No more handouts

Dear Editor:I have been working as a volunteer with several dog and cat rescues plus one animal shelter for 40 years. In the early 90s, it looked like we were making some progress. Now we are going backwards with spay and neuter programs. Most free puppies or kittens from a neighbor or friend don't get shots or altered. More animals are being put to sleep, just a nice phrase for being killed because people will not take proper responsibility for them. When doing any adoption I believe people need to pay money for whatever they adopt because people don't treat free things with respect. We also have so many people having babies that they can't take care of. My kids didn't have the best of things but no one else was responsible for their food, medical or dental, except my husband and me. That's right; no free breakfast or lunch, no dental plan for the family for $25 a month (while most of the food is trashed because the kids don't want it). No standing in line at the grocery store wearing a $300 shirt after a two-week vacation in Florida and using food stamps. There is something very wrong with the way our tax dollars are being spent for sure. Free this and free that means no respect for what you are given. People would not have so many kids if everything wasn't free to them. Anyone can make a mistake, but should know right from wrong after the first mistake. There should be no money paid for kids after the first one. All the people that cry, "We don't have anything for our kids!" should stop having them. If there is no change in the system we will soon be like China and India with so many poor people that we will be crushed. We are moving in that direction now. We have all seen on TV a person standing in line for something free, holding a $200 to $400 cell phone. My phone cost $59 and works just fine. Time for some drastic changes. Free is never a good thing. -- Helen Burns, Downey

********** Published: January 13, 2011 - Volume 9 - Issue 39