My Account
Compassion needed
Rae Bird, Gulf Harbour
That some lives matter more is at the centre of what is wrong with the world. To be clear, I am for the abused, downtrodden and forgotten, what ever that is, but I take umbrage at Phillip Wrigley’s article (Green Scene HM Sept 19) under the environment banner.
His cat control seems to indicate cat elimination, judging by his comments, “he knows better and now has no cats” relating to a past where he watched his cats playing with half dead lizards. A compassionate person would have saved the lizards, at least.
Also, his comments about a cat preying on birds that drowned in a creek – I do not know of any cat drowning in a creek unless assisted or during flooding.
Comments like these legitimise animal abuse for some, judging by some recent Facebook comments. Humans domesticated animals for their use. Cats were used for their skills preying on rodents etc, benefiting people’s health. People’s expectations for cats have changed in recent years, so now it seems some want to eliminate them instead of educating people. No surprise really, considering humans are the biggest predators on the planet, not to mention destroyers. Taking care of our pets, children, elderly and animals (our most vulnerable) requires everyone keeping them safe, which in turns benefits the environment. Compassion needs to be taught in schools, which would help all birds, cats dogs, animals. It would also help to eliminate the abusing of children, domestic violence, bullying in schools (where we are in the top of the world statistics for all three, truly shameful). Simply treat all species how you wish to be treated. No species wants to be abused, bullied or eliminated.
Captain-less ship
Peter Brydon, Albany
Maybe I am missing something here, but are Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) something like companies and the councillors are something like the Board of Directors and we, the ratepayers, are something like the share holders? If this is the case, it seems a bit rich for Cr John Watson (Viewpoint HM Sept 19) to say that the council has lost control; when you are the council, you have lost control. As directors, you give them the direction that you want that company to go. If this is not working, you should change the rules and fire the CEO. The fault is at the councillors’ feet. If you are out of your depth, get another job. Do not blame them. It is like a ship with no captain.
Clean-up delay
This tree fell down in Edith Hopper Park, Manly last April in a storm. It was tidied up promptly as it fell over a stormwater drain, but the rest of it is still there five months later and HM has received a number of enquiries about when it might be removed. Auckland Council head of operational management and maintenance, Agnes McCormack, says specialist equipment is required to remove the rest of the tree. “However, due to the wet underlying ground conditions, the remainder of the tree will not be removed until the grounds have sufficiently dried out to get the required machinery on site. We expect this to take place in the summer months.”
