Death of Mr. Chops a tragic mistake

In response to the recent letter from Bill Thomas about the little dog and Henderson Animal Control: Why do we always have to place blame?

There were two articles about this event in the Review-Journal. The first one mentioned that on the Fourth of July, Animal Control found this little dog, Mr. Chops, on the street alone. The officers picked him up, took him to the shelter and called the owners. They came to get him, said how nice the officers were and took him home.

On July 28, the dog was once again loose on the street alone. He was picked up as a stray, taken to a veterinarian’s office, and Animal Control was contacted. They picked him up and went back to the control facility.

Having been raised around a lot of different animals, I can tell you that accidents happen. The problem I see here is that the owners of this little dog did not provide a secure home for him. Mr. Chops should not have been on the street either time. As pet owners, we are responsible for our animals.

Where does Mr. Thomas get the right to label a vet as lazy and demand that someone be fired for a tragic mistake? We have all made mistakes of some kind.

It might help to lighten the load at Animal Control if those who can be volunteers, would be. Our thoughts are with Mr. Chops and his family.

Joyce Sorensen

Henderson

Out of whack

In the Monday Review-Journal, the wire service story about the shooting of Sylville K. Smith by the Milwaukee police is headlined, “Wisconsin victim had gun in his hand.” The first paragraph in the article states that Smith turned toward the police officer with a gun in his hand and was then shot.

So why would the headline describe Smith as a victim? The term “victim” implies he did nothing wrong. That could not be further from the facts of the case.

Also, it came out late in the article that Smith had a lengthy police record. In a another story I read from a different source it was reported that Smith was arrested nine times dating back to 2011 for a shooting, robbery, carrying a concealed weapon, theft and possession of heroin.

A more appropriate headline would have used the phrase “criminal thug” instead of “victim.”

Lastly, why did we have to reach page three before we found a short blurb about a police officer shot dead by a criminal after the police officer was responding to a suspicious person call?

This type of irresponsible reporting — calling criminals “victims” — fuels the flame of unrest in this country. While on the other hand, the death of another police officer by a criminal thug is hardly mentioned. Our priorities about what is important are out of whack.

Michael O. Kreps

Las Vegas

Jobs lost

I want to thank the Democrats for supporting an increase in the minimum wage. Republicans have said it is not supposed to be a living wage, but an entry wage to give experience to new workers. It turns out they are right.

My nephew heard McDonald’s was opening a new store in Missouri and was excited about applying for a job. But it turns out it will be self service. Order by selecting items from machine menus and your meal will come via the machine.

Companies exist to make a profit for stockholders, not to make workers happy. Thank you, Democrats, for helping eliminate a job my nephew could have had.

Bruce A. Kesselman

Las Vegas