Elephants deserve protection and sanctuary
Re: “State high court: Elephants are not ‘persons’,” Jan. 22 news story
I’d like to urge The Denver Post to help the Nonhuman Rights Project fight for the freedom of the five elephants at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
Elephants are highly intelligent animals adept at communication, using many different call types and gestures, signals, and postures to share knowledge and information.
In the wild, elephants travel tens of miles a day across diverse terrain in highly organized social groups. When deprived of exercise, a varied environment, and the social opportunities that the wild provides, elephants suffer from chronic frustration, boredom, and stress, resulting over time in physical disabilities, psychological disorders, and, often, brain damage.
Furthermore, elephants have complex biological, psychological, and social needs. Their brains are the largest in absolute size of any land animal and they share numerous cognitive capacities with humans, including self-awareness, empathy, awareness of death, intentional communication, and the ability to learn and categorize.
They are, as well, highly social animals that have the capacity to form long-lasting memories. This ability allows elephants to gather and retain extensive social knowledge that accumulates with age.
The Colorado Supreme Court’s opinion perpetuates a clear injustice, stating that unless an individual is human, they have no right to liberty, “no matter how cognitively, psychologically or socially sophisticated they may be.”
All living beings deserve to be free and live on this planet the way their life is intended — but not by human control or decision.
Please fight for these majestic creatures.
Heather Vasquez, Denver
I just want to make it clear all living beings need some legal protections and there are none for these animals except maybe the basics for life — water, food and shelter. It is my opinion, and that of all human beings who believe in behaving humanely, that intelligent social beings need more than that. We will never stop challenging this decision by the state Supreme Court and look to the day that all creatures can live in peace. In the meantime, I implore the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to give these wonderful creatures the life they deserve and send them to a sanctuary. They have suffered physically and emotionally for way too long!
Maryterese Wallace, Denver
Call of the wild: Protect, preserve and enhance
Re: “Colorado’s spirit of collaboration could shine with our new wolf packs,” Jan. 19 commentary
Bravo to Jim Martin regarding the restoration of wolves in Colorado. I want to thank him for the beautiful and very thoughtful piece that he wrote.
Of key importance is how he reminds us of Colorado’s statute that creates a law for wildlife to be “protected, preserved (and) enhanced” for the benefit of Colorado citizens.
His article is also well-balanced in that it recognizes the needs of ranchers and activists and rightly honors the work of Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Department of Agriculture. We, indeed, are all in this together, and we should never forget that.
Jim also brings to light the abysmal tragedy that occurred in Wyoming when Cody Roberts ran over a wolf with his snowmobile and then proceeded to torture it before he eventually killed it. This is barbaric and inhumane. It is not a laughing matter or something to be cheered about, which apparently occurred at a public meeting in Garfield County. I agree with him that Colorado should make a public statement regarding this issue.
To try to repeal the law to reintroduce wolves into Colorado is not a smart option. Coloradans have proven they can work together with state agencies to have a thriving, healthy population of wildlife, and we can also work with ranchers to ensure their herds are protected.
Karla Heeps, Denver
Federal law conflicts with local action
Re: “Will interactions with ICE change?” Jan. 19 news story
The article overlooks the issue that states cannot make laws that override federal law. (The feds could crack down on marijuana shops but they look the other way.)
What if we were talking about other federal laws? What if local law enforcement had someone in custody who possessed counterfeit money or a gun that was modified to fire fully automatic? What if these criminals were released without the feds ever being notified?
Local law enforcement continually spends time, money and jail space enforcing federal laws. For example, imagine a sheriff driving through the small, remote town of Rangely. The bank alarm goes off and robbers run out into the street. The sheriff knows bank robbery is a federal offense so he drives on. It shouldn’t be too long before the feds realize what’s happened. They’ll send a federal officer to this corner of the state to investigate.
David Norman, Durango
Immigrant deportations would be major workforce loss
Re: “Mass deportation is unlikely; micro-deportations are graver concern,” Jan. 19 commentary
Columnists James Witte and Marissa Kiss are correct that a massive deportation will leave a “painful hole in America’s workforce.” Let me translate the percentages into real numbers. There is a shortage of hundreds of thousands of construction jobs in the United States right now. Based on this huge need, can you tell me that enough U.S. citizens will step in to fill this void? Would they be physically willing to haul sheetrock upstairs, put in roofs, dig trenches, and put down asphalt for new roads during the hot summer months? I don’t believe so.
Let’s also look at the other jobs that would be left vacant when deportation happens and ask the same question: Will enough U.S. citizens step in to fill the jobs of meat processing, yard work, and planting and harvesting crops? What about those who take care of your children, elderly parents, clean houses and hotels? Who will fill those positions? Not many who are reading this newspaper today.
Let’s “Make America Great Again” by helping individuals become involved, functional citizens of the United States. That is the American way.
Teri Jacobson, Boulder
Dubious benefits of deportation
Well, we are in for what appears to be a confrontational and chaotic immigration policy. So far, I have not heard of any positive benefits of this policy, except that political adviser Stephen Miller thinks it will create jobs and raise wages, but he has no evidence of this and there are considerable studies indicating that the opposite effect will occur.
Since unemployment is currently low and wages are high, one could say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But Miller’s claim may just be an excuse. President Donald Trump’s claim that the benefit is the removal of bad people may also be an excuse, and there are statistics indicating otherwise.
A more probable and unspoken “benefit” is that this policy is popular because the average American is unwilling to share his good fortune in being an American, and Trump and Miller share this view and see the political benefit to themselves of acting on it. It may even have determined the presidency for them.
Don Reckseen, Broomfield
We are fanning the flames
Re: “Is Denver’s water system ready for a firestorm?” Jan. 19 commentary
The CEO of Denver Water, Alan Salazar, does the responsible thing and reports to us how Denver Water is dealing with the wildfire threat. Apparently, Denver Water takes this seriously and I’m happy to see that happen.
Salazar lists causes for the threat, yet he omits the one that is the largest and the threat that continues to grow every time someone turns the gasoline engine on in their car: the heating of our world, which is leading to ever-worsening extremes in dry conditions.
We all like our lives as they are. But things are changing because we don’t change. The heating up and drying out of our forests and prairies can stop if we stop burning the products of the oil, coal and gas industries.
It’s not that big a change to drive an EV and heat your home with the tested technologies of heat pumps. It’s a lot bigger change to have to go through finding a new house because your home, uninsurable in a growing number of cases, evaporated in an uncontainable fire.
And yes, we were lucky with the Marshall fire. As good as those firefighters are, they could do nothing against those winds and heat. Our wind died down and we got snow. In LA, it didn’t. But next time, if we don’t change, it will be worse.
Jeff Neuman-Lee, Denver
Colorado Springs voters weren’t confused
Re: “Colorado Springs: City leaders looking to overturn pot vote,” Jan. 19 news story
As a Colorado Springs resident, I voted to legalize recreational cannabis in November. I’m 75 and I wasn’t at all confused about what I was voting for. I was angry that the city council had changed the rules to try to make it impossible for shops to operate by extending the area of exclusion and putting a competing bill on the ballot.
What Councilman Dave Donelson is saying is that we, the voters, are too stupid to be trusted with this choice. As to his concern for children, we have many liquor stores in the city, far more than the number of pot shops there would be. The statistics on underage drinking are frightening, and alcohol does cause death and injury. The city council might want to consider addressing that, perhaps over cocktails.
Beth Heinrich, Colorado Springs
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