Teachers make good use of classroom supply money
The children of Rowan County schools need all of the support they can get. Each year, every teacher is provided classroom supply money from our Rowan County Commissioners. This money is greatly appreciated and is used for worthwhile classroom needs.
I was incorrectly quoted in last Friday’s edition of the Salisbury Post, and the error was corrected in Sundays edition. The correction stated, “County Commissioner Jon Barber, who is also a teacher, said he always uses his classroom supply money and spends another $500 out of his pocket each year. A story in Friday’s edition on plans for funding an administrative office for Rowan-Salisbury Schools incorrectly reflected his position on classroom supply money.”
I hope those who did not read this correction are now clear on my position.
ó Jon Barber
Mt. Ulla
Barber is vice chairman of the Rowan County Board of Commissioners.Support lethal injection
I had to read Ken Deal’s remarks in the Feb. 25 article “Animal euthanasia discussed” five times before I could convince myself he was serious. The lethal injection method Deal characterizes as “gruesome” is the form of euthanasia advocated by nearly every humane organization in the nation, including the National Animal Control Association, the American Humane Association, the Association of Shelter Veterinarians, the Humane Society of the United States and the ASPCA. The cats he observed in the gas chamber “playing in the final moments” of their lives were about to be suffocated to death. What he did not characterize were the horrors going on behind the closed door of the chamber, horrors he could not have possibly seen firsthand.
Those playful little cats were likely screaming, defecating, urinating, vomiting and injuring each other as they tried to escape. He also failed to mention the likelihood that some of those cats were not killed in the first attempt and would have to be processed again.
Tightening county budgets are clearly fueling Deal’s comments, as no county official could possibly posit such an argument with a straight face otherwise.
The citizens of North Carolina (and apparently the officials of Rowan County) should know this. Results of a study commissioned by the American Humane Association released in January reveal that the cost of a lethal injection death is actually less than a gas chamber death. Approximately 70 percent of the shelters in North Carolina have made the switch to lethal injection. Obviously, Rowan County is not a part of this progressive majority.
It is imperative that officials of this county educate themselves about animal welfare issues before they make statements to the public.
Residents must contact their state representatives and encourage them to support House Bill No. 6, which will require the use of humane lethal injection in animal shelters.
ó Dr. Ashley Oliphant
Cornelius