The Editor,
Re: "Raccoons attack dog," News, July 27; "Salaries rising too high," Editorial, July 27; "Poverty needs to end," Opinion, July 27; "Addicts need housing, too," Letters, July 27; "Where is the local traffic enforcement?" Letters, July 27, "Don't build on Terra Nova Park," Letters, July 27.
Aargh, by the GODDS! The Wednesday issue of the News gave us some chuckles.
Not that we aren't sympathetic to the sad pet owners who have had their cats eaten or dogs attacked by desperate raccoons; we are animal lovers, too.
However, conflicts with wildlife (raccoons, coyotes, skunks, bunnies, snow geese, bikers, fishermen, etc.) have existed since our own species overpopulated this rich mound in the Fraser River, on the banks of the Salish Sea.
As your front page report, editorial, Choice Words column, and readers' letters all illustrate, city hall cannot even manage the poverty, addiction, traffic dangers, or overdevelopment here.
So, come on, cat owners - wondering if the "City of Richmond can step in to protect their pets from the rogue raccoons," is wishful thinking.
What do they expect, more unenforced bylaws prohibiting raccoons from leaving their freshet-flooded swamp?
My friends up in the Village of Clinton and the Cariboo must be bustin' a gut!
They have bears, deer, moose, wolves, coyotes, cougars, and cowboys in their backyards!
Of course they haven't become effete urbanites. When they have a problem they get together and fix it, him, or her.
Citizens in Rich-mond have apparently forgotten that THEY are the City of Richmond, not The Hall.
If raccoons can band together in common cause, why can't we?
So, let's all get together and do something instead of just whining.
For my part, I am willing to respond, via the News, to requests for help by live-trapping some of those rascally rogue raccoons and relocating them to The Hall, the bylaw offices, or the parks development compound where there is plenty of habitat to accommodate them.
Sure, the raccoons are hungry but they are not crazy enough to take on those fat cats and dogmatic administrators, or their pets.
Ramblin' Ryan Lake Gnarly Old Dudes and Dames of Steveston (GODDS)
