Letter of the WEEK

People are usually too callous about the animals they share their public and private space with. Nowhere more so than with stray dogs.

People are usually too callous about the animals they share their public and private space with. Nowhere more so than with stray dogs. In a letter earlier this week, Susan Jacob from Nerul argued sterilisation and inoculation constitute the most humane means of tackling the problem, if it is one.

8226; The report 8220;22 dogs found dead in Mumbai8221; is yet another instance of the human-animal conflict, as each species tries to carve out some liveable space for itself. Compassion may not be enforceable, but there are high court judgments upholding the rights of animals, including those of stray dogs. Yet many housing societies blatantly violate such laws by catching stray dogs and dumping them in uninhabitable places with no food and water. Those who plan and finance the crimes are never caught. The most humane and legal method of containing the 8220;proliferation8221; of stray dogs is through sterilisation and inoculation.

America8217;s match?

8226; It is really heartening that Iran has cocked a snook at mighty America by test-firing missiles. However, this weakens Mahmoud Ahmadinejad8217;s claims that Iran was enriching uranium only for the production of electricity. The president should announce that they are indeed developing nuclear power for military purposes. And George W. Bush should know that in case of a standoff with Iran, he would have to face the entire wrath of the other Islamic and OPEC countries. Why should the US have the moral authority to judge which country can produce nuclear weapons and which cannot? Most countries that have produced nuclear arms violated the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty years ago.

8212; Hemant Hemmady

Virar

Open house

8226; Your advice to the UPA to be careful when wooing MPs for the trust vote comes too late in the day. Why not hold a public auction of MPs for the numbers a transparent method, conducted by the principled speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, and spare us the spectacle on the House floor? The auction will reveal the respective numbers, and the speaker can hand over the result to the president. That would save the public money and time, and everybody noisy disturbances and microphone flinging.

Indeed, it would be a reality show of the most original kind.

8212; Kedarnath R. Aiyar

Mumbai

Right choice

8226; If the Lok Sabha speaker has decided to stay in office, it is the right decision. It is not that he is deciding against any political party or individual, but is upholding the democratic functioning of the institution he represents 8212; that of the speaker. All those who demand his resignation represent political parties. If the speaker were to decide otherwise, he would ruin his own reputation and bring disrepute to his office.

8212; Shankaran Nair

Mumbai