Don't let yourself be duped by unscrupulous dog dealers

Don't let yourself be duped by unscrupulous dog dealers
EDITOR:
I am writing this to try to keep anyone else from being as stupid as I was.
I went to a flea market in Ohio where I saw a dog dealer. The pups seemed fine. The dealer seemed real nice and had the kind I wanted.
The pups were said to be healthy, wormed and with their first shots. I agreed to purchase a pug pup and made a down payment in cash to the dealer, who would not take a check. He said the pup was to be 6 to 7 weeks old June 24.
I picked up the pup. He did not look real good, but as it was so hot, I thought it was the heat. I paid the rest of the price and started home. Less than halfway home the pup started throwing up worms (you could see them); he also had diarrhea. He was so bad I stopped at my vet's office. He was in such bad shape that those at the vet's office were not sure they could save him. They gave him a shot for dehydration, checked for diseases, put him on medicine and gave me food for sick animals. The bill was $65.30. This for a healthy dog.
This pup was probably only 4 weeks old. He did not know how to eat. I force fed him every two hours for three days and gave him water in a dropper before he even tried to eat anything.
I have contacted the dealer different times, and he promised to pay the vet bill, but as of now I have received nothing.
Anyone wanting a puppy, don't be as dumb as me. If the dealer won't take a check (you can stop payment if you get what I did), don't take their word for anything.
If we don't buy, they will have to clean up their act, and that will be good for the dogs.
MARGARET HAYES
Aliquippa
Austintown school woesstem from state Legislature
EDITOR:
I have to respond to the article in a recent Vindicator concerning the proposed busing changes in the Austintown school system. It is time for all those opposed to these changes to forgo their specific concerns and look at the entire picture. Look around. The Austintown schools, along with about 75 percent of the rest of the school systems in Ohio, have fiscal problems or are in fiscal emergency. The cause, in a nutshell, is a state Legislature that has refused to fix the school-funding crisis in spite of state Supreme Court rulings.
In the case of the Austintown schools, township residents have failed to pass an operating levy in approximately nine years. That means that in spite of inflation, more unfunded mandates from the state, and the housing boom in Austintown, we have no more money coming in to run the schools. As a matter of fact, we now have less money to run the schools due to decreases in state funding.
Considering the reduced funding from the state and the increase of homes in the township, the board of education has done an admirable job just keeping the schools open. In an effort to keep the schools operating, the board of education has reduced teaching staff, custodial staff, maintenance staff, and forgone needed maintenance to buildings. It is only logical that busing will also be affected.
No one wants to see his or her children sit on a school bus longer than necessary. We all want the best education possible for the students of Austintown. However, the simple facts are that it takes money to run a school system and that until the state Legislature does its job, the burden of supplying that money falls to all residents of Austintown. The problem is not here in Austintown. The problem is in the state Legislature in Columbus. State legislators are the people responsible for the busing changes, the less than spotlessly clean schools, understaffing and overcrowded classrooms. They are people who deserve your ire, not the teachers, custodians, secretaries, bus drivers, administrators, and members of the board of education.
WILLIAM SULENSKI
Austintown
Don't let China doomthe American economy
EDITOR:
In the unlikely event that the public schools of our nation ever get the notion to return to their primary function of educating, they will be well advised to dedicate a large portion of their curriculum to the language and history of China and other Asian countries. If the citizens of the United States keep going the way they are, those skills will be very important to the children and grandchildren of today's younger generation.
At the rate the Chinese are buying control of large old American companies, this is a very real possibility, not a fantasy of an old-school isolationist! The Chinese are gaining control of Maytag by using another American company it has polarized. The state-owned Chinese oil company has bid on Unocal Oil Company. You don't like the price of gas now! Just wait!
A large ladder company in nearby western Pennsylvania was forced to move to China to produce ladders at the price dictated by a home improvement chain.
Hundreds of U.S. jobs lost! The German company that produces cars that at one time was a part of the Big Three (now two) U.S. automakers has announced production of a small car in China. It claims it is not a replacement for the American-built German small car, but look for the American- built version to disappear.
The list goes on and on, but one thing is clear: Look for small hardware and department stores to disappear. Soon the only choice will be the super stores and home improvement centers that will not pay American wages.
I can't really call you traitors, but if you continue to do business with the super stores and flea-market vendors who line their pockets on the backs of lost American jobs, then you are some of the most greedy and most stupid Americans yet. You have no concern for the future of your children and grandchildren.
The next time someone complains that someone else is only concerned with the bottom line, ask them why they buy the cheap shoddy imported merchandise these people sell. It is just the bottom line.
Buy American, or soon there won't be any America as we know it!
A further note has come to my attention. Huffy Corp. has moved bicycle production, filed bankruptcy and is forcing its obligations to the U.S. taxpayer.
ROBERT HUSTED
New Springfield