Letters to the editor 7/27

Dog's death outrageous

Nothing will change what happened to the police dog in Muleshoe, but the circumstances and explanation for the July 14 death of Sandor are outrageous.

Officer Rodney Stevens’ statement about feeling “frustrated” just doesn’t seem quite enough. Clearly, he and the Muleshoe Police Department have not taken responsibility for the action that led to Sandor’s death, and blame it on the air-conditioner.

My question is this: Would a reasonable person (even more — a trained police officer) have left an animal, or child, in an unattended car with outside temperatures at 106 degrees under any circumstances?

A reasonable person would anticipate that leaving a car idling with the air-conditioner running in 106-degree weather for a long time might cause it to over-heat and quit working in some manner. We have laws to protect children and animals from this very thing. Shouldn’t they also apply to protect our canine protectors?

Even if Muleshoe police manage to obtain the funds to buy another noble dog like Sandor, they don’t deserve the opportunity. The dog’s death was obviously an accident, but it seems there should be some consequence to such an appalling lack of judgment by people who have been entrusted with public safety in all forms.

The hypocrisy involved in this incident should not go unnoted.

Private citizens nationwide are fined or prosecuted every summertime day for this kind of unthinking cruelty and abuse.

Perhaps an appropriate lasting impression for anyone guilty of this kind of offense would be to spend some time themselves in a sealed, oven-like car.

What makes Sandor’s fate all the more sad is this dog was trained to take a bullet for an unworthy partner who wasted his life and potential unnecessarily.

L. Diane Taylor

Clovis

Libertarianism is impossible today

In his column on Tuesday, self-described libertarian Tibor Machan concluded that libertarianism is clearly possible, while communism is not. This is confusing ideological apples with economic oranges.

Libertarianism is a social philosophy clearly impossible in the modern world, which cannot function without extensive government.

Communism was and is an economic social philosophy. From our perspectives and values, it has mostly failed. But it was at least grounded a little bit on economic reality, especially in the days of Marx and Engels.

Both philosophies are unrealistic, precisely because of the uncompromising development of their ideas.

Kirby Rowan

Portales