OPINION

Dealing with dogs

Re: "Bred for fighting," (PostBag, June 29).

I usually find myself on common ground with David Brown but have to take issue with his call for "pit bull" dogs to be banned.

The problem is that there are a number of breeds with such similar appearances, that it would be well nigh impossible to identify which bloodline or cross-breed might be dangerously aggressive.

It is worth noting that the dog involved in the most recent horrific attack on a child was actually a Rottweiler, so one has to wonder how often bull terriers have carried the rap for other breeds.

In my early teens, an Alsatian with no previous history of aggression took a bite at my neck as I stroked him. No real damage but much to my chagrin he was put down.

Much more recently here in an Isan village, a nondescript local dog raced up to bite my ankle in the middle of a social gathering with no apparent motive, though it appears one of her pups was close by and I was the only stranger around. Metres away, the lovable Staffie that our local American ex-pat insists is a pit bull has been accordingly chained up, but loves nothing more than rolling on his back and having his tummy scratched.

My point is that the issue is not quite as simple as banning certain breeds. I certainly agree that any dog which makes a serious attack on a human should be put down, and find it amazing that there has been no report that the Rottweiler in the recent attack has been euthanised, regardless of any financial compensation.

Re: "'Roe' ruling should worry us all," (Opinion, June 29).

Roe v Wade has been settled US law for 50 years. Polls regularly show that over 60% of Americans are in favour of it. This new US Supreme Court with a majority of partisan, ultra-religious Catholic judges, doesn't give a damn about what the majority of American people want. They are going to impose their religious views upon millions and millions of Americans.

The same partisan Supreme Court that just last week took 111 years of gun law precedent in New York, and said you can't have that any more. These new Trump-appointed judges all lied during their Senate confirmation hearings. Senators Susan Collins and Joe Manchin both say that Gorsuch and Kavanaugh misled them during private office meetings, by saying they would not overturn the landmark Roe v Wade ruling, according to notes taken by multiple staff.

Re: "Six jabs and sick," (PostBag, June 30).

The fact that several Thai government officials, including a health official who was vaccinated six times, have been infected with Covid should be seen as proof that the vaccines don't prevent transmission. There is no evidence that it even prevents severe illness in healthy people.

That's why getting vaccinated should be a personal choice based on one's own circumstances. As a lifelong liberal, I am horrified at how many liberals have behaved like fascists -- whipping up hatred against the unvaccinated and persecuting them. I'm not exaggerating when I say the way people have reacted to Covid has caused me to lose faith in mankind.