Dear Editor:
Having read the recent Fox16 news item (and the previous story) about the inhumane treatment of local dogs by the Helena-West Helena mayor (i.e., transporting them to a remote wooded area and releasing them to run wild, starve and die), especially when local citizens were desperately trying to relocate these poor animals to a place where they could be properly cared for (since the city apparently has no sense of responsibility to provide for these abandoned dogs). I hope the local citizens and business community recognize the adverse publicity H-WH Arkansas is receiving as a result of the mayor’s actions. One of the principal characteristics of most civilized human beings that raises us to a level above the rest of the creatures in this world is our capacity for compassion and understanding. Most communities would expect their elected officials to represent this value of the community (if it indeed exists at all).
Such total disregard for humane treatment of animals by a public official only serves to reinforce the negative impression that folks outside the state have of Arkansas as backward and uncivilized. But a quick survey of the internet for information regarding Helena-West Helena reveals that this is only one among many problems that the public officials of this newly consolidated city have generated for its citizens.
It is truly a sad state of affairs for you folks.
James Farrell
Morrisville, Va.
