Letters to the Editor: Cat declawing is barbaric. Michigan should ban it
As a licensed veterinary technician, I have tried to comfort cats as they writhe in pain, desperately trying to pull the blood-soaked bandages from their mutilated paws after being declawed. This barbaric disfigurement — which involves severing the first digit of every toe, bones and all — should be banned everywhere.
Cats claw to exercise, stretch and mark territory. Cutting off their body parts cuts off their ability to engage in these natural and important behaviors, and can cause them lifelong back and joint pain.
Without claws, many cats resort to eliminating outside the litterbox to mark their territory. Once-friendly cats often become withdrawn and aggressive. Studies show that declawed cats are more likely to have behavioral problems, often resulting in abandonment by the very people who had them declawed.
Providing plenty of scratching posts and regular nail trims will protect furniture, and cats’ physical and psychological well-being.
Melissa Sanger
Brighton
Contact the Free Press opinion page: freep.com/letters
Hey Detroit, you should do more to promote the People Mover
Having recently attended a convention at Huntington Place, I have to say I was disappointed (and surprised) at the city's failure to better promote the presence of the People Mover station within the convention center. Aside from a few small placards close to the station and the information booths, which one has to approach (and then ask about the People Mover), it was more or less invisible.
In cities like Seattle, when one exits the convention center you are directly on the main boulevard of the city. But in Detroit, it's some distance from Huntington Place to the foot of Woodward Avenue. I could see that many convention-goers were not making the trek and were instead remaining inside the center. Their dollars were not being spent in downtown shops and restaurants.
Simply peppering Huntington Place with large, colorful signs pointing to the People Mover would do a lot towards taking advantage of the People Mover's potential to make the different districts of downtown easily reachable by conventioneers. As someone born in Detroit, I hate to see the city wasting the contribution that a regular influx of convention-goers can bring to a downtown.
Dean McQuiston
Clarksville, Maryland
Michigan, do your part to elect the president by popular vote
I am a voter who believes that we should pick our politicians, not the other way around. This should include the president of the United States. Our current way of electing our president is flawed. We have had two near misses and two times when the person who did not have the most popular votes won. This is not how it should be. The person with the most popular votes should win.
Currently, Senate Bill 126 and House Bill 4156 are stalled and need to be acted upon. They each have to do with the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have signed on to this compact. That is 205 of the 270 electoral votes that are needed to elect the president. Michigan has 15 votes. If we join the compact that would make 220 of the necessary votes. We'd just need to get 50 more votes to join the compact to bring us to 270. This is not a partisan issue. It would work for either side, Republicans or Democrats.
This government is supposed to be for the people and by the people. I believe that the office of president should be elected just like all of our other elected officials. One person, one vote. For this to succeed in Michigan, we need to call and write our legislators and ask them to bring the bills to the floor for a vote. They will not do so unless there are people who let them know that they care about the way our president is elected.
Peggy L. Van Sickle
Brighton
Like them or not, EVs are coming
Regarding the letter to the editor Sunday May 28 titled “I don’t want to switch to an electric vehicle,” I am reminded of a quote attributed to Henry Ford (posted on the wall of Ford’s Garage restaurant in Novi): “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
David Nowak
Novi
Contact the Free Press opinion page: freep.com/letters
GOP lost its reputation for supporting law and order
The Republican Party traditionally stood for law and order. They prided themselves on that principle, always supporting the police, and all arms of law enforcement. Further, Republicans were quick to wrap themselves up in the flag, always supportive of democracy, rule of law and the American way. They saw themselves as more patriotic than anyone else.
This was all before Donald Trump. Now many who call themselves Republicans have sworn allegiance to him, not to the flag. In fact, some of his followers used the American flag to beat up police officers trying to protect the capital from their insurrection on Jan. 6, 2020. Now Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have both declared they would pardon most of the insurrectionists convicted of their crimes, should they become president.
Make no mistake, America. If you vote for either of these people, and their brand of Republicanism, you are supporting anti-Americanism, anti-democracy, and anti-rule of law.
Earnest L Robinson Jr., Esq.
Southfield
A better news experience
What a pleasure to open my Detroit Free Press on Thurs., May 25 and see peaceful, enlightening topics. The front page covered the DSO's increase in attendance, the amazing talent of and death of Tina Turner, and new information from Ford's CEO. It has become difficult and emotional to open our newspaper and always see such cruel and sad news each day. Your viewers are thankful if you could find the goodness in the news.
Carol R. Wiseman
West Bloomfield
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Letters to the Editor: Michigan should ban cat declawing
