Letters March 5, 2008

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

By Planet User

Worse than hazing
I’m not currently an owner but I would enjoy having a dog to accompany me hiking someday. I should have the freedom to let my dog off the leash where allowed, provided it doesn’t misbehave. What I saw on Sunday around 3:30 hiking in Cache creek made me quite angry.

Less than 100 yards from the parking area just off the trail I heard a dog barking - and the screams of a deer. Watching and yelling at the medium sized hound mix I was shocked to witness what went far beyond hazing wildlife with barking and pursuit. I saw the dog drag the deer - nearly twice its size - to the ground. He then proceed to thrash on it like a pit bull, snapping the deer’s neck.

The dog wouldn’t approach me so I could get its tag info. I felt I should wait in the parking lot to confront the owner but the dog headed up the creek. Half a mile up I heard someone in the woods hiking back down Hagen trail, whistling and calling out to Leo. I yelled to a woman in a light blue jacket asking if you had a white dog with a black head but got no response. As the person continued down the valley calling I could hear the howling of what might have been this person’s dog announcing its kill.

My hope is someone reading knows if Leo is the dog in question. If they can pass along my story so its owner will be aware of the blood lust in their pet, perhaps further killing can be avoided. It will be a problem for everyone as further leash restrictions for well behaved pups become the answer for irresponsible behavior of an individual dogs and owners like this.
- John Sullivan
Jackson, Wyo.

More building, more need
<This letter was edited for length. - Eds >
I don’t think the current affordable housing program is working, and it certainly is not sustainable. Over the past 10 years, 25 percent of residential building permits have been for affordable housing, and 34 percent of new county residents live in affordable housing. But despite all of that affordable housing, the county commission recently decided it had to declare a housing emergency. It appears to me that the more you build, the more you need. Why? Because affordable housing residents require services that create more jobs, and when they retire they need to be replaced with new workers. It’s a problem without end. Doing more of the same only exacerbates the problem.

We need a sustainable solution, something that works over the next 30, 40 or 50 years.  I think most people in this valley would support a high quality, low cost rental program for teachers, deputies and other core infrastructure workers. Rents should be set low enough to enable these people to save money and invest in real estate, probably not in Jackson but someplace else, or in stocks or whatever assets they believe are appropriate. Programs like this have worked well in other parts of the country with high real estate prices. I think most residents would also support giving a teacher a lifetime lease on his or her house, if he or she provides the community with 30 years of service.

We should also support, and be willing to pay higher taxes, for more START buses from Alpine and Victor. We need to face up to the fact that much of our work force will commute, and we should facilitate that commute, improve its safety, and mitigate the environmental impact. Perhaps the best thing about this program is that it would enable our workers to participate in the growth of America by owning market rate homes.
- Steve Sharkey
Jackson, Wyo.
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Letters March 5, 2008 | Planet JH News Article: Letters To Editor

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