YEP Letters: February 20

Put dogs’ welfare before profits

Peter Haddington, Bradford

AFTER reading the article about the 411 dogs that have been destroyed by the council in the last two years (The Yorkshire Evening Post, February 15), mainly due to negligence by their owners, it brought home the thought I have always had that dogs are so much more loyal than people, most of them are such loving creatures and some of them deserve so much better than they get from such ruthless owners.

To go out and buy a dog is an easy thing to do, but people should think carefully about the dog’s needs before doing this.

A dog is like a child in the sense that it needs love and attention and can play up sometimes, but if you treat that dog with kindness it will respond back to you with love, you just need to be patient at times.

Abandoning a dog in my eyes is unforgivable and anyone found guilty of this should be severely dealt with.

My previous dog was from the Dogs Trust and had been mistreated, but after treating it with love and kindness it regained most of its trust and confidence.

It is generally the owner to blame with problem dogs, rather than the dog itself.

In this newspaper article the council wardens claim to be dog lovers which I don’t dispute, but Leeds City Council are also money lovers and they could learn from the ethical methods of the Dogs Trust who stand by the slogans they use, and do not use people’s dogs as a means of making money.

They have the dog’s best interest at heart and do their best to stop dogs from getting into the wrong hands by vetting people correctly, before letting them have a dog.

No-one gets things right every time but most of the time I believe they do, which is why I will always support this charity because I think they do some excellent work.

If more people put dogs’ welfare before their own profits many dogs would have a better life.

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Council ‘will buy anything’

D S Boyes, Leeds 13

READING in the Yorkshire Evening Post of the latest crackpot plan of Leeds City Council to spend taxpayers’ money on talking rubbish bins, can this be the same local authority moaning about having no money for essential services? Leeds must be the preferred destination of every spiv salesman in the country, as anything under the sun is bought, whether it be electric cars, gas-powered bin wagons, litter bins for prostitutes or unquantifiable tonnes of asphalt - not for pothole repairs but pointless humps everywhere you go!

Hall Lane, Horsforth like the craters of the moon, but perfectly smooth Brownberrie Lane now spoiled with those humps that no one asked for or wanted, except maybe the garages who sell new springs and shock absorbers to the unfortunate motorist victims of Leeds MDC.

They even put expensive signs at Bayton Lane, No HGVs - only for Leeds City Council Highways Department HGV tippers to use it anyway as a rat run.

The best thing would be to abolish the Executive Board, and have various sub-committees report to full council meetings as years ago, so that proper democratic representations can resume with the opinions of opposition councillors involved, instead of an oligarchy meeting behind closed doors presenting a fait accompli over and over again as happens now, which is a travesty.

Reconsider court closures

Miss Jo Edwards, Chair, Resolution family law organisation

The government’s decision to close 86 courts across the country, including the court in Wakefield, is devastating news for families.

Parents and children need to be able to access to the justice system – this decision will make that more difficult.

Closing courts may make sense on a government spreadsheet, but the reality is that on the ground it will have a profound impact on local people who require courts at a deeply emotional and difficult time in their life.

Many who use the courts are vulnerable and of limited means. For these people to be told they now have to travel to a court miles away in another town will cause them further avoidable stress, and additional costs which will be prohibitive for many. The system is already struggling due to a combination of funding cuts, fewer judges and an increase in the number of people representing themselves in the family court.

That is why Resolution is calling on the government to reconsider, and instead come forward with detailed plans for modernising family courts across the country, before any court closes its doors for good.

Star Milland’s links to Leeds

Edna Levi, Leeds

I was interested to see the inclusion in your archive pictures (February 17), the one showing Hollywood star Ray Milland and pop singer Joe Brown arriving in Leeds by rail.

However I think it coincidence they were on the same train as I believe if you check further into the archives, you will (perhaps!) see that Mr Milland actually had a sister residing in our city -somewhere in Chapel Allerton?