Outrage Over Kittens

I am outraged by the actions of the sheriff’s bomb squad in Ramona--blowing up a box of kittens (“Bomb Squad Bombs Out on a Bundle of Kittens,” Oct. 28). What has this world come to when the affirmation that a living creature(s) is inside a box prompts officials to decide to blow it up? If it weren’t so pathetic, it might be funny.

And what if the box had contained a rattlesnake, as feared by the macho members of the squad? Big deal. It is not uncommon for folks in rural areas like Ramona to run into rattlers now and again, and I bet there aren’t any that run to the shed for a stick of TNT when they do. Heaven help us if the squad ever suspects a bear to be in a box--they would probably call for nuclear weapons to be deployed.

The San Diego Humane Society’s spokesman who deemed the incident “unavoidable under the circumstances” should go into politics and leave animal work to people who don’t find blowing critters up “appropriate.” Why didn’t he remind people that thousands of unwanted kittens, like this litter, arrive at shelters every year and often meet an unhappy end, and urge folks to prevent this kind of incident by neutering their pets?

TERRY DOWNEY

Vista