Author: hankkalet

Does anyone really understand how bad of an idea this is? The Cranbury Board of Health wants the township to grant the animal control officer the right to kill “menacing dogs” or those that “pose a threat ‘of bodily injury or death to a human being.'”

The proposal said that if a dog is caught walking freely in the township without its owner, it could be “impounded or killed” by an animal control officer or dogcatcher.

The Township Committee wisely refused to introduce it last last month but the health board plans to bring it back — a foolish move.

The best explanation of why comes from resident Robert Bartoletti in a letter to the editor in the Press:

I agree that dogs need to be leashed. The current ordinance addresses that issue. Should pet owners choose to ignore the ordinance, which is designed to protect the public as well as the pet, then the pet owner should be held accountable. However, to allow the animal control office to discharge a fire arm to kill a dog just does not seem reasonable.

There are times when even the most conscientious pet owner’s dog gets loose and frantic pet owners begin to search for them. It would be disturbing to me to see an animal harmed by an overzealous animal control officer who makes a decision to use a firearm against a pet. When one thinks of the lengths that animal lovers around the nation go to protect wild life and pets alike through the use of tranquilizers to subdue wild animals, why in the world would we consider an ordinance that provides for the use of deadly force to subdue a pet?

Furthermore, the absurdity of the proposed resolution was out-matched by the comment made by a resident who happens to live in the zone she called “the pound” — Petty Road, Nicola Court and Lenape Court. Her comments were as far from reality as one could imagine. True, there are many pets living in the area. However, their owners are responsible for them and attend to their needs. To my knowledge they do not allow their pets to bark to the point of disturbance.

I have lived in the area for almost nine years. However, on occasion we do hear a barking dog, just as we hear cars, trucks, airplanes, helicopters, honking geese, quacking ducks, hooting owls, snorting deer, laughing children and many other sounds of life which any reasonable person might expect to hear in a community such as ours. (We even see a partridge in a pear tree!) All of which are sounds and sites of our community.

I urge our neighbors of Petty Road, Lenape Court and Nicola Court to be heard on this subject. I do not believe the citizen who referred to her life in the “pound” speaks for the residents of our neighborhood.

Well said, Mr. Bartoletti.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

I take back some of what I’ve written lately about the new Democratic leadership and its flirtation with the so-called “surge.” The reason? Read this:

“We want to do everything we can to help Iraq succeed in the future but, like many of our senior military leaders, we do not believe that adding more U.S. combat troops contributes to success,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate majority leader, wrote to Mr. Bush.

“Adding more combat troops will only endanger more Americans and stretch our military to the breaking point for no strategic gain,” the Democrats’ letter said.

Reid, remember, had publicly said only a week or two ago that he’d consider the surge option. Glad he’s come to his senses.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

No run today — sore legs, too many Press Association contest entries to wade through and meetings in the afternoon. Back on the road — or treadmill — Monday. I have an 18-mile race to think about in September.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Blue Jersey has opened voting for its annualy Screaming Carrot Award — not sure where the name comes from, but hey — and Channel Surfing is nominated as are some other fine New Jersey blogs of a progressive bent.

Go here to vote (I won’t tell you for whom to vote, but….).

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

State Senate President Richard Codey is looking to kick of the year the right way. He announced today a sweeping package of bills that he says will “close some remaining loopholes (in existing ethics law), and we can begin to help restore the public’s confidence in government.”

That’s obviously necessary, given the questionable behavior of so many of our elected representatives.

According to a Live from the Ledger posting, the package will include:

— A complete ban on any meals, gifts or travel payments from lobbyists to lawmakers and their staffs;
— A ban on nepotism at every level of state and local government, including municipal governments and school boards;
— A requirement that any lawmaker or state agency seeking changes to the proposed state budget submit detailed written requests for the funding in time for them to be reviewed by the public before hearings on the state budget;
— An independent review of the Legislature’s Code of Ethics by Rutgers professor Alan Rosenthal, Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at the Eagleton Institute of Politics.

Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts endorsed the plan, according to the Ledger:

“Good, honest government should be something we don’t just strive for, but something we actually deliver,” Roberts said.

Let’s hope the pair follow through and the fixes actually fix things.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick