Letters to the Editor

DVDs donations for vets

Everyone loves to help the troops, but recently I saw a flyer that melted my heart.  It said “AMVETS TASK FORCE DVD,” a drop off DVD by those in the community that would like to make a difference in College Park East.  I couldn’t imagine what the troops have to experience over there, until a friend told me what her son was going through in Iraq a few years ago.  As we all know, films can take the edge off a hard day, so why not give that privilege to those that need it most?

The new or used DVDs can be dropped off in the Task Force DVD Drop Off at Heather Park until Jan. 23.  If you have any questions, please email abcowl@roadrunner.com.  Girl Scout Troop 1083 members are working for their Bronze Award for this, so let’s help them out and our troops too.

Enea Ostrich

Seal Beach

Animal Shelter rebuttal

When Ms Bertoldi decided to criticize the staff at SBACC it was unclear to me if she was being purposefully sarcastic or if she is unaware that she was dealing with strictly volunteer Staff.

Her comments about “the boss” “the woman in charge” and “staff must be very highly educated … and undoubtedly very well paid” lead me to believe that she does not know that everyone working at the shelter when the shelter is open to the public is a volunteer.

Our volunteers come from all walks of life.  Various amounts of education, work and life experience and a love for animals is what they bring to work everyday as olunteers.  Most have exceptionally good people skills, all have a love for and determination to find our animals the best possible homes.

Many of our kittens were born in one of our volunteers’ homes.  When a pregnant cat ends up at the shelter she goes to a foster home until her kittens are weaned and all come back to SBACC.  The foster volunteers are very well acquainted with the little ones and report on various aspects of their personalities.  With that information our animals are placed in homes where they have the bestchance of success.  The focus is always on the animal – from their abandonment to their adoption.

In Ms. Bertoldi’s first letter, she indicates she was asked if she would like to take two cats.  At the time of the “77 Cats in 77 Days” promotion there was a reduced fee if anyone chose to adopt two cats.

She was  not willing to do that. Certainly that is her choice.  She says she was approved to adopt a cat.

It appears there was a better opportunity for that cat to go home with one of her siblings.  Cappuccino’s picture was up on the wall of the SBACC lobby for all to see, going home with a sibling that she had been with her entire life.

That was what was determined best for Cappuccino.

So, it appears she was approved to adopt, but a placement was made based on Cappuccino’s needs.

I am not a member of the Cat Committee, and have no knowledge about this adoption except what Ms. Bertoldi has written and what was on display in the shelter lobby.

All new adoptees are photographed with their new forever families and their pictures placed on the wall.

I have adopted an older cat from SBACC and I do volunteer as a dog walker.  I have no special knowledge of this situation outside of what is public knowledge due to letters to the Sun.

I do know our volunteers deserve thanks for their dedication to the needs of the animals.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the volunteers who have worked at SBACC throughout the years, as well as the many persons who have donated money to keep SBACC afloat. SBACC is truly a special place for the animals that are fortunate enough to find their way from abandonmentto adoption.

Sharman Kay Snow

Seal Beach

Check Edison bill

Attention all Southern California Edison customers..

Check your account information carefully.

We dumbed into finding more than we expected when looking on line to print out a lost Edison bill.

What a surprise to discover that two other residents in another city were also listed on our account, unauthorized and unknown to us.  One family just uses our account name, thereby avoiding deposits and hook up fees but pays their bill regularly. The other family, just last month, decided to call into Edison, said he was my husband, and asked for their bill to be added onto our’s.

You ask, “Can that be done?”  Well, I asked that too.. and yes.. it can be and it was!  Here’s the kicker.. eleven closed accounts also showed up on our account history.  The bills were paid, fortunately, but not by us.

Clever way to avoid paying deposits, hook up fees and being accountable for past Edison bills.

Lookin’ out for you.

The Chafes

Seal Beach