Plight of Iraqi Strays

[HoUsEkaT]

Saw something in USA Today that made me sad. Innocents always suffer in any war. I'm refraining from taking a position on the Iraqi war - just commenting on the anarchy is such that extreme measures seemed necessary to control strays and rabies. Couldn't the strays be left alone?

...Twenty minutes' drive south, a much different scene unfolded. In Umm Qasr, a British commander coaxed four anxious local men — an engineer, two teachers and a former political prisoner — to take control of their town of 40,000.

In 45 minutes, the men breezed through a checklist drawn up by Col. Peter Jones of the 23rd Pioneer Regiment. They agreed to set a dinars-to-dollars exchange rate, get IDs for local fishermen, flip on the town's telephone exchange, find a landfill site, restore the supply of cooking gas, and use poison to cull the large number of stray cats and dogs. After the meeting, they set out to inspect an ice house that wasn't working and power lines that had been knocked down...

I have heard that in that part of the world, strays are often just poisioned. Again, is this really necessary, even during a war?

[2kitties]

While I am very sad for the situation with the strays, I think we have to put it into perspective. Look at the horrible overpopulation problem we have here in the states, where veterinary care and education is very developed. I don't think we can imagine what kind of problems must exist other places.

Sad to say, but possibly it is a humane solution.

[Heather Wallace]

Good points by you both. it is hard at times toknow what is best, especially in these times.