Letters To The Editor

CORRECTION: Letters; April 30, 1996 The Monday Roundtable letter “A pity Charlie couldn’t file appeal” was written by Susan Price of Spokane. The name that appeared beneath the letter was incorrect.

SPOKANE MATTERS

Got lemons? Make lemonade

Ferris High School Science Olympiad competitors have every right to feel disappointed with the outcome of the competition. They’re certainly being encouraged to feel that way.

The April 20 Spokesman-Review editorial succinctly expressed the message communicated to the students. “Adults they trusted to be competent screwed up - big time - and the student paid the emotional price.” The editorial suggests Ferris “demand some changes be made in the Science Olympiad to prevent a similar mistake in the future.”

Life is full of surprises. We can choose to react to disappointments with anger and resentment. Or we can resolve to find something to appreciate in everything that happens to us.

Lee Atwater had become the most powerful political strategist in the country when he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Only then did he recognize the cynicism that pervaded his life, where “winning wasn’t everything, it was the only thing.” Atwater described the condition as “a cancer of the soul,” which he felt was pervasive in America. I fear this condition has become so ingrained in our culture that we no longer recognize its symptoms.

The Ferris students and officials could write to Olympiad organizers to thank them for the hard work volunteers put into making the event possible, and forgive them for an honest mistake. They could volunteer to help analyze how scoring could be improved. They could send a congratulatory letter to the Toledo competitors - with the first-place trophy.

This situation could be an opportunity to build something our society seems to be losing touch with: character. Chuck Zahara Spokane

Daughters of the Nile helping, too

Thank you for the wonderful front page article and picture April 21 (“Helping kids get on feet”) regarding the Spokane Shriners Hospital.

We should all be very proud of the work this group of compassionate men does for handicapped children, without any expense to parents or their insurance companies. I believe it is one of the most generous offerings made to our community.

I would like to tell you about another organization that works diligently to help the Shriners meet their goals. This organization, Daughters of the Nile, is composed of wives, mothers, daughters and sisters of Shriners. These dedicated ladies, throughout the United States and Canada, volunteer thousands of hours in Shriners Hospital outpatient clinics and many more hours sewing and mending articles and clothing used in the hospitals.

The ladies raise millions of dollars each year that go to all Shriners Hospitals through their national Supreme organization. Locally, our ladies also buy books and toys for the kids and provide party favors for each holiday.

We enjoy helping our husbands, fathers, sons and brothers in their philanthropy. I am proud to be a Daughter of the Nile. Vonna Vails Spokane

Paying more and getting less

Last week I drove to the coast. I bought gasoline at Marysville for $1.29 and the roads and streets were very good. I bought gas again at Hoquiam for $1.29 and the roads and streets were very good. Wednesday morning I bought gas in Yakima for $1.24 and the roads were very good.

I was back in Spokane by early afternoon. Gas was $1.39 and I’ve been trying to dodge the chuck holes ever since.

How come we have such bad streets when our gasoline here is 10 to 15 cents higher? Where is the money going? H.B. Clark Veradale

SAFETY

Go fly a kite - away from power lines

This is for all ignorant individuals who insist on flying kites without using proper precautions. It is especially for the man I saw the other day, flying his kite from his front yard, right above the power lines, while his children watched. I wanted so bad to stop and scream at him, but couldn’t. Instead, I hope this letter will make a difference.

When I see people flying kites in such a way I relive the day 12 years ago when my husband of only 11 months left me widowed and nine months pregnant with our first child. Two weeks later, I was a widowed, single mom at age 20.

Now, I live with a son who aches every day for a father he never had the chance to see or get to know. It has not been an easy road, but what makes it even harder is seeing other people being just as stupid. I loved my husband dearly, and for some reason it was his time to go, but he was being irresponsible. I wish he had not died so suddenly. Electrocution does not allow for any goodbyes. It is not a nice thing, watching someone die this way, either.

Please, all you kite flyers out there, use the proper precautions when flying your kite. A simple drive somewhere could make all the difference in the world. Go someplace where there are no power lines! Don’t let another child be left parentless from such a silly and unnecessary mistake. Mary J. Nieder Spokane

Hikers, use the buddy system

As I read of Sandpoint artist Stephen Lyman, who died while hiking in Yosemite, it brought back the pain, grief and waiting for news we experienced as a family in September 1994. Our son Richard, 39, was lost while hiking alone at Artist Point. He has never been found.

