The truth about skunks
To Mudpaw Mamma (WE, June 16) Im sorry, but your rant is highly inaccurate. Skunks are not the number one carrier of rabies in North America, nor is there one such species for the whole of the continent it varies by region. Although skunks can contract rabies (just like all other mammals), incidence of rabies in B.C. is rare. And further, your pets should be vaccinated for rabies. As for the remainder of your rant, it clearly shows a lack of understanding of skunk behaviour on your part. Skunks use their spray as their only defense and will only do so when they feel their lives or the lives of their young are at risk. After it sprays, it takes a skunks body several days to make enough spray to be able to protect itself again, during which time it is completely vulnerable and defenseless. The only way your dogs would have been sprayed without warning is if they threatened or scared the skunk with barking, aggression, or running through the bushes a simple fix for this problem is to keep your dogs under proper control. The fact that you have seen six skunks does not mean that there are six skunks living in your area it just means that you saw six skunks, perhaps the same one every time. Spouting inaccurate information and calling for the eradication of an entire species just because your dogs were sprayed once is not only incredibly irresponsible but impossible anyway those types of programs run into the millions of dollars and are never fully effective. The majority of the city is perfectly capable of coexisting peacefully alongside skunks. Properly educating yourself and altering your own behaviour accordingly is a simple fix to your problem.
Wildlife Educator
Big problems for small biz
Regarding the cover article Hanging by a thread: small businesses struggle to survive (WE, June 16). It is a shame that all governments, the courts, most media, and the public remain wilfully blind to the devastating effect of the Olympics and HST on small business. My main supplier lost all its customers because of the Canada Line construction and went bankrupt. I almost went under too. No orders from any clients for over four months around the 14-day event. And, people dont realize that the HST is 17% for small businesses in comparison with the PST/GST. This is killing my business. We cant claim this. Your headline should read Hanging by a line of credit and no way to pay the rent.
Anonymous
Fireworks at the fireworks?
Thanks to Mayor Robertson and the other city leaders for encouraging huge crowds onto the streets with your giant screens for hockey games. The riot did not surprise me, and I am really looking forward to more of the same for the fireworks. Why do people have to scream and yell and hang out in the streets of downtown Vancouver for events anyway? Dont these people have a life? I look forward to moving away from the West End that I used to love, hopefully before the fireworks. Why dont you city leaders use all the money spent on this BS on helping street people and the homeless?
Anonymous
Mall dogs
It seems that every time I go into the Denman Mall there are all kinds of dogs either on leashes, tied up (no owner in sight) and yapping or being walked through the mall. The notice on all of the glass doors in the mall state that no pets allowed. I have asked the various security people and get no response other that a shrug. WTF? Isnt this a health hazard? There is an open grocery store right there. Even the mall tenants are angry. Does the health department know about this?
Anonymous
