Consider the impact of your dogs
Re: “Senior attacked by two dogs,” Nov. 2.
My heart goes out to the senior woman who was attacked by two off-leash dogs which had escaped their Sidney home.
While this is not exactly a result of someone walking their dog off-leash, there are parallels. The owner said repeatedly “they’ve never done this before.”
That is often an excuse given for poor dog behaviour. I cannot count the number of times I’ve been approached by dogs who jump on me, bark at me, circle me, chase my small daughter, all while being told that the dog is “friendly.”
Just because the dog is part of your life, I may not want it to be a part of mine, and I have that right to be left alone by your dog.
Many dog people see my desire to walk in a park unaccosted by their pet as some problem that I have!
I just returned from six weeks in Oregon and California. I went to many public beaches and parks.
Not once was I approached by anyone’s dog and all were on leash. What a revelation and relief.
That was the law and people obeyed it, unlike here: when leashes are required most people ignore this, and when dogs are merely required to be under control, often they are not.
I saw several excellent signs which explain off-leash dog’s negative impact on wildlife and stressed that people have the right to enjoy nature without being approached by dogs.
Wow! I have no idea why people in the U.S. comply and respect park users right to enjoy a park without dog interference.
Canadians need public education about being more responsible for their dog’s effect on nature and other people.
Claire Bouchard
North Saanich
Believe the numbers: Things aren’t so bad
Unlike what some politicians like to spew: Statistics Canada says the net worth of the median Canadian household was $519,700, up 57% from 2019 to 2023.
Median wealth for under 35-year-olds’ households tripled to $159,100 in that time. We the over-55 gang were up to $873,400, up by 10%.
And did you see the latest stock market listings?
I wish people would stop listening and stop believing the stories from politicians as they repeat over and over about how everything is so horrible and we are so worse off than ever before.
It is actually much much better! I love this country.
Doug McLeod
Victoria
Animals can bring joy to our lives
In what sounds like a truly awful incident, a family dog was killed recently by a deer in Oak Bay. If it had been my dog I would have been absolutely devastated. There is simply nothing positive that can be said here; it is a terrible thing to happen.
There are now fresh calls to kill local deer, using the euphemism “cull,” due to what happened.
Also recently, a senior in Sidney was viciously attacked by two dogs who pinned her down and bit into her arms. A witness said that “it was the most traumatic thing I’ve ever seen.”
Should we also destroy all larger dogs in Greater Victoria because of what happened? If not, what’s the difference?
You might claim that other dogs wouldn’t do this but all that the owner of the two dogs kept saying was, “oh, they’ve never done this before.”
Instead of rushing to call for animals to be killed, along with criticizing “Bambi-huggers,” I urge these apparent animal-haters to try and accept that not everyone sees things the same way as them, but with good reason: animals bring a lot of joy to a lot of people’s lives.
I also feel that if you can’t bring yourself to use the word “kill” instead of “cull” then you are trying to use polite language to hide your coldness to other living creatures.
Matthew Cousins
Victoria
Spending on pets is misguided
We believe $1 million in taxpayer funding for North Cowichan’s new Vancouver Island Animal Behaviour Centre is misguided spending.
Perhaps some of that funding would be better used toward SPCA education and prosecution — by hiring more SPCA staff — of barbaric owners and others who mistreat innocent animals in the first place.
What if behavioural calming and counselling for tragically stressed pets proves ineffective; possibly dangerous if that animal is re-adopted.
Others may cogently argue our funds would be better spent hiring more wildlife conservation officers to boost our ranks from just a handful on Vancouver Island.
Peter W. Rusland
North Cowichan
McKenzie Avenue: Rainbows and unicorns
Saanich and Greater Victoria residents have a right to be concerned about the Quadra-McKenzie plan. While not digging too far into the weeds, one only needs to look at the transportation plan for McKenzie to question this myopic approach.
The McKenzie Avenue plan is to reduce the road down to two vehicle lanes, two dedicated transit lanes, and two bike lanes.
This strategy ignores the fact that McKenzie is the main artery from Highway 1 to the University of Victoria or that we just spent $96 million on the McKenzie interchange to help alleviate traffic congestion.
Now Saanich is planning to bottleneck the entire McKenzie route.
I support densification, but to believe you can densify without planning for increased passenger vehicles (gas or EV) is beyond naïve, you might as well wish for a unicorn flying on a rainbow to get you to school or work on time because you will not make it on McKenzie.
Spencer Evans
Saanich
Three suggestions for party leaders
I have been a small “c” leaning political thinker since childhood and am always fascinated by the twists and turns of parties, leaders and the electorate. I offer three suggestions.
John Rustad: Drop the party line relating to “we will bring them down as soon as possible.” Accept the fact that the hand-off from BC United gave you the opportunity to have a meaningful voice in government and more importantly … show some leadership, not political gamesmanship, in trying to work for the benefit of all voters.
Premier David Eby: Appoint qualified people to positions of trust and then get out of the way. You do not need to be in every photo op. You were first made premier by appointment, not a general election. Now you have been given a narrow majority and you should govern in a way that seeks consensus, not the previous methods. The “Party Line” need not dictate every policy . Build bridges between the elected parties.
Sonia Furstenau: While the choice you made in deciding where to run did not produce the hoped-for result, you can still be a voice for change. Use that opportunity wisely, while allowing your two new MLAs to find their own voices.
Gary McInnis
Victoria
Practical way forward with the climate crisis
Various solutions have been suggested for mitigating the climate crisis, including emission caps, cutting fossil fuel supply in some way, applying a carbon tax on retail fuel, imposing carbon pricing on industries that go over a predefined emissions target, and carbon capture and storage technology.
All of these have one common flaw, that they allow continued use of fossil fuels to 2050 and beyond, rejecting the desirable result of future carbon neutrality.
Most people are aware that renewable clean energy, using solar, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal energy can be easily and rapidly made operational; they produce no carbon emissions, and are far cheaper and more efficient than fossil fuel energy.
It would be theoretically easy to convert 50% of fossil fuel energy to renewables by 2030, and over 90% by 2040.
The only block to implementation is greed, inertia and resistance by both the fossil fuel industry and blind governments.
Some regions are already well underway, including California, most of Europe, and others.
The only question is whether we have already run out of time.
Geoff Strong
Atmospheric/climate scientist
Cowichan Bay
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