Letter: Spotlighting animal cruelty hardly an absurd over-reaction

Posted 7/25/17

To the editor:

My oh my, Thomas Collins must be patting himself on the back for the multiple clever little digs he surely believes he included in his letter to the editor. Well, Mr. Collins, as …

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Letter: Spotlighting animal cruelty hardly an absurd over-reaction

Posted

To the editor:

My oh my, Thomas Collins must be patting himself on the back for the multiple clever little digs he surely believes he included in his letter to the editor. Well, Mr. Collins, as one of the “hand-wringing biddies” you so gleeful attacked, I am issuing a response. You and your ill-informed POV on the animal abuse situation at the Medeiros Tenant Farm in Westport are exactly why our group exists – to counteract the ignorance and draconian attitudes of certain members of the Westport Community.

Your letter was riddled with inaccuracies, however you most likely do not care about that as you clearly had such a giddy time tearing down people you don’t even know and ridiculing an issue you clearly haven’t bothered to study.

Here are the facts you incorrectly represented:

First, Westport officials are not “wasting time with a day of remembrance.” The Town of Westport is not sponsoring the event. Our group, Stop The Insanity, Westport is the sponsor of the Day of Remembrance. No town money is being spent on the event. There was one town worker assisting us in set up and we are paying for that person’s time and the equipment being used.

Second, the notion that the “crimes have been prosecuted” and we should just get over it and move on is inaccurate. One year after the event not a single person has been prosecuted. Several have been arraigned, however trials have yet to be held so no one has yet been held responsible for the largest ever farm animal abuse case in the Northeast.

Third, this most certainly is “an issue worth of official attention and time.” Fourteen hundred animals were abused on the farm. Even you must admit that is an extremely large number. The members of the ASPCA first responder team have reported it was the worst case of farm animal cruelty they have ever witnessed. This is the second time in six years that large-scale farm animal abuse occurred on the same property.

Our group is named Stop The Insanity, Westport because Einstein’s definition of “insanity” is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. In the case six years ago, the town made no changes, no one was prosecuted and it happened again, this time on a much larger scale. We do not think that holding a ceremony to point these things out is, as you say “an absurd over-reaction” but rather a group of interested and committed individuals attempting to bring attention to the situation so that it will not occur a third time.

Finally, the idea that we have “nothing better to do” is wrong. All of us “old ladies” (who range in age from 30 to 70 and include several men) most certainly have multiple things to attend to, including successful careers, countless nonprofits that we all volunteer for, and families to love and care for.

So, Mr. Thomas Collins, before you fire off another letter full of non-truths we suggest you do some research. Or, better yet, rather than attempting to ridicule people who are trying to make a difference in their community, why not join us? We attend every meeting of the BOS and BOH – don’t think we have seen you there.

Katherine Feininger

Westport

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.