We have just returned from Bellingham, to inquire of the sheriff’s department if the search goes on. The answer was yes, but at present there is 15 feet of snow in that area. With summer approaching and the hiking seasons in full swing, we would like to caution people not to hike alone but to have a partner or buddy. It may save your life or pinpoint your whereabouts in case of an accident. Joyce Castillo Spokane

COUGAR INCIDENT

A pity Charlie couldn’t file appeal

I was extremely upset upon reading of Charlie the cougar’s murder. We have again shown the human race to be irresponsible and stupid when it comes to dealing with animals, especially wild ones. What is the purpose of owning a large game cat?

What could possibly be the benefit for the owner, or for the animal? Domestic animals are given the choice to live with humans or allowed the freedom of roaming at will among humans. Charlie was not given that choice. As far as I can see, there was no benefit to Charlie in being owned.

If Randy McGlenn loved Charlie, he would have better served him by not owning him at all, but letting him be the wild animal he was in his natural setting.

McGlenn showed a definite lack of judgment every time he let a perfect stranger pet Charlie. Both he and Kannon Langley’s father showed a major lack of common sense in letting the boy pet Charlie unsupervised.

Where was the mercy we show for human animals, such as murderers and rapists, when it was Charlie on death row? Why was he not allowed to appeal again and again at the taxpayers’ expense, for that so-called mercy?

County Commissioner Steve Hasson is right to call for a ban on exotic pet ownership, not because they are dangerous to humans but because we are dangerous to them. We care more for the dregs of humanity, than for one beautiful, wild, regal cougar named Charlie. We should be ashamed. Donna Allbrook Spokane

What an all-around tragedy

Charlie had to pay with his life because of the ignorance of man; not to mention the suffering a trusting, little child had to undergo.

Did the owner give the child permission to pet the cougar, or was the child unsupervised? No matter; a stranger does not invade the space of a wild cat no matter how long the cat has been in captivity.

I question the reasons why people need to own wild cats. Did they rescue an injured cat or an abandoned cub? Or is the owner on an ego trip? He can have the biggest, baddest pet on the block. What about the quality of life for the creature? Some people truly love their animals, but financially are not prepared to offer a quality habitat for up to 20 years.

What about the rabies issue? It’s not as simple as in domesticated animals. Rabies could be present with no visible signs. And regular rabies vaccines aren’t guaranteed in wild animals.

Bite victims can’t be forced to undergo immediate treatment for rabies that consists of several shots. This would have been the noble sacrifice to make. If it had been made, maybe Charlie would have been allowed to live. Otherwise, a brain biopsy was needed to be sure about rabies. What a waste! Maryanne Wood Spokane

‘Human foolishness’ proves deadly

Charlie the cougar did not deserve to be killed. Charlie’s owner should not have kept a wild animal as a pet. The boy’s father should not have encouraged him to pet Charlie. After Charlie bit the boys’ hand, the father should not have insisted that Charlie be killed.

If the father really was concerned about the possibility of rabies, the boy should have undergone the series of rabies shots, which may have been uncomfortable but not nearly as severe as killing Charlie.

Under the circumstances it was extremely unlikely that Charlie had rabies. There is no law that requires an animal to be killed if there is no prior indication of rabies.

Charlie was killed through no fault of his own but rather the result of human foolishness, both on the part of Charlie’s owner and the boy’s father. Ed Bittner Sagle, Idaho

‘Animals better than most people’

I’m so upset that it’s hard for me to write on the subject of Charlie the pet cougar.

When the boy’s father went to the home of the pet cougar on business, he should have kept a close watch of his sons. Or better yet, should not have taken them with him.

The boy’s parents say it’s too traumatic to have the rabies shots. Well, what about Charlie’s owners? How do you think they must feel by now to know their pet cougar was killed for nothing? Think about that.

Yes, I’m an animal lover. Animals are better than most people I know. Phyllis Pease Spokane

What about adults’ brain tissue?

Re: the cougar attack on the 5-year-old in the Valley.

Now health officials have destroyed the animal to test its brain tissue for rabies.

