Letters to the Editor: Dec. 9, 2021

Dogs & Cats Forever has no financial links with the Sunrise Humane Society

A Nov. 11 article concerning the Sunrise Humane Society, mentioned Dogs & Cats Forever (D&CF) among its community partnerships.

I would like to clarify that D&CF does not receive funds from nor give funds to any other shelters. While we applaud any and all efforts made on behalf of homeless animals in St. Lucie County, our funding does not and never has come from local municipalities — unlike funding for Sunrise Humane Society. We are a privately-funded shelter which operates on donations. We do not have a contract with local municipalities to take in animals, and therefore, we are not forced to euthanize for space.

We welcome any efforts regarding the sheltering and care of homeless animals in St. Lucie, however, until lawmakers enact legislation mandating spay and neuter of all companion animals, and put an end to backyard breeding, the massive pet overpopulation problem we have will continue to be out of control.

There are not enough adoptive homes to care for all of the homeless animals in Saint Lucie County. More shelters are not the answer-nor is mass euthanasia. The only real solution is mandatory spay and neuter and taxpayers who bear the burden of pet overpopulation should demand such legislation.

Johanna Apicella, Port St. Lucie, is the executive director of Dogs & Cats Forever.

DeSantis downplays COVID-19 news instead of getting critical info to public

In June the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus was much more transmissible than Alpha. Shortly thereafter Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered daily figures stopped. Fortunately the figures were still being reported to the CDC but the figures were difficult to find. Then the COVID-19 figures started exploding.

Two days were reported at once in August, showing 28,000-plus cases reported to the CDC and 100-plus deaths each day, a jump from prior days. DeSantis had made an announcement on the day those figures were reported that any school administrator that required children or staff to wear masks would have their salaries withheld.

Later DeSantis and the Florida Department of Health said the CDC got the figures wrong. The CDC did not admit an error but the figures did change. The next day Florida changed how they reported figures to the CDC. Now instead of recording whatever was reported that day, they backdated the figures to the date they happened. The number of cases was exploding so the new way of reporting didn't affect cases too much, but it did affect deaths. Instead of 100-plus deaths a day we had some days none, or as many as 10 or 20. However if you kept track of the difference in total figures each day we reached a high of 419 toward the end of August.

DeSantis has demonstrated that he cares more for downplaying the severity of the problem rather than give his constituents the information that will enable them to protect themselves and their families. This disease seems to come in waves and we are told a variant is on the horizon that is more transmissible. How will we know that we have the needed information to take precautions?

Jo Fuller, Port St. Lucie

Keep those informative letters coming, even those with which I disagree

I want to thank you for the letters you have been publishing over the last few months.

Most of them have been really well-written, articulate, and informative. I have even appreciated the letters that do not represent my perspective because they have provided information that I may not have been aware of otherwise. Of course, there are still the letters with a litany of "facts" repeated from some news network or radio station. I have been able to overlook those letters due to the excellent letters that you have been publishing. Keep it up, I enjoy reading well written letters sharing a range of opinions. It makes my life more balanced. Thank you.

Judith Lorenzo, Sebastian

Why aren't more people complaining about the Biden administration?

I must admit that it boggles my mind how so many people are not complaining about Joe Biden’s lack of job performance.

Such things as:

“Gasoline prices are high due to the pandemic causing limiting of production.” It couldn’t be canceling construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, or asking for high-priced oil from our "questionable friends" from Saudi Arabia.

“Believing the propaganda that our immigration rate has decreased by 50%.” I guess illegal immigrants do not figure into that math calculation.

“Sure there is a worker shortage.” That is only due to paying out our tax dollars as COVID-19 payments so that some folks would rather stay home than do an honest day’s work.

Do we really believe that the supply-chain problem is due to China curtailing manufacturing problems and a shortage of electricity? Doubtful.

I guess that those people think “The Man in the High Castle” is history, rather than fiction — that WWII was won by Germany and Japan, rather than the United States and its allies. All they need to do is take a walk back through the Portal and see how we prospered during the last administration. The current move toward socialism can be halted by using our voting rights in 2022.

Ray Mancari, Vero Beach

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Letters to the Editor: Dec. 9, 2021