Letters to the Editor | Feb. 24, 2023

I am a dog lover and have boarded dogs for friends. I think FBI Special Agent Jacqueline Maguire did the right thing in first trying to separate the small dog on her lap from a pit bull who attacked her pet before using the only other thing at her disposal, her gun, to end the attack. The attacking dog may have been on a leash, but I once saw a neighborhood dog drag its owner on her stomach through my peonies to get the Milk-Bone he knew I was good for. A leash is not necessarily a good restraint for a strong dog. Also, this pit bull, normally sweet dogs, came from a rescue organization. How had it been treated (or mistreated) earlier? Revolution Philly, an animal rights organization, may be misguided and overreacting in demanding Agent Maguire’s badge for saving her pet, and possibly herself, from injury or worse.

Pierre E. Richards, Wyndmoor, friskfisk153@gmail.com

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The Inquirer article on the unprovoked attack of a small dog sitting on its owner’s lap by a larger dog offers a sympathetic history of the attacking dog and a statement that the attacking dog’s owner wasn’t “given the opportunity to control the situation or save her dog.” Where is the journalistic balance and fairness here? Where is the report on injuries sustained by the attacked dog or its owner? Where is the priority of saving the victim dog addressed? Where is the reference to the laws regarding responsibility to control a dangerous dog and keep it from inflicting injury to another animal or human? As a lifelong dog owner who was seriously injured trying to save my dog from an unprovoked dog attack, I have learned of the limitations and failings in our legal systems for dealing with the devastation caused by dangerous dogs who are not properly controlled by their owners. This topic would be a worthy one for the attention of journalists, rather than a piece biased against a dog owner trying to save the life of her pet and preserve her physical safety during an unprovoked attack.

Laura Coltoff, Erdenheim

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What has become of Philadelphia and The Inquirer? In Wednesday’s paper, on the front page of the Philly & Region section, the top headline concerns an off-duty FBI agent who shot an aggressive pit bull after it attacked the agent and her dog. At the very bottom of the page, receiving far less focus and attention, is a report about two children shot multiple times while walking home from school. Someone help me understand, in what world the shooting of an aggressive dog deserves more attention than the shooting of innocent children walking home from school? How about The Inquirer dedicate space every day — on the front page — to the daily gun violence statistics in Philadelphia? Would it be depressing? Yes. Would it focus the public on an urgent crisis in our city? Also yes.

Joel Sweet, Philadelphia

The nonstop whining of teachers about anything and everything is sickening. Do they think they are the only ones who have trouble parking at work? I wonder how Inquirer employees handle downtown parking. Does anyone honestly believe that parking is the reason teachers prefer to work in the suburbs? Let’s see: Parents don’t physically threaten teachers when their child has a problem (and the burbs pay better). Students don’t physically threaten teachers (and the burbs pay better). Parents don’t blame the teacher when their child doesn’t do well (and the burbs pay better). The resources are better and the buildings are better (also, the burbs pay better). Every time there’s a contract negotiation, teachers whine about class size, then hold out for more money. Next they’ll want valet parking.

Jerome Zeiger, Philadelphia

Part of the process of putting a guilty man to death in Pennsylvania requires the governor to review and sign each and every death warrant. A governor may refuse to sign a death warrant if he or she considers the condemned person to be innocent. A governor may refuse to sign the death warrant of a guilty but otherwise law-abiding person. A governor may even refuse to sign the death warrant of a career criminal who is dead to rights guilty if only out of pity for the condemned murderer’s elderly widowed mother. A governor, though, may not do what Josh Shapiro has done and announce ahead of time that he will never, ever sign any death warrants, no matter what, even for crimes that have not yet been committed. For this breach of public trust, Shapiro should be disbarred.

Robert T. Dow, Johnstown

The coming year looms large for those who care about safer streets in Philadelphia. With voters poised to elect a new mayor and all City Council seats up for grabs, it is critical that candidates be clear on their support for Vision Zero and the drive to eliminate all traffic deaths in Philadelphia. Vision Zero is a policy the city, under Mayor Jim Kenney, has adopted to end traffic fatalities — pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and their passengers — by 2030. As overly optimistic as that might sound, the program elsewhere has resulted in significant progress in eliminating traffic deaths and improving the quality of life of residents. Jersey City, New Jersey’s second-largest city with almost 300,000 people, had no fatalities last year after embracing Vision Zero. So, too, did Hoboken, with 60,000 residents. As it is, traffic deaths remain stubbornly high in Philadelphia, with 121 reported last year. While that is a significant drop from 166 reported in 2020, it was still markedly higher than 2019, when 91 people died.

As of January this year, nine people had been killed by motorists in Philadelphia, including three cyclists, according to figures compiled by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. Five of those deaths were hit-and-runs. Given Philadelphia’s ongoing gun violence crisis, candidates for office might be forgiven for giving less attention to street safety. Don’t let that happen. Ending traffic deaths is a doable proposition that, unlike gun control, requires no constitutional amendment or Supreme Court approval. All that is required is public will. So at the next candidates forum or debate, make sure the men and women who want to represent us in government commit to making our streets safer. And then hold them to that commitment.

Chris Hepp, Philadelphia

The author, a volunteer with the Northwest Traffic Calming Committee, spent 34 years as a reporter and editor at The Inquirer.

In the discussion about the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, few have pointed out that the real source of the problem is demand for products that require toxic ingredients to manufacture. Vinyl chloride is a key component in PVC plastic, most visibly in the forms of vinyl siding and PVC pipe. PVC products are artificially cheap because the costs of accidents are borne by society rather than included in the cost of the finished product. While demand for these products remains high, toxic chemicals such as vinyl chloride will be transported and stored and will be at risk of a catastrophic accident. We have no foolproof transportation or manufacturing process, and it’s simply luck whether any of us are in the proximity of the next accident. Choose traditional materials for your house (stucco or wood siding, cast-iron drain pipe, etc.) to reduce demand for this dangerous material.

John Zollers, Eagleville

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