fair is fair

Below you will find a copy of the email i sent to Bruse Starr, the fellow who wrote the pit bull ban bill. Following that letter you will find his reply to me. In my email to him i told him that if he would respond to him, i would share his words with my concerned friends and family members. so here it is:


From: Misti [mailto:dakotajh@yahoo.com] Sent: Sunday, March 01, 2009 11:25 PMTo: SEN Starr BSubject: pit bull ban

We will fight this.
Don't you have better things to do with your time than bother about my dog? (i would attach a picture of our beautiful angel,but no one opens attachments that they don't know where came from because of jerks and viruses)

With unemployment over 9% in my beloved state, with record numbers of Oregonians seeking food boxes from emergency services. With school budgets being slashed, police and emergency services stretched to their limits, services to seniors and disabled people being cut, and a healthcare crisis... all you can do is look into my backyard to see what breed my dog is. Um, thanks for working to help our state in its time of need. Outlawing or Killing my dog will help our state so much. (thats sarcasm, in case you didnt catch it)

For your information, so you can knock on my door first when you feel like going on your pet murdering spree; my dog is a cur. he is a pit bull-bull dog mix. he is best friends to a three year old boy, he's a little overweight, he limps a bit (before we got him, he was hit by a car, his front leg didn't heal correctly, and he has only one of his own tendons in his back leg-the others being artifical). he eats everything, toys, basketballs, pillows, and anything that falls off of our plates; sometimes things still ON our plates. We bribe him with cookies to get him to bark... he does't do it much or even very loud, since he spent 6 months in a crate, imbolized as he healed. He palys along the fence line with the neighbors German Shepard. We adopted him from a Pit Bull rescue organization. He is even neutered and has all his shots. He walks on his leash around the block with me. I pick up his poop in a plastic bag, then i bring it home wih me. I feel safe with him in our home.
Please, remember when you bring your swat team to my door, that my husband is a service connected disabled veteran, who's injury while training to defend his country and people like you's freedom to make stupid laws, will bother him all of his life. My brother lives with us, he has cerebral palsy... if you have bioethics, you might want to take him out, too. we may have a foster child in the home, since we often take in troubled children. My teenager might be here, on his way to Golf team practice; My young republican, Oracle student, winner of Rebel pride for excellence in child development. He wants to go into law, and government. Try to come when he is here, so he can see his government in action, makin a positive difference in the lives of the people who live in our great state. Maybe you can stop at his father's house, too. There are a couple pits at that home too. There may be a gun in my home, since we all believe in the 2nd ammendment. Most of my friends and family have concealed weapons permits. There may be a toddler in the house, my little one has play school a couple times a week, so try to come kill his dog while he is in playschool. Then maybe i can tell him his baby ran away; I wouldn't want to tell him that someone who doesn't know us, doesnt care about us, doesnt want his best friend to live. Personally, i am no one. I am a nursing student, i sit on a local board of directors (as in i VOLUNTEER) for a non-profit group that helps our town. I helped create neighborhood watch groups in two local neighborhoods in the past few years. I care for my husband's handicapped mother. We are buying the house across the street from my parents. We are just a regular family, active in our community, loyal to our nation, proud of our state (usually).

So, my point? A fellow like you, a senator from washington county, I am betting you dont give a darn about my family, my friends, my life... you just want to kill a member of my family because he didnt have the good sense to be born a Rottweiler. You may think he's an animal, a pet... he isn't. He is OUR dog. He lives here. he is as much a part of this family as myself or my son or my brother. He hasnt hurt anyone. Why do you get to punish him without him committing a crime? We cant keep sexual predators in prison, but we can kill pit bulls. priorities man.

i would humbly ask you to email me, to open a dialogue on why you think this is needed, how you think it will help our state in its time of financial hardship, and i will be pleased to show my friends and family and concerned neighbors your words. I would love to introduce you to Bosco, show you were we are comin from. I doubt you will reply. i doubt you will even read this email. Probably some unpaid intern will have to read this, maybe i will get an automated "thank you" crap message. Sigh. i doubt my family, my dog, matters to you. after all, we aren't in your district, we dont vote for you.

His Response:

Dear Misti:

Thank you for your email letter.
I appreciate hearing from you and your opinion on the proposed legislation. Your email provides a lot of information.
Often, requests come from constituents to draft legislation and that is the case with this bill. With all the challenges facing Oregon and the issues that the Legislature is dealing with this year, this issue is one that is not a priority for me. It was introduced at the request of a constituent and I have no intention to pursue it.
Again, thank you for taking the time to write and good luck with your nursing career.

Sincerely,

Bruce W. Starr
Oregon State Senate
District 15sen.brucestarr@state.or.us503-986-1715

my only concern about his response? if you dont plan on pusuing it, why write it? Pacifying a constituent? spoon feed the sheep and hope it will go away? sigh. i dont understand politics.