Thank you to Jane Sykes for her Dec. 22 online column, “Ask a Vet: Is it ethical to buy a flat-faced dog?“
Dogs do not deserve to suffer for fads and humans’ whims about looks and trends. But breeds with smashed-flat faces such as French and English bulldogs, Boston terriers and pugs are at risk of having painful or life-threatening illnesses that cause them to gasp, wheeze and struggle for breath. Tragically, many people who buy these breeds believe these behaviors are normal or even cute; they are anything but.
This is why PETA has filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against the American Kennel Club for endorsing standards that make dogs uncomfortable and miserable. For decades, the AKC has required that certain breeds exhibit physical traits that can cause the dogs pain and untimely deaths.
The best way readers can protect dogs — and protect themselves from the heartbreak of losing a beloved animal companion to human-promoted deformities — is to never buy breathing-impaired breeds. Always adopt, and encourage others to do the same.
Daphna Nachminovitch, Norfolk, Virginia
The writer is senior vice president of cruelty investigations at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Surviving pet grief
Carolyn Hax in her Dec. 22 Advice column, “How do I survive the grief and second-guessing after losing my beloved dog?,” provided a near-perfect response to the question posed by a grief-stricken dog owner who had recently put down her beloved pet. The letter writer had asked, rhetorically, how she could process her grief until it abated. Did she do enough? Was she loving enough? Could she have done more? These questions are the familiar refrain from all of us who have grieved. It is a painful time and experience. There is no consolation and there are no shortcuts to the other side.
Hax answered forthrightly: “You feel sad and second guess your decisions and miss her so terribly. You suffer.”
Every good pet owner has or will go through this. It is the essence of the bond and the nature of the relationship. It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved all. It is who and what we are as humans. Grief and mourning are a cathartic reflection of ourselves and our relationships with our world.
William A. McCollam, Fairfax
I prefer my care facility
Regarding the Dec. 22 news article “Swamped caring for parents, boomers, Gen X try to spare kids”:
I wonder where Gen Xers who are planning on aging in their own homes think they are going to hire caregivers from. Immigrants make up 1 in 3 home care workers, so in addition to existing shortages, immigration policy changes threaten to squeeze the workforce further.
My husband has Parkinson’s disease, so I live in a continuing care facility in D.C. And I constantly advise others that once you are 80 years old, you better get yourself on a waiting list for a continuing care facility. You will need the services if you do not want to burden your children with your care.
Where else will you get regular meals from a full kitchen staff, socialization, a support system, health aides, a driver, a pool, daily activities, physical therapy, psychologists, a concierge, security, groundskeepers, cleaning staff and trained nurses?
When you become weak, with less energy and mental acuity, don’t believe for one minute that you’ll be able to find an honest, trained, affordable, all-skill-set, live-in health care worker just because you have an extra room to house that person. Some of my fellow residents tried such an arrangement and, in frustration, came here.
Better yet, come visit me in my continuing care facility and see what you’re missing.
Kathy A. Megyeri, Washington
Support nurses
I fear the decision by the Department of Health and Human Services this month to rescind minimum staffing standards at nursing homes will increase reliance on costly agency staff while diminishing person-centered care.
Of the more than 15,000 long-term and skilled rehabilitation facilities in the United States, the latest analysis by U.S. News & World Report found that 12,000 fell short of providing the highest-quality care due to staffing shortages or other issues. The analysis also showed that adequate staffing positively affects patient outcomes.
The heart and soul of nursing — especially in situations involving frail, elderly patients or the terminally ill — is compassion that is not restrained by conflicting time demands and multitasking caused by inadequate staffing and limited resources.
I witnessed this when nurses who cared for my dad in a Catonsville nursing rehabilitation center formed a bond with him defined by respect, sincerity and dignity. My dad knew the nurses cared about him as if he were family. They took time to get to know him, talk with him and listen to him. They eased his pain and his fears.
When my dad died, the nurses cried with my wife, sister and me at his bedside. They surrounded his bed and held hands with us as we sang “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” which was my dad’s favorite hymn. One of the nurses attended his funeral service.
Nurses care for our most vulnerable men and women who have dementia, cancer, depression and other complex health needs. In this respect, they are angels among us. Our nation must do better to support nurses.
Mel Tansill, Catonsville
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