State behind in animal care

Thank you for Mike King's column on Carroll County's animal "shelter" problems ("This Grady deserved better," @issue, June 5). Unfortunately, the lack of proper care for former pets in intake facilities is all too common in Georgia. Across the country over eight animals per minute are destroyed. Georgia and the Southeast in general lag far behind the rest of the country in remedying this problem.

In New Hampshire, an animal shelter is a thing of the past because their citizens have become responsible pet owners and have their pets spayed and neutered. Some rescuers are even transporting Georgia animals there to be adopted. This is done on a small scale due to a lack of funds.

At least one-third of Georgia counties don't even have animal care and control. Some don't have a veterinarian. There is no statewide coordinated spay-and-neuter program. There is some money from the state for spay and neuter, but the poor people who need it most are rarely aware of this, and the program still does not meet the needs of Georgia animals.

In my county of Douglas, when animal control opens again after being shut down for disease, we will have to euthanize every week approximately 50 dogs and cats because of irresponsible owners and the lack of affordable spay-and-neuter programs. Until the people of Georgia who care about animals unite and demand better treatment for our four-legged friends and better laws to protect them, they will not be given a chance.

CHERYL McAULIFFE

McAuliffe is Georgia director of the Humane Society of the United States.

Schools need lesson in engaging students

While I agree that Georgia needs to "take an honest look at its financial commitment to education," simply putting more money toward education won't solve the problem ("A goal of 100 percent," @issue, June 6).

I'm in north Fulton, which I hear has the best schools. If this is the best Georgia has to offer, it's no wonder the graduation rate is low. I don't see any creativity. I don't see the differentiation of instruction. I don't see the implementation of educational best practices.

There is a dearth of hands-on activities. Science experiments or labs? Not likely. Writing assignments? Nope. Technology woven throughout the curriculum? No way. We expect middle schoolers to sit through lectures of 100 minutes. No wonder children drop out before the ninth grade —- they're bored silly.

Administrators and teachers need to become innovators, actively engaging students in the learning process. That takes a new, radical view of education, and it isn't teaching to the test.

JOAN B. McCARTY

Roswell

If we can put a man on the moon ...

To solve today's gas crunch, we need to take responsibility for our oil needs. For the last few years, we have been trying to save our environment by refusing to drill for oil or build new refineries. But all we have done is shift the environmental impact from our own country to other parts of the world.

Providing more oil can reduce our dependence on other countries, reduce the outgoing cash flow and provide jobs for our people.

However, providing more oil ourselves is only a part of the solution. While it will give us breathing space, we need to find ways to reduce our need for oil.

America is a can-do country that has faced many difficult times, and our citizens have responded with heroic actions. Just as we responded with a man on the moon after Sputnik, we can find alternate sources of energy.

MELISSA VINSON

Cartersville

Writer injects own environmental view

Regarding H. Josef Hebert's article [from The Associated Press] about the greenhouse bill: He uses the words "this most important environmental issue" to describe greenhouse gases ("Greenhouse bill expected to die," News, June 6). It seems that he is injecting his own values and opinions into this news article. Had he instead written "this unimportant environmental issue," I doubt the editor would have let him get away with it.

CHRIS CLARKE

Suwanee