Dear Sir,
I would like to thank the Reporter and Judy King for including the plea to the snowbirds soon to be leaving in last week’s issue.
Judy asked them to be responsible. I am not sure who is more traumatized, the pets left behind or the shelter people trying to care for them.
Chris Bublin , Lucky Dog Adoption and Rescue
Dear Sir,
I am thrilled that you have someone with the scope of local knowledge as does Judy King on the local beat. However, her recent column on the custom of some retreating snowbirds to dump their dogs on the street, in the shelter, or abandoned in the house, was far too kind to the rotten scum who do this.
What is needed is for someone to take down the names of the snowbirds who treat their dogs in this manner, hand it off to me, and I will happily pay to print them in a full-page advertisement in this newspaper and the local magazines. We need to know which people to shun and shame, and to make them feel unwelcome down here. After all, who wants such cold-hearted, spiritually vacuous people to live among us? The argument that “... some people feel that the dog had some benefit from having a home for even part of the time,” shows not only a total lack of understanding of the nature of pack animals, but is nothing more than self-congratulatory rationalizing of their own horrid behavior.
If you welcome a dog into your home and give it food for even a short time, it believes itself to be, at long last, part of a pack (that’s you), it is fed, so it relaxes, and its brain chemistry begins to change so that it can develop behaviors to thrive inside of a pack. If you toss the poor thing back on the street, or abandon it, it now is disabled because it has been transformed.
Please, let’s start calling this what it is: Not a curious snowbird behavior to scratch and shake our heads over, but rather an ugly form of animal abuse that should be pilloried in every corner.
Alice Hudson
Dear Sir,
In reference to the front page article of the August 5 on the new crime reporting program.
It is doubtful that many more people will report crimes, especially larceny, unless they have more confidence that doing so will result in more than tedious report making with very few or no tangible actions being taken. To dispel this belief the officials can simply provide basic information. How may larcenies have been reported in the Lakeside area in the last year? How many of these reported crimes have resulted in the perpetrator being apprehended? How many of those apprehended were found guilty? How many were sentenced? Of those sentenced, how many served their time?
Regarding the article about the new traffic commander. I have a simple, low-cost way to make driving in Ajijic safer. Replace the burned out traffic lights!
We have lived here seven years and we have yet to see all the traffic lights work at once. For some reason this doesn’t seem to be a problem in Chapala, only Ajijic.
Steven A. Frowine
Dear Sir,
Many times we have used the ATM at Banco Multiva in Ajijic with good results. But about a month ago my wife’s bank card was swallowed at this ATM and last week mine was swallowed too.
Multiva say they have no responsibility for the ATM and offer no help, yet their name is everywhere on the machine. Apparently the ATM is jobbed out to some unknown source that offers no communication or service.
Be warned, if your card is swallowed, it won’t be returned – it is gone forever.
I suggest using an ATM that partially shows the card when inserted, so it can be retrieved at any time if required.
Art Parks, Ajijic
Our understanding is that banks will only return cards swallowed up by ATMs if they are issued by the financial institution that operates the machine. This only applies at the bank itself and not at ATMs located in convenience stores, malls, etc.
Dear Sir,
I would like to thank the many volunteers who participated in the organization of the “Over the Rainbow” Luncheon and Fashion Show fundraiser for Villa Infantil Orphanage.
The committee embraced this fundraiser with great ticket sales, a silent auction, fashion show and marketing. All the children from Villa Infantil enjoyed modeling and gave us the treat of a dance and a final song.
We encourage our community to get involved as volunteers. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or www.friendsofvillainfantil.org.
Thank you lakeside for your support.
Beth Cathcart