Animal Logic


I kinda think a birdie’s life is a little more important than golfers getting poop on their shoes (“Feds poison 300 pesky waterfowl at Rancho Cañada Golf Club,” March 8-14). - Chelsea Anna Hoover | via Facebook


“We just kinda let them do their thing.” Killing them with shotguns and euthanizing them is letting them do their thing? Can the intrepid reporter tell us how they were killed? Just buried alive perhaps? I know plenty of dogs capable of succeeding at chasing birds away. I appreciate MC Weekly sharing this news. Killing 15 percent of the birds solved all the poo problems? Seems unlikely. Are there plans for golfers to kill other animals? How many other creatures have been killed by these golf course managers? - Fred | via Web


I always say, I don’t have a problem with you killing it if you’re gonna eat it. Drugging them with tainted corn meal just doesn’t seem like a fair card match. - Maury Treleven | via Facebook


May the men and women responsible for this ridiculous and cruel decision be met with night terrors of particularly Hitchcockian torment in perpetuum. - Jenny Houston | via Facebook


In Lieu of Inclusion


What happened to the law about inclusionary housing? (“Pebble compromise earns broad support, but poor people still can’t live there,” March 8-14). Isn’t that a federal mandate? They can stick them in one area like they did in Pasadera. - Dave Clark | via Facebook


Pebble Beach is such an attraction due partly in that the well-to-do live there. Yes, it’s beautiful, but it’s not your everyday, run-of-the-mill kind of place. There are more upscale places in L.A., New York, Chicago, etc., as well that don’t have low-income housing. Not sure how “low-income” housing would fit in there. I know it sounds kinda “class-ist” but I know there is no way I can afford to live there and I think I might be a little uncomfortable being “THAT neighbor”… - Colleen Dunham | via Facebook


A lot of the people working within Pebble Beach have to travel a long ways to get there. The low income housing, if not within city limits, could be closer. - Xana Hermosillo | via Facebook


Breast Is Best


As a mother and breastfeeding professional and advocate in Monterey County, I was pleased to see a mention of the Hospital Breastfeeding Report (“Monterey County doesn’t impress with breastfeeding success,” posted March 1). I happen to know that all of the hospitals in our county are working hard to improve their support of breastfeeding moms. The fact that 96 percent of mothers initiate breastfeeding tells us that women know breastfeeding is the ideal way to feed a child. It’s true we have a long way to go to improve our county rates, but it isn’t just the responsibility of the hospitals to support breastfeeding. 


We need support from other health professionals, employers (who should provide lactation accommodation in the workplace, per state and federal law) and the community at large. It takes a village (or county) to show women they are supported and that breastfeeding is the normal method of infant feeding. Why should the rest of the community care? Breastfeeding promotes healthier children and mothers, including lowering the risk of obesity and diabetes, and saves health care dollars. It has a minimal environmental footprint compared to the alternatives. Let’s work together to make breastfeeding the norm in Monterey County. - Janet C. Vaughan | via Web


What Now, Marina?


The decision to terminate the city manager of Marina will cost its citizens a fortune to implement (“Marina council cans city manager,” posted March 7). Considering not a single word was mentioned questioning the performance of the city manager, why is the voting majority of the City Council willing to again spend money the city does not have on an action that was not necessary?


At a minimum, the termination of Mr. Altfeld will cost approximately $130,000 which excludes any additional legal costs to adjudicate the action. Should the city manager prevail in potential litigation, the price tag would exceed $300,000. None of these outcomes includes any other possible awards by a court nor the cost of recruiting and replacing the position.


Mayor Delgado and council members Brown and O’Connell have not acknowledged any of this cost or defined where the money will come from to front these “potential savings.” How long will it take for these “potential savings” to amortize, especially when you do not have a clue of what it may cost or how long a final resolution will take in the first place? Marina is strapped for money right now. When will they define to the citizens how they will pay for this and what impact it will have on current services? - Dan Amadeo | Marina 


(Editor’s note: Mr. Amadeo’s wife is Marina City Councilwoman Nancy Amadeo.)


Cat People


This is a stupid, poorly considered topic. (“Bakersfield man supplements diet with stray cats; what were his side dishes and desserts?” posted March 9 on Facebook and in the Weekly’s food newsletter). Excuse me while I delete Monterey County Weekly from my Facebook contact list. - Tom Lynch | via Facebook


The Australian Aborigines are eating the feral cats. It’s a good thing because the cats have been decimating the native species of birds and rodents. - Dan Tudor | via Facebook


This is completely and utterly shocking. I saw this news bit when reported a couple weeks ago and nearly vomited. What poor taste to even joke about this. I KNOW some of your writers have cats as pets and wonder how they would feel if theirs disappeared and was eaten. I am disgusted by your “attempts” at “hump-day humor!!” - Taira Hustedt | via Facebook


While it is shocking, this goes on everyday to pigs, cows, chickens, horses, rabbits, etc. So, you can get on your high horse if you want but if you eat any of these, you are just like him. - Janis Spencer | via Facebook


According to the novel King Rat (set in a Japanese POW camp), they have a taste and consistency very similar to rabbit, so probably some savory potatoes or a creamy risotto on the side and a deep chocolate dish for dessert. 


Hope that helps, you sick, kitten-hating degenerates. - Gianni Greco | via Facebook