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Pasco Letters to the Editor

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 20, 2008

State Of Decline

Regarding "Pasco Deputies Remove Gator From Subdivision," Tuesday:

I live in Wesley Chapel. I haven't seen an alligator in our pond for two years. Well, no wonder. Every time an alligator shows its head, some trapper comes out to capture and destroy it.

Those gators were here long before the subdivision was built. Where are their rights? I just think it's a shame that "if a gator is over 4 feet" and "invades human territory we'll kill it."

Mankind kills everything - including each other - for no reason other than greed, jealousy and money. We disrupt the course of nature, leave scars on the land and kill for the sake of killing.

That alligator was no threat just because it was 7 feet long. The people who trapped and killed that poor gator are not heroes; they are just primordial, scared little people who see an animal and immediately want to kill it.

Florida is quickly becoming a place no one wants to live. They destroy wetlands and bury gopher turtles. Deer have no place to go, so they get hit in the road. Panthers have diminished to such low numbers that there are fewer than 200 left.

They pave paradise and put up a parking lot - in this case, an unneeded mall (Cypress Creek Town Center), which the majority of folks here did not want.

We seriously need to take a good look at who we are putting in office to approve nonsensical, idiotic destruction for the sake of the almighty dollar and "progress."
Anton Chekhov in "Uncle Vanya": "Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he's been given. But up to now he hasn't been a creator, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wildlife's become extinct, the climate's ruined and the land grows poorer and uglier every day."

LYN TANSING

Wesley Chapel

Shame On Florida

Regarding "Pasco Deputies Remove Gators From Subdivision:"

You tell me why this alligator had to be destroyed. That is cruel!

No, we as human beings have invaded their territory. Just because it took a stroll down a street, and it was 7 feet long it had to be destroyed? That alligator didn't bother anybody or anything.

I know they are dangerous, but why destroy something that didn't hurt anybody or thing? Do like the forest rangers with bears; take them somewhere else to live out their lives.

I know gators have to be shot every now and then, but to just kill something for walking in a neighborhood and being 7 feet long - who made up those laws?

Shame on the state of Florida for doing such a cruel thing. Shame! Shame! Shame!

KATHY A. DAMPIER

Via e-mail

Honest Day's Work

Regarding "Clerk Doesn't Spend Enough Time At Office, Critics Say," June 15:

I think people in public office, like Jed Pittman, should be held accountable in their position. Just because not showing up at the office isn't illegal doesn't mean it isn't unethical.

The average worker would not be able to get away with this kind of behavior without consequences - including probable firing.

I don't know what Pittman means when he says that Pasco County residents get more than "their money's worth." I just hope they get a fair day's work from Pittman for a more-than-fair-salary.

TINA ALVAREZ

Wesley Chapel

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