Pet Rescue blessed with wonderful volunteers
To the editor:
There are no finer people on this earth than the wonderful volunteers who give so much of their time and energy year around to help the homeless and helpless cats in this area through Halfway Home Pet Rescue. The Halfway Home Pet Rescue’s mission is to rescue and rehabilitate the physically and emotionally damaged cats we find abandoned, abused, starving and so very cold. We are a 501c3 non-profit and state licensed pet rescue. We are over-worked, non-paid, dedicated people.
There are many worthy causes in this area, all of which are hurting for supporters and workers. Whatever cause you choose to help, you are indirectly helping us as well. Whatever improves a family’s situation also helps the pet belonging to that family. If a family is hurting financially and has to give up their pets the Food Bank and other human programs may reach out to help with the human needs. HHPR helps this same family by giving pet food to these families who are in financial crises so they might be able to keep their beloved pet instead of turning it into a shelter. Thank you for helping to keep the supply of pet food from running dry.
This is a beautiful volunteer circle of love, of comfort and of human decency. All of this happens the full year around because of you. Not just at Christmas time … it is not just a one-time holiday gift, but a gift of love given when needed each and every day of the year.
It is the good, kind, hard-working volunteers that keep each program working. No non-profit could maintain a program without volunteers. By you doing your volunteer task in a pleasant and responsible way, you are helping to keep the wheel of human kindness rolling to embrace entire families and their problems.
Please take time this month to pat yourself on the back. Take time to thank God that you are able to help others either by volunteering or sending a donation. Together we make it all work. Don’t be shy, praise yourself today for any and all the good things you have been able to do for others. Let us keep our lights shining brightly as we approach a new year. Let us be a good example to the new generation.
Happy holidays.
Norma Milton
Caribou
Former police officer offers opinion on Ferguson case
To the editor;
Being a former law enforcement officer, one question “screams” for an answer, in regards to the Ferguson, Mo., shooting.
Since the 1970s on, “Mace” has been a standard issue for law officers. For those who wonder what Mace is, it is a small aerosol container carried on an officer’s belt. It is a pressurized form of tear gas. It has been used for years to “defuse” situations like the Michael Brown incident. Why was it not used?
According to Police Officer Darren Wilson, he could not use his Taser because of the limited space in the cruiser. He had time to get his handgun out of his holster, so he could just as well have pulled his Mace, and if Brown was as close as he stated he could have sprayed him in the face and eyes with the Mace. That would have ended the altercation once the subject was handcuffed, and his face flushed with water. It would have ended, and Michael Brown would still be alive. The so-called mountain of evidence has nothing to say about alternatives that could have been used.
If you have become a law officer with an embedded “fear for your life,” you are in the wrong profession.
In the years I was affiliated with law enforcement in the state of Maine, I never heard of a lawman killing anyone with his weapon or otherwise. Now you can kill someone if you are in fear for your life. This law gives a poorly trained officer, who is basically a coward, a license to kill.
The “mockery” of justice in the return of “no bill” against Darren Wilson makes honest law officers hang their heads in shame. God help us all.
Ron Nickerson
Guilford