Randy McGlenn had no business trying to make a pet of a wild animal. It always amazes me that people are surprised when hurt by these wild, so-called pets. Unfortunately, it’s the animals that pay the price for people’s ignorance.

A series of rabies shots these days is no more painful than childhood immunizations are.

Kevin Langley let his children go over and pet the cougar? I think it’s McGlenn’s and Langley’s brain tissue that needs to be examined. Bonnie J. Stimson Medical Lake

Health authorities erred

I don’t see how health authorities thought they had the right to order Randy McGlenn’s pet cougar to be destroyed. The cougar was in his own pen on McGlenn’s property. Anyone with any sense does not put their had in a cougar’s cage, let alone allow a child to do so.

It would have been different if the cougar were running loose. After all, McGlenn has some rights. Gwen Ruegsegger Otis Orchards

What price temporary trauma? A life

It’s upsetting that a cougar is kept as a pet when it shouldn’t be.

The cat’s life could have been spared had it been in the wild, where it should have been. What I read today made me so angry, I just had to write.

Last week a little boy was bitten by the cougar because he stuck his hand in its cage. The cougar had to be euthanized to be tested for rabies. I couldn’t argue with this because it came down to the boy’s life or the cat’s life. But as I read today, I was mistaken: the animal could have been spared if the boy’s parents had chosen to put him through treatment. They decided the series of shots would have been too traumatic for the boy.

The trauma of a few shots would have been forgotten after a while, but instead a cougar is dead. All the cougar was doing was protecting his measly territory (a cage). It just doesn’t seem fair. Douglas A. Peterson Moses Lake

‘Everybody loses’

I am saddened and angered that a parent’s thoughtless act has cost the life of a beautiful animal.

What kind of parent assumes it safe to let a 3-year-old child reach out and pet an animal that can be so unpredictable? Simply observing the cougar would have been adequate, and would have avoided this unfortunate situation.

Giving a small child permission to pet this animal was about as safe as letting him cross a busy street alone. Instead of children getting the opportunity to observe an exotic animal and learn from its behavior in captivity, we are left with only an empty cage and a cougar who met his demise due to the poor judgment of others. Everybody loses. Johnna Albrecht Veradale

Father deserves censure

I was saddened and appalled when I learned that Charlie the cougar had been executed. Numerous phone calls to the agencies involved shed no light on the question of legal, statutory authority for the decision to give the power of life or death over that magnificent being to the very person who was responsible for creating the situation.

The father of the injured child deserves the same torrent of criticism as was rained on the father of little Jessica Dubroff. Both the “owner” of the wild cat and the child’s father might examine their motives for the need to have power over a wild, innocent creature.

While living in Kenya I had an almost identical experience with a young African lion. Though the pain delivered by the lion’s jaws closing on my hand was excruciating, I accepted full responsibility for my decision to ty to pet the big cat, and would not have dreamed of harming it in any way. I have no residue of the incident except the memory.

I don’t believe that the danger of rabies was a rational or realistic fear in this case; that makes the needless killing a true tragedy. So on one point I must agree with County Commissioner Steve Hasson: our cities are not fit habitat for such awesome animals.

But will we continue to expand these centers of human population into the homes of our fellow creatures? Eleanor Richel Sagle, Idaho

OTHER TOPICS

Anything that’s not nailed down

We have had a lot of things stolen from us, but never before have we had a garbage can stolen. What kind of a lowlife steals a garbage can?

Whoever it was took the can, garbage and all, a few weeks ago. We were irritated at this loss, but to add insult to injury we received an anonymous phone message threatening to take retaliation if we throw our garbage in Hamblin Park again.

The “detectives” made some wrong assumptions. If we were going to dump our garbage somewhere, we certainly would take out all the junk mail so we would not be found out. Things are not always as they seem. Dana and Susan Cowger Spokane

Eye for an eye won’t do

In answer to P.G. Wilson’s letter (“Israelis add to a shameful record,” Letters, April 21), I am willing to help break the silence on the old-as-history sin of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”

Prime Minister Shimon Peres excused the terrorist bombing of refugees in Palestine as an effort to find the enemy hiding behind the innocent. Nothing new.

Initially, the people of Israel received the Ten Commandments, which are relevant today. They are natural law, written in our hearts. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is an easy way to remember them.

Why not teach this truth to our little ones with their ABCs? Jack Wilson Spokane