Letters and Comments for January 29, 2010

Sutor, Bayly

Lies can ruin a life

To the Editor:

I know that all parents like to think their kids are perfect or at least close, but you are not with your kids all the time. You can only do so much and then the rest is up to our kids.

But what we tend to forget is what happens to others when you don’t tell the whole truth about something that happened.

Parents, please, take the time to tell your children how silly little lies can ruin a person’s life or even make them commit suicide. And when their friends will lie for them, it makes it even worse. If you didn’t see it, don’t say you did.

Even if your friends get mad at you, then they weren’t your friends to begin with. This can cause all sorts of mental damage to the person accused and their family.

So please, take the time to talk to your children no matter what age about what can happen when a lie goes too far and let them know what can happen to the other person.

Maybe they didn’t want the parent to be mad at them for what they did and had to say something else to defend themselves, but it still puts damage on the other person.

Don’t listen to hearsay — try to find the whole truth before passing judgment. It is not always as it seems.

Get the facts and go from there. Then, if it’s true, the person will face the punishment, and when you live in a small town, stories aren’t all going to be the same by the time it goes around.

D. Sutor

Union

Ban leg-hold traps, snares

To the Editor:

There has been considerable discussion recently in the letters section regarding the pros and cons of fur trapping in Oregon.

The pros assure us that we are protected from the dangers of small fur bearers and ask that we try to co-exist with their activities, maybe as in “Live and let live?”

Meanwhile the cons warn of pets being caught as a result of irresponsible trap placement and advise that detailed instructions for pet release are available at local humane societies and pet shelters.

Neither perspective addresses what seems to be the central issue. This is the suffering endured by the trapped animal during the interval between its being caught in a steel trap and being “harvested” by the trapper.

Both our state neighbors, to the north and south, have banned trapping with leg-hold traps and snares. Colorado and Arizona have also done so as well as a number of other states.

Perhaps it is time for Oregon to consider this solution to the matter.

Ed Bayly

Cove