Man-eating dogs matter more than people in Ohio

• One writer criticizes Ohio’s laws regarding vicious dogs.
• Other topics discussed include property taxes, voting rights, tariffs, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Lives of vicious dogs more important than people in Ohio

I appreciate the Dispatch’s series on dog attacks in Ohio.

When I was a child, our family owned an English bulldog named Murphy, whom we loved very much.

One day Murphy, out of the blue, viciously attacked our mailman. It was a shock as our dog was very loving and gentle with us. My father immediately took Murphy to be euthanized, explaining that a dog who attacks is a serious danger to all.

While we were very sad, it was understood that it was a decision for the good of all.

I have been shocked and horrified by the number of life-changing and murderous attacks that have occurred in Ohio for many years, as revealed by the Dispatch’s investigative series.

In an article on May 8, it is reported that on May 4 when a pit bull attacked another dog and its owner in North Linden, the police officer who was talking to the victim shot the dog to protect them.

The owner of the pit bull stated that the officer should have waited for animal control to rescue the victims. I strongly disagree. How much damage would have been done to the innocent person and their dog while they waited for animal control.

Can anyone imagine a police officer standing patiently by and witnessing the attack while waiting for animal control? Have the critics of the officer read and seen the photos of all the people maimed by dogs and some actually murdered? I highly doubt it.

The Ohio standing laws regarding vicious dogs violate any standard of decency and justice. Who has the courage to create fair and decent laws in Ohio to protect people?

And as an afterthought, how many of these critics who defend dogs that have attacked, maimed and killed people support the death penalty for humans?

Diane Donato, Columbus

You might be a victim of a scam

If you think paying taxes entitles you to representation in government, you might be the victim of a scam.

Here’s how to find out:

President Donald Trump’s deficit spending during his first term added $8.4 trillion to our national debt, nearly twice as much as former President Joe Biden’s. 

As they craft Trump’s new “big, beautiful bill,” ask any one of Ohio’s gerrymandered America First congressmen what Americans got for our $8.4 trillion.

If you can’t get an answer, then your congressman is serving someone else, not you.

Happy Chichester, Columbus

Say goodbye to property taxes

Once again, due to the State Legislature ignoring issues that affect their constituents and instead legislating on their imagined social issues, the public has found it necessary to forge their own path forward on an issue.

The Ohio Ballot Board has certified Citizens for Property Tax Reform‘s constitutional amendment to ban property taxes.  Petitions will be circulated for the required signatures. 

When this amendment hits the ballot, it will pass. Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman thinks it is time to take steps on property taxes; that time has passed. I suggest instead he start working on how to fund without property taxes. Listening and legislating on the issues that actually affect their constituents would curtail the need for citizen driven initiatives. 

Please don’t fall for the deceptive ads that will start after this amendment makes the ballot. Yes, there will be a need to garner money from other taxes to make up for property tax. Hopefully any new tax will be implemented in a more fair and thoughtful way than the current property tax. 

Debbie Kennedy, Hilliard

New attack on voting rights

Most Americans recognize that the right to vote is our first and most fundamental freedom. When our right to vote is taken away, our freedom is taken away.

In recent years, Ohioans have had to confront a number of attacks by lawmakers on our freedom. Those same politicians are at it again.

They’ve introduced Senate Bill 153 and House Bill 233 requiring anyone with mismatched voter registration and BMV information (inconsequential discrepancies like an updated address on voter registration but not on photo ID, or a missing middle initial) to cast a provisional ballot.

Prior to the passage of anti-voter laws in 2023, the provisional ballot was often called the ballot of last resort because they require extra steps to ensure they’re counted, increasing the odds that they won’t be. In November, 34,000 Ohioans had their provisional ballots thrown out. Under SB 153/HB 233, that number will skyrocket.

After several close races in November, Secretary of State Frank LaRose emphasized that every vote counts. In proposing SB 153/HB 233, our lawmakers are determined to prove him wrong.

Together, we can use our power to ensure that all of our votes do count. Contact your legislators and Gov. Mike DeWine and urge them to reject Senate Bill 153 and House Bill 233.

Sherry McMillen, Cuyahoga Falls

Tariffs for billionaires

President Donald Trump declared an economic emergency in order enact the tariffs responsible for causing a worldwide economic emergency. But why would he purposely disrupt the world’s supply chain while falsely reporting that our country’s tariffs will be paid by other countries and how the funds raised by tariffs will be used?

I would expect that since the funds paid due to tariffs will go to the general affairs budget, they will be used to benefit all United States citizens equally.

But based on recent actions by this administration (such as withholding funds from perceived enemies, moving FEMA responsibilities to the states, cutting education, halting cancer research, cutting food benefits for children and working to reduce Medicare and Medicaid benefits), I don’t see this administration using the funding from tariffs for the good of America.

Trump has identified other items to fund. Such as a ballroom in the White House, the rebuilding of Alcatraz, and we will need plenty of funding to pay off the citizens of Greenland to better ensure their vote to leave Denmark and become aligned with the United States.

I am pretty sure any addition to the general affair budget will be allocated as Trump desires.

I come to my conclusion since he has not followed Congressional funding laws as he oversaw the reduction in of funding to nearly every agency that benefits those of us in this country who happen to not be billionaires.

So, what I believe is imminent is that Trump will not only assume total control over all of the funding allocated by Congress, but he will also assume control over all monies allocated to the general budget through tariffs and other less substantial payments to the federal government.

This of course is all made possible by Congress allowing the executive branch to assume its constitutional powers.

John Rouse, Pickerington

Starvation is not a solution

If our great ally Israel is so concerned about supplies reaching Hamas instead of the ordinary residents of Gaza, why does it not run the food and supplies it is now blockading directly to those people, instead of committing what is likely a war crime — being committed by Israeli Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu, not by the Israeli people — instead? 

Mike Howard, Westerville

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