I just want to ask pet owners to please use their common sense this 4th of July. Keep your pets indoors, or if they are outdoor pets, in the garage. I have known dogs to go over 6-foot fences when scared enough.

Last year we spent our evening at the races. When we left someone's dog had apparently escaped from its vehicle and was cowering under some cars near the road. Then, driving home we narrowly missed a dazed and scared dog running up the road.

Please, animals get spooked by all the noise -- leave your pet at home or be sure to be nearby so you can reassure them.

-- Carla Vidaurri, Medford

Don't you just love conservative hypocrisy? There's not enough money for schools, libraries or public transportation. The young, old, poor and disabled lose again. Yet we desperately need to give $450,000 to the Grants Pass Irrigation District for their 75-year-old fish-killing dam, instead of replacing it with pumps that will provide plenty of cheap water to recharge aquifers, save fish, increase tourism and reduce maintenance costs.

Bureaucrats Adams, Wilson, Morgan and Atkinson just love pork and must repay special interests (Becklin, et al) who elected them.

Speaker Snodgrass is "hamming" it up too, ramming through legislation so her "superchurch" can bypass land use laws and develop 31 acres of prime farmland into a concrete and asphalt shrine complete with, get this, a lighted soccer field. There are plenty of membership-starved churches.

Does God prefer large groups? I think not. Matthew 6:6 says, "When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

Republicans held a closed meeting in support of yet another OCA attempt to legislate morality in Oregon. How many times do we need to rebuke the OCA? Party Executive Howard said, "We,..(sic) don't have to tell everybody what we're doing, how we're doing it or how much it costs." Oh, really! Carl Wilson says to stop the violence, "try changing hearts." Is this the way, Carl, supporting hate and abrogating laws for special interests?

There's a serpentine agenda at work here with an evil underbelly.

-- Michael A. Hawk, Williams

I noticed there was no obituary for the death of the wild buffaloes at the hand of the Montana Department of Livestock in West Yellowstone. Perhaps if they had noteworthy names, maybe then they'd make the cut.

In the past five years, the wild buffalo herd has been "thinned" in Yellowstone. Many people traveled to Yellowstone to protest the deaths, over 1,500 head of buffalo. For years, many were up before dawn, in knee-deep snow, at 20 degrees below zero, to witness this sad slaughter. They saw what I see, that there is no value in this bison slaughter.

I am not an activist. I recognize the courageous efforts of the Buffalo Nations volunteers who stand between the buffalo and the gunbarrel or snowplow to stop the killing. Many citizens in our state and country are often the only voice of reason that wild and endangered animals have.

The buffalo is a sacred animal, to be treasured and revered. If the sacredness of the buffalo is difficult to understand, consider this:

Science recognizes the buffalo as a keystone species of the ecosystem, who serve as "miner's canaries" for humanity. The buffalo, too, serve as such for the natural world that sustains us all. What are we to say to future generations, when again the wild buffalo is gone?

If you want this killing stopped please write to our representatives in Washington, D.C.

-- Jo Whitehorse Cochran, Ashland

The latest oxymoron -- compassionate conservatism!

-- John P. Brown, Medford

In response to the letter in Sunday's paper titled, "Food For thought," I would like to thank the writer for your colorful and creative piece of writing on the evils of eating meat. It was very entertaining. I assume by your writing that you are either a vegetarian, a member of PETA or both.

Well, ma'am, I eat meat daily as have our ancestors for thousands of years before us. I like it, too. You have a right as all Americans do to make your own decisions, including what you eat. However, just because you choose to nourish your body with veggies, tofu and whatever else you feed yourself, please save the poor, poor animal stories for your fellow vegetarian brethren.

Since you seem to be a religious person, go back and take a look in the Bible and see what it says about the animals God placed on this earth. I doubt you'll find any passages saying, "And God created the lamb for man to love, honor, and give adorable human names to."

And, as for meat giving a person bad breath, I don't recall garlic or onions leaving mouths smelling like roses either. Who's to say that because a plant doesn't scream, that it doesn't feel pain when it's being ripped and torn from the ground?

Hmmmm, you better start eating cardboard and wood chips just to be on the safe side.

-- Richard Godon, Medford

I am writing in response to an article I saw in the Saturday, June 19, Mail Tribune. The title of the article was "Special Olympics opens June 26."

I am deeply offended by your use of the word "retarded" when describing the Special Olympians. Just because someone is in a wheelchair or is missing an appendage or is overcoming some other disabling obstacle, does not mean that he or she is retarded. A person with Down's syndrome may have special needs, but haven't we in society come further than labeling persons with disabilities as retarded?

I had hoped that, in this day and age, we were becoming more sensitive in our language and our views. I had hoped that knowledge was bringing us closer to understanding, but after reading just that one sentence, "to celebrate the accomplishments of athletes who are retarded," I feel sick to my stomach. What about the Olympians who are paralyzed? Are they retarded, too?

I see that this particular article is part of a section "compiled from wire reports," but isn't it your job to read what you print? If you had, I am disgusted that you felt comfortable with using such a stereotypical term for someone who is not"normal." If you did not read the story before it went to print, then next time please take time to read what you deliver to this community.