We welcome letters, but please include your
full name, address, and daytime telephone number. We edit all
letters for libel, length, and clarity. Send letters to Letters, Illinois Times, P.O.
Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com. TO BE POOR AND SICK Through a series of events, at age 49, I am
in that category that Joan Villa describes as below the poverty
line [“State of the poor,” Feb. 2]. This year I was
diagnosed with breast cancer and in some ironic way I was lucky. If you have
breast cancer there is an Illinois treatment-specific,
government-funded program that pays for just about all medical
expenses for women with breast cancer. If that program was not out
there, I literally would be dying. The cancer, which at first
barely indicated a need for further (and very expensive) testing,
turned out to be deadly and invasive. I was able to proceed with
these tests thanks to a coordinated effort of local programs. I am very grateful that the funding was there
for this type
of cancer and for Capitol Community Health care, Logan County
Breast and Cervical Program, and the Illinois treatment-specific
program. With these programs women do have some hope, as long as
the funding is there. I feel sad and frightened for anyone below
the poverty line who has a life-threatening illness that is not
covered by this program. For them, they must literally choose
between living or being haunted by a series of massive medical
bills, as well as being denied access to drugs that could save
their lives. That is a very harsh statement about the state of our
Union. We did it for breast cancer; why not for other
life-threatening illness? Name withheld by request Springfield LET’S BAN BASEBALL BATS In the midst of your story about dangerous
dogs in Springfield, there was a sidebar that stated: “The
Humane Society, the ASPCA, and a host of other experts say that pit
bulls, rottweilers, German shepherds and similar large dogs get a
bad rap. Judge the deed, not the breed, they say.” The reply
to this was: “However, records at the Sangamon County Animal
Control Shelter show that toy poodles aren’t the ones getting
in trouble” [see Bruce Rushton, “A dog’s
life,” Feb. 2]. That reply was misguided, downright
irresponsible, and obviously intended to elicit an erroneous
conclusion. The reader is supposed to look at the statistics given
and conclude that certain breeds of dogs are more aggressive and
dangerous than others. The human element of the problem
doesn’t warrant mention in the sidebar.
Sure, toy poodles aren’t getting in
trouble. The thing is, I doubt very seriously that people are
buying toy poodles and training them to guard their property. I
doubt that people are training Pomeranians to attack people.
Furthermore, I doubt that actual attacks by small dogs such as toy
poodles and the like are reported. Just about anyone can tell you
that small dogs are just as likely to bite or act aggressively
toward humans. Also, how can a pit bull or a rottweiler be
held responsible for what its owner trained it to do? For some
reason, dogs and guns are the only things held to that standard.
Someone gets attacked by a pit bull, they blame the dog instead of
the owner that trained it. Someone gets shot, they blame the gun
that was fired by the owner. Strange, isn’t it? You
don’t see anyone outlawing baseball bats, even though
they’re used to kill people all the time. Once again we’re blaming the wrong ones for
the problem. Illinois Times would have been better off doing a story on the owners of the dogs that
have attacked people. They’re the ones responsible for the
dogs’ behavior, whether it’s by actual training or how they
treated the dog. Kevin Johnson Chatham RESPONSIBLE DOG OWNERSHIP As a proud “pit bull of some
sorts” owner, I read with interest the articles by Bruce
Rushton about Lucky, Muddy, Brandy, and Blackie. His writings told a behind-the-scenes story
about how our laws are quite lax and there seems to be no
accountability of the dogs and, most important, the owners of these
dogs. The stories about Muddy, the rottweiler that attacked Brandy,
are just prime examples of what happens when these dogs are not
properly trained and socialized with the community and their
surroundings. I also appreciated Lucky’s viewpoint, but he,
too, is a victim of circumstances. I hope that the community does
not have the impression that rottweilers and pit bulls are vicious
dogs. They are not. The dogs in the stories are merely puppets in
the lame world of poor dog ownership. These dogs ultimately may pay
the price. Until dog owners own up to being responsible
about dog ownership, we will continue to have these ongoing
problems. Breed-specific legislation is not the answer. That idea
is just as bad as outlawing handguns. All dogs are capable of
attacking and biting people and animals, period. I was shocked to
read that basically if a dog bites or kills, nothing is done. I
agree that a dog who attacks a person or pet without provocation
should be put down. I do believe that those persons who have been
attacked and or bitten and their pets maimed or killed should be
compensated. Dog owners, ask yourself: Does my dog show
aggression toward people and animals? Does my dog ignore my
commands when off-leash? Does my dog think that it is the alpha in
our family? If you answered yes to any of these, you have a problem
on your hands. Lon Penman Springfield VICIOUS DOGS NEAR SCHOOL After reading the article “A
dog’s life,” I was deeply disturbed by the fact
that Lucky, a vicious dog, could be so close to children. Another
potentially dangerous situation exists near the Springfield public
school my son attends, located on South Lincoln Street. Adjacent to
the schoolyard is a house where dogs are raised to fight. My
son has reported seeing the owner taunt the dogs by putting on a
leather wrist strap and lunging at them until they bite. The owner
often hangs a dummy dog by a rope on a tree and drops it low enough for
the dog to attack it viciously. The dogs even run free in front of the
school, held back only by a weight they are forced to pull by the chain
on their necks. All of this is occurring while the students are outside playing merely 5 feet away. How is it that we can keep drug dealers
hundreds of feet away from our children’s schools but an
animal that could cause severe injuries or potentially a
child’s death can live right next door? Name withheld by request Springfield BYBEE IS FINE BY ME I truly enjoy Doug Bybee’s column in Illinois Times [see
“Good Poet! Bad Poet!” Feb. 2]. His writing is just
wonderful, and I like his sense of humor. Keep writing, and
I’ll keep reading. Judy Burgess Springfield TWO BILLS WITH SAME GOAL There are two bills currently in the
Legislature that would convert vendor positions for registered
nurses in the Illinois Department of Corrections to state
positions. The bills are SB 2237 in the Senate and HB 4291 in the
House. What these bills would do, when passed and signed, would
convert those positions currently held contract companies to state
positions. Currently vendor nurses are not required to
have as much experience as they would need to have if they applied
for state employment. Also, these vendor nurses are held to a lower
standard by their employers than current state nurses are.
Additionally, the turnover rate for these vendor nurses is much
higher than that of state nurses, and often positions go unfilled
for long periods of time, creating unsafe situations due to
understaffing. With the use of vendors, the contracts are up
for bids every so often. Also, as we saw not so long ago in the
case of one company that had a contract with the state, the state
can cancel the contract for nonperformance. I would encourage any vendor nurses out there
who work for a vendor at any of the IDOC facilities to contact your
legislators and ask them to support these two very important pieces
of legislation. With state service there is a little better chance
of job security and pretty good benefits. Joseph P. Williams, R.N. Buffalo
This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2006.
