Letters - September 28, 2017

All pet lovers’ thoughts will be with the two-year-old Jack Russell’s owner at his tragic loss.

I have one of the same lovely breed. Loki is 14, unlike the victim... still a baby at two.

They will also be frustrated and angered that the owner of the two Staffies responsible for the unprovoked attack has not been either fined or even kept from keeping dogs. She surely knew the dodgy temperament of her animals.

As Dave’s owner admitted, he didn’t blame the Staffies, but surely their owner should be punished in some way.

Ironically, in the same issue of the Gazette reporting the tragedy was an article by Aimee Stanton on the situation of losing one’s best friend (which a dog is) and how to cope.

I just hope Dave’s owner can eventually come to terms with his diabolical loss.

Neil Kendall

Stamford Avenue
South Shore

DOGS

Dog lovers would never own Staffie

I write in reference to the savage killing of a Jack Russell by out-of-control ‘Staffies’ in Stanley Park (The Gazette, September 23).

I for one am sick and tired of walking through parks in Blackpool with my family - only to be put on edge by a out-of -control dog running towards us.

Often it’s a vile Staffie. And what I hate even more than this breed is the self-righteous indignation of its owners.

They insist it is the owner and bad treatment which makes a Staffie dangerous.

This is barely a half-truth.

These disgusting, squat, muscular animals were bred to be fighting and killing machines - it’s in the blood. Therefore you don’t have to be a terrible owner for ‘nature to out’.

It’s my contention that real dog lovers would never buy this fighting dog and it’s the choice of ‘pet’ (or self-defence weapon) for thugs, sheep-like chavs or someone with a personality disorder.

This animal should be banned, and much tougher penalties introduced for its ignorant and deluded owners.

Richard Tandy

Talbot Road
Blackpool

TECHNOLOGY

No benefits of 
new system

I have had cause to telephone HM Revenue and Customs.

(They had, without any cause known to me, given me too favourable a tax code).

Initially I was taken through a security procedure like that when telephoning any financial institution these days.

That’s fair enough.

At the end of this, I was told I was to be enrolled in their new automatic voice recognition system so I would never have to go through the security procedure again.

I was required to repeat the same stated phrase several times and then pronounced as enrolled.

All very “high tech”.

Then ensued a wait of a fraction under 20 minutes until I actually spoke to a person. I understand this is par for the course.

In that time I could have completed the conventional security 10 times over.

In such circumstances, I cannot see how the new advanced technology benefits either party.

I bet it cost a pretty penny.

I am left wondering who persuaded HM R & C to invest taxpayers’ money in this innovation.

Neil Inkley

Address supplied

POLITICS

Are we living in the same century?

In answer to Barry Carr’s letter (Your Say, September 26) I have to wonder if were living in the same century.

He complains that Britannia no longer rules the waves and how proud we should be of our history. Well I’m proud of some of our history, but then things like our involvement in the slave trade I’m not proud at all.

Mr Carr was really criticising the lack of progress on Brexit and that Britain will be dragged down to ‘Davy Jones’ Locker’ if we do not leave the EU immediately.

Well I have to remind Mr Carr that we have been a member of this European movement for around 40 years and we are still the fifth largest economy in the world.

When we voted to leave the EU the pound lost value. If we leave the EU without a trade deal then, as our business leaders and economists have warned us, we are likely to become a low wage low growth economy.

The ‘world is our oyster’ Mr Carr tells us. Should we go back to sending gunboats up the Yangtze if these countries don’t do free trade deals with us?

Let’s live in today’s world, the days of empire are over. We need to work with the EU and other nations as partners. The world has moved on and we have to move on with it. I agree that the EU has to reform itself and become less insular, but just walking away, as Mr Carr wants us to do, would do us great economic harm.

Kevan Benfold

Cornwall Avenue, Blackpool
Blackpool Liberal Democrats