims of a bad reputation that is completely manufactured by man.

The dog who attacked Melissa Moreira was probably abused, neglected, and desperate, and was made into a monster by his owner, who had violently romanticized notions of what pit bulls are supposed to be like. Go ahead and give this same treatment to a golden retriever and see how many people it attacks.

The fact that Miami-Dade County has killed 1,800 pit bulls under Sara Pizano is appalling and disgusting.

Kara Weber

Coconut Grove

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Anne Frank fan: I am a pit bull owner and proud! These are the most intelligent, loyal, loving, and sensitive of many breeds. I would not own any other kind of dog. I think ignorance should be banned, not pit bulls. Any dog that is starved and trained to fight, will. And little dogs bite and growl without the training. Pit bulls are just so loyal to their masters and intelligent that if they are taught something, they follow through. Which is great because I have taught my dog to be friendly and loving. Fortunately he already was. The ignorant, unintelligent people who think otherwise are horrible, immoral, uncompassionate people who never spent time around anything short of a Chihuahua (which I might add are ferocious and should be banned). If we ban one breed, what breed is next? It is only a matter of time. We live in the USA — a land of mixture and freedom where we can all live as one... except pit bulls. That sounds logical. I hope I offended everyone who is for this ban, and I hope you one day get the opportunity to meet a sweet dog like mine so you can see how ignorant you have been. But you probably will not... because you are all in hiding, living like Anne Frank, victims of a pit bull holocaust in Miami-Dade.

Melissa

Miami Beach

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A sane mommy: Thank you, Dahlia Canes! Do these officials ever think it's not the breed but the actual owners that make certain animals — for lack of a better word — pissed? Hey, if I was chained up all day, not given food and water and just not being loved, I would probably go crazy too! I have a pit bull, which is my baby, and I can never imagine having another dog. I do fear having stupid law enforcers come up to me and try to take him away. Luckily, I have papers that say he is not a pit. And what kind of test is it? His eyes are far apart? Get real. Start concerning yourself with the real crimes in Miami-Dade and neighborhoods where our children are becoming lost.

Kitzie

Miami