Regarding the story in the June 8 edition of the Towson Times ("Pet licensing fees take a bigger bite"), I have no objection to the increase in fees for pet licensing.
It's probably long overdue, and the joy that pets bring is much more than worth the licensing costs.
My problem, this year, has to do with an inequity in the fee schedule. My husband and I are both in our early 70s, and have two, 2-year-old cocker spaniels.
When you look at the fee schedule, you see that owners younger than 60 with an unaltered pet are to pay $15. Owners older than 60 will pay $9.
OK so far. Now comes the problem.
Owners younger than 60 with an altered pet owe $7 — and so do owners older than 60!
Where is the senior citizen discount for owners with altered pets? If there is a $6 difference in the fees for unaltered pets, why not for altered pets?
Is it not highly recommended that pets be altered? If so, should we not benefit? Where is the logic in this fee schedule?
It's true that $7 will not break our bank. I just see no logic in the situation as it is, and I would hope that our taking responsibility for having our pets altered should be reflected in the fees.
Barbara Woodey
Timonium
From Pacific in World War II, some families found no closure
It was with tears in my eyes that I read the touching article in last week's Towson Times, "Heroes past and present honored at Dulaney Valley" (June 1, 2011).
My 90-year-old sailor's mind flashed back to my tour of duty (1943-45, U.S. Naval Reserve officer) aboard the aircraft carrier the USS Enterprise in the Pacific, where we were involved in 13 major engagements as we moved westward, recapturing the islands and naval bases.
During the course of battle, enemy planes naturally attacked the carriers first in order to hopefully gain an advantage.
While witnessing many, I was also aware of numerous other encounters where there were hundreds of casualties. Home contacts then had to be made with an explanation, "lost or buried at sea," which left these contacts with only a memory — but with no actual body, and with no place to pay their respects on land or in a cemetery on a formal or informal basis, a big difference, indeed, with which to live.
Quinton D. Thompson
Towson